ALL HONORING NATURE–UNTIL I ARRIVED: A few postscripts to my pissed-off post about that Commonweal James Alison piece. 1. First of all, I’ve never read Alison, and people I really respect are into him. So I completely assume that while I can’t stand the excerpts in that Commonweal encomium, that doesn’t necessarily reflect the context and fullness of his argument. 2. I’ve said before that I don’t get natural law arguments, at all, ever. And so to the extent that... Read more

He who is not ready to suffer all things and to stand resigned to the will of the Beloved is not worthy to be called a lover.—The Imitation of Christ Read more

COMMONWEAL VS. THE COMMON WOUND, PART 300 IN A SERIES. They say: As Alison lays out the argument, Catholicism has long taught that people are heterosexual by nature, and that homosexual activity is thus unnatural. But this teaching conflicts with the growing recognition that homosexuality is a way of being, not simply a way of acting; unchosen, it belongs to one’s nature or essence. Drawing upon the scholastic axiom agere sequitur esse (acts flow from being), Alison maintains one cannot... Read more

I HATE YOU ALL. How did no one tell me that Amy Winehouse covered “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?” Thanks for nothing, blogroll! Do better when she covers “Crimson and Clover,” or I’ll track you down. Read more

MULES AND WOMEN: My Ladyblog post about that article comparing Isabel Paterson, Rose Wilder Lane, and Zora Neale Hurston; with bonus Ayn Rand, Dorothy Day, and (maybe!) GEM Anscombe…. Read more

“If there were only one steel worker in the world he could be just as interesting to a novelist,” [Isabel Paterson] declared. “But the Communist theory requires that there shall be a mass of steel workers, or they don’t matter.”–cited in David T. Beito and Linda Royster Beito, Independent Review, “Isabel Paterson, Rose Wilder Lane, and Zora Neale Hurston on War, Race, the State, and Liberty” Read more

“SUBLIMITY NOW!”: My latest piece for Inside Catholic. Fire, Burke, ice, unicorns, and a man in his underpants waving a gun! Read more

WAYS TO HELP Amy Welborn’s family after the death of her husband: buying his books (royalties from his How-To Book of the Mass go to their children’s college fund), and contributing via PayPal. Amy has been a constant source of inspiration to me. I hardly know what to say, so I will just point you to these other links. Michael Dubruiel’s final column includes this: …Working with a very frail Father Benedict at the time, I was reminded of an... Read more

IF FLANNERY O’CONNOR WERE MICHAEL CHABON. I posted my take on the “Bill Jemas presents: Ultimate Bible!” thing, at Ladyblog. Feel free to suggest content for Leadership Secrets of the Hebrew Prophets in the comments section! Read more

THE WHIRLIGIG OF TIME BRINGS IN HIS REVENGES. Inside Catholic reposted an article I did for them way back in 2002, when they were still Crisis magazine. The piece is called “Outside Narnia: Christianity and Children’s Fantasy,” and it was my attempt to defend non- and even anti-Christian fantasy books while also promoting a few fun or even great Catholic works which had been swamped by the flood of Lewistolkein. Re-reading it… wow, I would not write this article the... Read more