The Reformation looked to Eastern Orthodoxy for examples of churches that existed without a Pope, had married clergy, no indulgences from Purgatory, did not worship in Latin, and had vernacular Bibles. Luther was especially interested in the church of Ethiopia, mentioning it 85 times in his writings. Luther was visited by the Ethiopian cleric Michael the Deacon, and the two found substantial agreement.
Lou Holtz accused Joe Biden of being "Catholic in Name Only" for his support of abortion. What does "in name only" mean? How can someone claim a religious identity while rejecting what that religion believes?
After Sister Dede Byrne and Vice-President Mike Pence accused Joe Biden of believing in abortion until the moment of birth, fact-checkers denied that. Why? Because post-viability abortions are so rare. Never mind that Biden is not in favor of limiting them. And that there are more abortions of viable infants than there are deaths due to guns.
Experts have found that there are six phases of disaster, describing how individuals and communities respond to a disaster, such as a hurricane, tornado, or other natural or manmade catastrophe. We can apply them to the disaster that is the COVID-19 pandemic.
Granted that unjust police violence is a terrible thing, how does it advance the cause of Jacob Blake to commit violence against people who had nothing to do with his mistreatment? Granted that Black Lives Matter, why should people supposedly committed to that cause--many of them white--loot black-owned businesses and set fire to black people's neighborhoods? Some reflections on power, authority, and lawlessness.
Integralism is a Catholic political theory in which the church--through the Pope and the Emperor--exercises authority in society. Can there be a Protestant Integralism? But should there be?
The COVID-19 pandemic and the #MeToo movement has the film industry reconsidering sex scenes. A UK directors' organization is calling for a return to the art of suggestion instead of depiction, as in the classic movies of Hollywood's Golden Age.
Elon Musk's company Neuralink hopes to implant computer connections into the human brain. Thus, human beings could participate in Artificial Intelligence and communicate by reading each other's thoughts. But this cannot work because the workings of the brain are vaster than any conceivable computer, vaster even than the universe itself.
Donald Trump is not kind or gentle. Far from it. But his legacy is a kinder, gentler Republican Party. Neo-conservatism with its military interventions, fiscal conservatism with its penny-pinching, and big business pandering are out. And the working class, protectionist economics, activist government, and "common good" ideologies are in.
Despite problems in the news industry, the "New York Times," the "Washington Post," CNN, and MSNBC have been raking in big profits. They credit the market demand for their anti-Trump stories. Now the media is worrying about the financial impact of a Biden victory, should they lose their "antagonist."
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