I’m completely mystified concerning what it is people fear if too much freedom-of-speech should come to my favorite antisocial-media platform. Here’s how I use Twitter: I follow people I enjoy hearing from regularly. If someone ceases to be enjoyable to listen to, I quit following them. I use the list function to stay abreast when-desired with subject-area experts who have something valuable to say within their realm, but whom I don’t care to follow all the time. I mute people... Read more
Checking in here to wish you a blessed Easter, lest you wonder whether I’ve forgotten there’s a holy season afoot. For those who are just returning online or otherwise weren’t aware, most of my strictly-Jesus blogging has moved over to jenniferfitz.substack.com. Right here at Patheos remains my default location for controversy, Rant-O-Rama, and off-topic miscellany. FYI there’s no paywall at the substack. A free subscription sends all content to your inbox, so you don’t need to brave the infinite scroll... Read more
Baby Circ is the cordless circular saw I talked Superhusband into buying for our spring reroofing project. He wanted one. It would make his life easier up there on the shed roof. But was the expense justified when we already owned a perfectly good full-sized corded saw? Now if there’s an old guy who deserves not to be fretted about as he works on a roof, it’s my erstwhile mountaineer who has taken up skateboarding as a concession to the... Read more
For various reasons, a girl I love dearly is very anxious about her driving test. (Please pray? Thank you.) She’s a natural at it, and ordinarily she’s a fantastic test-taker, but she is so darn nervous about this particular ordeal that she’d almost rather never drive (despite living in the sprawl, where not being able to drive makes it virtually impossible to function) than go do the thing, even though there is no penalty or added cost if she needs... Read more
Confession time: In daily life the pronoun thing is off my radar. I live in the land of Ma’am and Sir, so everyone gets “gendered” constantly. I’m not bothered if someone calls me Sir (whether by slip of the tongue or genuine mistake — I’m not always the picture of feminine stereotypes, thanks), and like all the rest of the world, in my own routine courtesies I don’t ask to see paperwork, I just roll with whatever sex the person I’m speaking... Read more
The war to eradicate Ukraine is becoming a war to eradicate freedom of speech. When the Russians jail reporters who speak against the regime, we all (“all”?) still know that’s wrong. But what about the good guys, we free peoples of the west who just want to protect a nation being unlawfully invaded, murdered, and destroyed? We’re edging in on the censorship game, too. Individuals who refuse to denounce the enemy are being fired from their jobs. Academics are being... Read more
This is a quick run-through of some of what I’m seeing in terms of reactions to the Russian war on Ukraine, and how those reactions fit within the framework of Catholic morality and social justice. #1 Does this count as just warfare and legitimate self-defense? I do have a degree in international relations, but I am not and never have been an expert on Eastern Europe. I’ve attempted to bring myself up to speed on current events by reading a... Read more
As I’m writing this it’s halfway through Ash Wednesday, definitely not too early for your Lent to have already gone off the rails. Okay? So pick yourself up and try again. *** There’s something about Lenten discipline that I think we don’t talk about enough: Obedience. I think this because I hear from people every year who wrestle with how to do Ash Wednesday or how to do Lenten Fridays or how to do Holy Week or how to do... Read more
Coming up from the rabbit hole with a quick heads up before Lent: Now through Sunday (tomorrow) night, my retreat book is free on Amazon. You can read more about it over at the substack, but honestly this is your shot to just have it, so now’s the time to grab it, you can decide later how much you love it or don’t. If you know someone who may want to use it sometime over the next year, let them... Read more
Hypothesis: Black Lives Matter riots, Antifa riots, Jan 6, and the Canadian trucker convoy — and all the European and Australian analogs to these — have something in common that we need to acknowledge if we don’t want to keep pushing people closer and closer to civil war. *** Peaceful protest is nothing new. These recent events, however, have taken on a character that I have spent the last two years telling my children: This is not normal for our... Read more
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