Instead of teaching me to trust and believe in the commitment of others, my dad taught me to fear that the people I love don’t really love me in return. Ever since, I’ve found it very difficult to get close to people, even though I desire close friends more than almost anything. I’m torn between the impulse to make lifelong friends and the impulse to push everyone away. Read more
I’ve mostly lost hope—hope that some power or person of goodness is ultimately guiding the world or me to some kind of salvation. Read more
Yes, in many ways 'The Force Awakens' plays it safe, but the filmmakers deserve credit for making an extraordinarily bold move. Read more
Why Pope Francis says the economy should not be a mechanism for accumulating goods, but rather the proper administration of our common home. Read more
The challenge of putting down roots. Read more
Three words into a hymn or a creed and I’m elsewhere, rudely minding my own business. I confess: I am eternally awful at prayer, habitually inattentive at Mass, and probably hypocritical at worship. I feel I don’t belong, like a guest who lingers defiantly after being politely asked to leave. I figure even an incompetent inquisition would expose me as a fraud. I listen to descriptions of God from saints and scripture and I think, “My God, what a monster God is,” but then... Read more
Cruz is a candidate for voters who think themselves indispensable and unique. Read more
What are your favorite entertainingly awful movies? Read more
There is a matter on which many political conservatives support government regulation of markets and industry, no matter what the political and economic consequences: abortion. Read more
If human life is sacred and inviolable at every stage and in every situation, as the Church says, then the Church should oppose killing at every stage and in every situation. Read more
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