I hate the speculations about whether Hefner is in hell. Such speculations are, I believe, always wicked. More than that, they are telling. When a famous person dies and American Christians feel a compulsion to wonder if they are damned, such speculations always seem to be directed toward the destinies of fleshly sinners, but never to sinners notable for sins against the poor, or sins popular with consumers of Right Wing Noise Machine agitprop. Rock stars, pop tarts, models, and... Read more
The Reporter (boo! hiss! unclean! All praise and honor to the Genetic Fallacy–which frees us from having to listen to anything outside our ideological bubble!) remarks: So the news the traditionalist blog Rorate Caeli had proclaimed Aug. 19 as “unbelievable” turned out to be anything but. Not even the “formal correction” of Cardinal Raymond Burke, but a lesser “filial correction” by a tiny minority with heavy leanings towards the Society of St. Pius X. I’m talking about a 25-page letter issued Sept. 24, in which... Read more
Michael Liccione remarks: Back when I was a callow youth, I was defending some theologian–I think it was de Lubac–against another theologian’s savage critique. Finally, exasperated, he protested: “We don’t want statements that *can* be interpreted in an orthodox sense. We want statements that *cannot* be interpreted in a heterodox sense!” Pope Francis is facing the same attitude. With sufficient will power, hostility and animus, “Pass the salt” can be interpreted in a heterodox sense. (“Is he speaking of “passing”... Read more
She writes: Dr. Robert Fastiggi of Sacred Heart Major Seminary and I have written what we believe is an important contribution to the current discussion of Amoris laetitia. Please read and share: Does Amoris Laetitia 303 Really Undermine Catholic Moral Teaching? When read in its original Latin, one contested passage in the document has a significantly different meaning than it does in the official English translation. Seeing the fooferah surrounding Michael Liccione’s comments on the “filial correction”, I’m sure... Read more
…when black people peacefully protesting they are getting the shaft has *ever* been acceptable to whites. No form of peaceful protest is acceptable. None. And this is still the level of discourse common from those whites threatened by peaceful protest: Martin Luther Coon. In 2017. And he knows perfectly well that his joke is hilarious to his peer group. One thing I’m grateful to Trump for: he and his racist base made clear to me that my naivete about the... Read more
Deacon Steven Greydanus takes a look at the Star Trek franchise’s complicated relationship with religion: “What would God want with a starship?” That line, uttered by William Shatner’s Capt. James T. Kirk in the much-derided Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) — co-written and directed by Shatner himself — is probably that film’s most famous (or infamous) moment. In the weeks building up to the recent debut of CBS’s new series Star Trek: Discovery, buzz around the franchise has raised a different... Read more
We had fun talking about the hypocrisy of Left and Right, as well as me explaining some of the bizarre Inside Baseball of Francis-hating Catholics on the warpath. He’s a Protestant pastor and prolife activist with a very high regard for Our Lady (and for Pope Francis) that gets him in trouble with his fellow Calvinists: You can hear his podcast at Cell53. PS. If you like what I do on Connecting the Dots, please go here and support me! Read more
Lady Gaga posts a pic of herself sincerely praying the Rosary in her illness. The Righteous assemble to denounce her and drive her away as a vile seductress. Donald Trump, having already to confessed to sexual assault and never apologizing for that (he demurred that his confession was not a confession but “locker room talk”), now talks about groping his wife in public. The Righteous assemble to explain that he is a Baby Christian and to press on with the project... Read more
Sez he: Having now read the text of the “filial correction” of the Pope, I find it to be mostly a massive exercise in question-begging. Thus, e.g., while it’s true that unrepentant adulterers and fornicators should not receive the Eucharist, the real question is whether every irregular marriage or cohabiting relationship constitutes unrepented adultery or fornication. The Pope thinks not, and I agree with him. But the text never addresses that question. The same goes for the idea that some... Read more
Here’s the info for our local group here in Everett, Washington. You can find the info for you your local group via Google: Dear Supporters of Life: Join us out on the sidewalks Sept. 27th when: the largest fall 40 Days for Life campaign ever will kick off in more than 715 cities around the world! We want to pour maximum effort into this campaign here in Everett — so it can save the maximum number of lives! In the United States in particular, the... Read more
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