A friend of mine, who did computery stuff, once remarked that systems designed by humans don’t do what you want them to do. They do what they are designed to do. The Legion of Christ was designed and built–by a monster who happened to be an organizational genius–to facilitate and cover up that monster’s crimes and to acquire as much wealth and control as possible in order to continue doing that for as long as possible. He designed it so... Read more

So somebody sends me a link to something on the Fr. Pavone dustup and I start scrolling down the comboxes, where my eyes light on this–from a Fr. Pavone supporter addressing somebody who urged obedience to Bp. Zurek: you little Bishop Zurek TROLL you…. IT WAS A SHAME YOUR MOTHER CHOSE TO LET YOU LIVE AND GIVE BIRTH TO YOU. SHAME she DIDNT ABORT YOU! Really … ITS A DARN SHAME This is perhaps the most extreme manifestation I have... Read more

…has some interesting reflections on Benedict’s recent trip to Deutschland. Read more

Seriously. The Obama Administration is trying to make the case before SCOTUS that it can charge religious institutions with sexual discrimination if they don’t ordain women: The Justice Department holds that the Lutherans cannot fire Perich for complaining to the government even if church teaching forbids it. And it was this question – when might the government’s interest in preventing discrimination trump a religious group’s principles? – that prompted the justices to ask the attorney for the government’s Equal Employment... Read more

Perhaps you have some biologists who can help me understand this question. “If the driving force behind evolution is that beneficial characteristics that help a species survive and reproduce get passed on the the next generations, how does homosexuality fit into being a beneficial characteristics that will help the human population reproduce and survive? I feel as if science is placed in a bind in that either homosexuality is a beneficial characteristic for the survival and reproduction of the human... Read more

to the Good Ship Patheos. Read more

Hey Geek Types! So a few days ago I’m working on my computer and it freezes. I’m using Word 2007 at the time. i do a crash reboot and get the thing going again. However, when I open a document in Word, I notice that for some reason everywhere there is a field code it is not showing me normal highlighted text, but the whole field code. How do I make it go back to showing normal text? Help me... Read more

How? Because as everybody knows, Hindus are earth-affirming, peace-loving and in touch with the rhythms of Mother Gaia. So when they burn down a Catholic Church and raise a banner of triumph over the ashes, that can only be because Catholics are awful and had it coming. Remember, the creed of the postmodern West is “All religions are equally superior to the Catholic Faith.” “You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But he who endures to the... Read more

One thing people might consider doing is letting go of the Dem/GOP pendulum. Here, lest people forget, is what we got in the good old days: In 2000, the United States ran a surplus. In 2009, it ran a deficit of $1.4 trillion—10 percent of the economy. The 2010 deficit was almost equal, and the 2011 deficit is projected even higher. The national debt is surging to 100 percent of GDP, portending an eventual run on the dollar, a default,... Read more

Ex-mortgage CEO sentenced to prison for $3B fraud ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The CEO of what had been one of the nation’s largest privately held mortgage lenders was sentenced Tuesday to more than three years in prison for his role in a $3 billion scheme that officials called one of the biggest corporate frauds in U.S. history. The 40-month sentence for Paul R. Allen, 55, of Oakton, Va., is slightly less than the six-year term sought by federal prosecutors. —– Homeless... Read more