Logos In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. By him all things were made: without him, nothing was made that has been made. The Word came unto his own; and his own were incapable of resisting the temptation to call things “a modern form of Gnosticism” even if they couldn’t tell a Gnostic Gospel from their own ass, as were a bunch of people who don’t even go here. But... Read more

THOMAS Unbar the doors! throw open the doors! I will not have the house of prayer, the church of Christ, The sanctuary, turned into a fortress. The Church shall protect her own, in her own way, not As oak and stone; stone and oak decay, Give no stay, but the Church shall endure. The church shall be open, even to our enemies. Open the door! —T. S. Eliot, Murder In the Cathedral, Part II Previous installments in this series: Christian... Read more

But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, “Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.” —The Gospel According to St. Mark 8.33 The Story So Far Previous installments in this series include Christian Nationalism; or, The Voice of the Dragon and After These Things Do the Gentiles Seek. Christian nationalism hasn’t been declared a heresy, but perhaps it... Read more

Why do the nations so furiously rage together, And why do the people imagine a vain thing? … He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them to scorn; The Lord shall have them in derision. —Psalm 2.1, 4 For Heathen Heart That Puts Her Trust To begin with, I’ve said that Christian nationalism is wrong about what ethnicity and race are, and what importance they can have. What do I mean by this? What does any sort of nationalism even... Read more

And they worshiped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies … And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to... Read more

What Were We Talking About? Okay! With all of that as setup, let’s begin. The original question was this: If the Church truly means the motte, why set up the bailey? The bailey, you’ll recall, was a lot of Catholic rhetoric and sound bites: stuff like “the Pope is infallible” or “the brown scapular protects you from going to hell”; the motte was the theological explanations, which tend to come off as “well, the Pope is only infallible when it... Read more

How Did I Get Here This started as a reply to a tweet—a reply that got sort of out of hand. I didn’t think to ask the original tweeter whether they’d be okay with my cross-posting their material, but they aren’t locked or anything, so as a middle ground I will reproduce the text alone, without directly crediting or linking (unless they ask me to later). The original tweet was a complaint, one that I had and have a lot... Read more

I. I had hoped to continue my series on Christian nationalism a bit more promptly, but (drum roll please): I finally got Covid! Two and a half years, and I tested positive for it on the day I’d been planning to go get my booster shot—real adding-insult-to-injury move there, virus. Had to miss a coffee date with a friend that I’d really been looking forward to as well. However, I can thank God that I seem to have had a... Read more

Vade Retro I sure amn’t! Let’s talk about him. To start: I have only the vaguest idea of who William Wolfe is. (In fact, when I wrote my first draft of this post, I included some info that was apparently about an entirely different Wolfe.) I gather he was some sort of official in the Trump administration? At its best, I find nationalism terrifically boring,1 and I have nothing but disgust for anyone who willingly involved themselves with Donald Trump’s... Read more

Annuntiamus: We Proclaim Tiring of trying It’s a necessary dying Like the horseshoe crab in its proper season to shed its shell Such distance from our friends Like a scratch across a lens Made everything look wrong from anywhere we stood —Aaron Weiss, “Messes of Men” This weekend, I’ll be taking a very brief trip to San Jose. I’d appreciate prayers for this trip, both for myself and for the event I’m attending. Eve Tushnet has put together a group... Read more