I got my facts upside down in the post I wrote about Archbishop Wilton Gregory’s statement questioning Trump’s photo op at the St Pope John Paul II shrine in Washington, DC. I didn’t understand that this event had actually been scheduled several weeks in advance. I also did not understand that the President was going to make a formal announcement of an executive order concerning religious freedom. Once I learned that President Trump’s visit had been scheduled well in... Read more
Rick Wilson, author of Running Against the Devil: The Plot to Save America from Trump and the Democrats from Themselves, spent years beating Democrats in elections. He was and is a true believing conservative Republican. He evidently believes what he believes so much that he is willing to walk away from Trump’s Republican Party and stand almost alone. Rick Wilson wantst to see Donald Trump removed from office in a democratic and legal transition of power. Trevor Noah interviews Rick... Read more
Evidently, President Trump has decided to crash in on a Catholic shrine in Washington DC over the ojboectios of the local Archbishop. Archbishop Wilton Gregory issued a statement concerning the president’s upcoming holier than whomever photo op. The Archbishop said that he found it “… baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our principles, which call for us to defend the rights of all people... Read more
Leonard Cohen stepped into a kind of magic when he wrote Hallelujah. The combination of the beautiful, melody and the enigmatic lyrics can be haunting, especially in the hands of the right artist. I’ve heard many versions of his song, but so far as I’m concerned, none of them approach what KD Lang did with it. Here it is for your pleasure. Enjoy. Read more
Seven Catholic bishops, including my own archbishop, have issued a joint statement on the murder of George Floyd. It is a beautiful statement, the kind of thing that has always made me proud to be Catholic. Under ordinary circumstances I would be comforted by it. Under those ordinary circumstances, I would be right now writing a piece thanking these bishops. In it they say While it is expected that we will plead for peaceful non-violent protests, and we certainly do,... Read more
I felt that I needed to watch the videos of George Floyd as he was murdered. It seemed like the least I could do, to bear witness, whether I wanted to or not. I took me multiple tries to make it through those things. I finally watched a New York Times summary account of the videos all the way through. I was struck by the people on the sidewalk who remonstrated with the police officers, trying to get them to... Read more
Jesus lived in a hard place in hard times. It was a time of Empire and heavy-handed political stability. The tiny Republic of Rome had spread from its beginning as a city state to an overarching empire that ruled the world from Persia to what is now the United Kingdom and down through Northern Africa. Rome’s governance ringed the Mediterranean and spread outward from there in all directions in a vast web of trade, dominance and wealth. It was Pax... Read more
FX is airing a documentary called AKA Roe. In this documentary, Norma McCorvey, the “Roe” in Roe v Wade, gives what she terms her “deathbed confession.” Like just about everything else she did in her life, Norma McCorvey’s deathbed confession is a doozy. You may remember that Ms McCorvey originally told Sarah Weddington, one of the attorneys who took Roe v Wade to the Supreme Court, that she was pregnant as a result of rape. McCorvey later recanted that story,... Read more
I oppose legal abortion because abortion kills a human being. That is the only reason I oppose it. On the other hand, I am acutely aware that the pregnant girl is also a human being. I know that the forces of misogyny, including rape, the sexual double standard and the pervasive discrimination against women and girls in all areas of life are why abortion is regarded as necessary by so many people. I believe absolutely that these vicious sins against... Read more
My precious mother died a few weeks ago after a heroic battle with dementia. I say that her battle was heroic because she fought against her limitations as best she could right up to the end. I walked beside her all the long way down. She never stopped being the loving, good, decent and brave woman she had always been. The nurses loved her. The other patients coddled her. And I adored her with all my heart. Dementia is a... Read more
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