I’ve written twice (here and here) on the curious case where “political correctness” has become a politically correct thing to invoke pejoratively on the right. Today I examine a different aspect of Donald Trump. We might call this Trump’s Big Mouth Paradox. Here it is: Trump is famous for “telling it like it is” and not being “politically correct” yet he and his supporters continually have to clarify what he says and deny the things he seems to be saying. In other... Read more

When we talk about a religion, we tend to assume we refer to the some true version of that religion, especially when we identify with it or are at least not hostile to it. This can still be tricky business, especially when the same word is being used at once. For instance, the FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) is categorically different from the LDS, despite three identical terms, and we understand that mainstream Mormonism does not, for... Read more

No one writing from a national platform can tell you how to vote. Especially one, like me, writing from Canada. The reason is this: I don’t know who is running for your local school board, sheriff, county commissioner, mayor, State house of representatives, governor, and so on. A basic principle of Catholic Social Teaching is subsidiarity. This is basically a social criterion that operates with an imperative like Occam’s Razor: entities should not be multiplied without necessity. Subsidiarity is measured and... Read more

At last week’s Republican National Convention, Arkansas Attorney General, Leslie Rutledge, drew applause for saying, “I’m a Christian, pro-life, gun- carrying, conservative woman.” This was the same convention featuring a US Flag bandana collecting no sweat on the brow of one of the characters from Duck Dynasty. Identity politics no longer belong to the left. Political correctness is usually, and for good reason, associated with the left. It is a form of politeness and caution to offend that prevails over true and serious... Read more