I know, I know, I promised that I’d stop reading The Remnant. And I did. I’ve been clean for almost a month. I still am, technically. I didn’t read The Remnant. I read LifeSite News, which happened to be promoting a short video from Remnant TV. I would not recommend you do the same. I’m linking to the LifeSite article for citation purposes, since I will be quoting it quite a bit, but that’s not an endorsement that you should read it or,... Read more
I’ve found an answer for all of those people who say we’ve got no room for refugees. The ones who say that America can’t take care of refugees because we’ve barely got enough for ourselves. The ones who ask you how many refugees you can fit in your own home, if they’re going to come here. I answer them right away: twenty thousand and one. My small town of Steubenville has a population of about eighteen thousand, down from about thirty-eight thousand... Read more
When I was growing up, we had a chapel in our house. I knew that other children didn’t have a chapel and we did, but it didn’t strike me as odd. It was one of the rooms in the house. The basement. The living room. The kitchen. The chapel. I was used to it. The chapel had been put in when we got the addition built, when I was seven. My mother had just had her fourth of five children; we... Read more
If I were the president, or a dictator or something, and we had a National Prayer Breakfast, I would require everyone to gather at five o’clock in the morning after Lauds. We’d eat standing and barefoot in the dark, silent, while the Prioress read the Good Friday Reproaches. If I were the president, I would move the bust of Martin Luther King, Junior, out of the oval office, along with all the other busts and every other piece of flotsam... Read more
I got on Facebook, nibbling a gluten-free waffle. I just wanted to complain to my friends. It’s what I do. Then a pop-up appeared in the corner of my screen. “Live: Anti-Fascist Demonstration in Berkeley.” I am against fascism and deeply against Tv’s Donald Trump. I’ve been watching the protests all over the country. I put in my earbud and watched this one. It was more than a demonstration. Something was burning– something that looked like an ice cream pushcart, but turned... Read more
I have here in front of me, a transcript of Donald Trump’s remarks at a White House Black History Month event this morning. These remarks are, in a quiet way, the most tragic thing to come out of the Trump presidency so far. Let’s have a gander: Well, the election, it came out really well. Next time we’ll triple the number or quadruple it. We want to get it over 51, right? At least 51. I’m not pulling your leg.... Read more
I woke to the beating of rain on the window– a dark, sloppy Ohio Valley Tuesday in the darkest, sloppiest part of the year. It was cold. I was depressed. I needed to cheer myself up. I took my daughter Rose downtown to The Friendship Room for a visit. In winter, the Friendship Room is open all day long as a shelter for the homeless and those who can’t afford to heat their houses. Molly says I can come over any time, and visiting always cheers... Read more
There have been, from some quarters, attempts to defend Trump’s recent travel ban on the grounds of his promise to give preferential admission to the USA to Christian refugees. (Factually, they are targeted the same by the policy as written and as currently implemented- read all about it.) This is abhorrent- even assuming that this promise refers to some future state of affairs and not merely another alt-fact. (Evidence-free is the new fat free!) It is abhorrent not only for... Read more
It’s very important to have friends who will help you fill in the parts of your education you’ve missed by being raised on the Planet Charismatic. I know I’m grateful to mine. This morning, I started to get a very small fit of the scruples. Most people raised in spiritually abusive homes are subject to this sort of thing. I start every morning on edge at the best of times, and the past eight days haven’t been good for anybody’s equilibrium. As... Read more
We got so caught up in the flurry of politics yesterday, I forgot it was the feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas, and my husband’s baptism anniversary. Of course, no one at Michael’s baptism knew that it was the feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Michael Christopher, who went by Chris back then, was baptized at a Lutheran church in a small town in Missouri. His mother was a Baptist, raised in a good Baptist home by a Baptist deacon. No drinking, no... Read more
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