The Friendly Atheist is Factually Wrong about Catholicism & Contraception

Last updated on: December 19, 2018 at 2:45 pm By Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC

A popular writer here at Patheos is Hemant Mehta, AKA the Friendly Atheist. Obviously, we often disagree. I understand that when he summarizes Catholic beliefs his summaries would be far from what I would write. However, in a recent column about a Catholic hospital aligning with Catholic teaching and no longer offering sterilization surgeries (Good news!), he states Catholic teaching in a way that directly contradicts the facts. I will point out the facts. Mehta said: The Catholic Church is against... Read more

2 Anonymous Priests: Silence Regarding Priestly Misconduct Is a Problem

Last updated on: December 18, 2018 at 10:38 am By Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC

Too often, the modus operandi in the Church continues to be ignoring problems priests have. So often we look at them and assume as long as they aren’t minors or major PR disasters, we can ignore them. This silence is a disaster! When we ignore serious misconduct in other spheres, we keep these priests from getting help and we open up to ignoring bigger problems. I want to go through two anonymous examples of priests I’ve spoken with who feel... Read more

Designer Babies Are Here: Let’s Not Kid Ourselves

Last updated on: December 13, 2018 at 8:02 pm By Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC

This week, A Cecile JW Janssens, a professor of Epidemiology at Emory University, tried to argue that designer babies aren’t here and aren’t coming. Her article was published in The Conversation. I want to go over her article including her main arguments – environment and gene interactions – followed by the reality of genetic investigation and current abortion rates for testable “imperfections.” I conclude with a cautionary warning. The First Designer Baby Janssens begins with the first designer baby chosen to be... Read more

Pope Francis: Our Father Should Say “Abandon Us Not When in Temptation”

Last updated on: December 13, 2018 at 4:52 pm By Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC

The Our Father is a central Christian prayer. It is not originally in English but our English translation has changed over time. Last year, Pope Francis spoke about changing a translation currently used in Italian and English. The Italian bishops have proposed changing “lead us not into temptation” to “abandon us not when in temptation.” Many other languages have this, it is theologically accurate, and it is a good translation. I will cover this new development followed by what Francis said a... Read more

Starbucks & Tumblr Banning Porn before Notre Dame

Last updated on: December 8, 2018 at 8:11 pm By Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC

Yes, you read that right. All public forums and all Catholic institutes should ban porn. It is surprising that some secular businesses have gotten the message about the damage porn causes before some Catholic institutes. These are not businesses known for being particularly Christian either. I offer details of Starbucks, Tumblr, and Notre Dame, followed by a few comments to conclude. Starbucks Business Insider covered how Starbucks was banning porn: Next year, the coffee giant plans to introduce a new tool meant to... Read more

Spiritual Direction, Scruples, Vocation, Confession, etc. (Spiritual Situations Q&A on CuriousCat)

Last updated on: December 7, 2018 at 10:44 am By Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC

A few weeks ago, I published an intro to the spiritual life Q&A based on questions via my CuriousCat. Well, I promised a follow-up about specific situations in the spiritual life. Here it is. I doubt every question applies to every person but scroll through the questions to see if any fit you and share with friends. How do you get a spiritual director? There is no surefire way to get a spiritual director but I’ll give you some general steps.... Read more

Atheists Trolled Me for 5 Days, So I Learned Their Strategies

Last updated on: December 7, 2018 at 9:15 am By Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC

Two weeks ago, I posted a version of the popular meme-like format of “Don’t say it.” It pointed out the logical inconsistencies of atheists online. [Sees Atheists memes online] My brain: Don’t say it Don’t say it Don’t say it Don’t say it Don’t say it Don’t say it Don’t say it Me: It takes more faith to be an atheist than a Christian, & I don’t have that much faith. — Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC�️ (@FrMatthewLC) November 16,... Read more

Family Advent Traditions (via Twitter)

Last updated on: December 2, 2018 at 5:56 pm By Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC

On Twitter, I asked for people’s Advent traditions. Here are some of the best responses. What are people’s advent traditions? How do you share this season as a family? (Disclosure: these may be compiled into an article.) — Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC (@FrMatthewLC) November 28, 2018 My family wasn’t big on Advent traditions. We just lit an Advent wreath on Sunday at dinner and maybe a few other days of the week during dinner. Advent Wreaths and Calendars Advent Wreaths... Read more

Science Didn’t Prove Adam & Eve or Noah’s Ark

Last updated on: November 30, 2018 at 10:56 am By Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC

A whole bunch of media reports seemed to imply some scientists proved Adam & Eve or Noah’s Ark. The headlines read, “Did a mysterious extinction event precede Adam and Eve?” (Fox), “All humans are descended from just TWO people and a catastrophic event almost wiped out ALL species 100,000 years ago” (Daily Mail), or “Turns out all of humanity is related to a single couple” (NY Post). However, this research on Mitochondrial Eve does not mean what many people assumed: it... Read more

Twitter Newspeak: You Must Say “Caitlyn Jenner Won the Men’s Decathlon in 1976”

Last updated on: March 20, 2022 at 6:29 pm By Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC

Twitter has just banned deadnaming and misgendering. This means you must call people by their preferred name and pronouns. You can’t refer to someone by what they were previously known as. As I posted on Twitter: In the new Twitter terms of service, you must say, “Caitlyn Jenner won the men’s decathlon at the 1976 Olympics.” In Orwell’s 1984 this was called Newspeak. https://t.co/Hz8WwnEDDV — Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC (@FrMatthewLC) November 25, 2018 Banning Deadnaming As the new “Hateful Comment... Read more