The death penalty and the spirit of the law
Over at Where Peter Is, Robert Fastiggi continues his look at the development of doctrine concerning the death penalty. His basic goal in the second part of his essay is to show that, despite the outrage Reactionaries, the Church retains the authority to develop doctrine even when they don’t like it. He concludes: The Magisterium […]
Recently, Where Peter Is ran a series on the death penalty…
…or, more specifically, on the Church’s move to demand the abolition of the death penalty. Here’s a taste of the first piece, but do read the whole thing: The truths of Scripture and tradition are certainly essential, but who has the authority to determine the context, meaning, and ongoing applicability of Scripture? It is the […]
Being as How Seattle was Founded September 25, 1851…
…I thought I would post my friend Jonathan Potter’s poem “Seattle” in honor of My Home Town. You can find more of his excellent writing here.
The Rise of the Machines–Why Automation is Different This Time
Horrid Red Things and the Sacred Heart Devotion
Back in June, over on the Book of Face, I remarked (on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart): I’ve always loved that there is a Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, but no Solemnity of the Sacred Head. Jesus always led with his heart, not with cold, calculating self-interest. The whole work of redemption he did […]
Yet another right wing moral panic bites the dust
Remember a couple of months ago when the Most Wrong People in American public life–Conservative QANON Christians and “prolife” MAGA cult of death suckers–were telling everybody that you absolutely had to go see SOUND OF FREEDOM and praise it to the skies as the Most Important Film of Our Time, as well as lionizing its […]
The Perfect Traitor
One of the great mysteries of the MAGA antichrist cult is the surprise that each of its adherents feel when the most selfish man in the history of the Republic throws them under the bus after having betrayed umpteen other dupes and lackeys. If there is anything Trump has made extraordinarily clear, it is that […]
Kevin O’Brien on the Fetish of Certainty
Kevin O’Brien, wrestling with the false sense of certitude that the Greatest Catholics of All Time[TM] have often manifested, struggles understandably with distinguishing what is permanent and what is prudential in the Church’s deposit of faith. So here’s what’s been interesting me lately, and it ties into Enthusiasm and my other musings. I engaged in a discussion […]
David Bentley Hart on Wishing People into Hell
David Bentley Hart is an Orthodox theologian, famously blunt and given to speaking his highly educated and erudite mind on a wide variety of subjects. Theologically, he is (like most Orthodox) what many Protestants would call “conservative” (in that he aims to conserve the Christian tradition rather than jettison it in favor of culture war […]