Random stuff I find interesting and you may not.
“The devil always sends errors into the world in pairs—pairs of opposites. And he always encourages us to spend a lot of time thinking which is the worse. You see why, of course? He relies on your extra dislike of the one error to draw you gradually into the opposite one.” C.S. Lewis The Philosophers … Read more
If Bishop Robert Prevost personally participated in a rite explicitly identified as Pachamama in 1995, then the Pope Francis’ 2019 Vatican Gardens spectacle begins to look less like an anomaly and more like an eruption. What broke on March 18 landed like a second Amazon Synod, except this time the issue was not whether Leo … Read more
So what happens when you live in a country where people take potshots at you every other day or so? Well, unless something like October 7th happens, or Islamists blow themselves up, you get pretty used to dealing with the peril and get on with your life. Hamas and Hezbollah have been lobbing rockets at … Read more
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has released propaganda footage of an underground complex it calls “Missile City,” a vast network of tunnels packed with suicide drones and ballistic missiles. The video, complete with a ticking clock and endless rows of Shahed drones and rockets, was released days after the US-Israeli strike that eliminated Supreme … Read more
US President Donald Trump’s decision to launch joint military strikes on Iran with Israel has provoked an epic fury of opposition from parts of his so-called “America First” base, whose talking points have now apparently inspired Iranian officials to echo them. “Mr. Rubio admitted what we all knew: US has entered a war of choice … Read more
The Islamic Republic and its ‘Axis of Resistance’ are victims of their own suicidal lunacy. Not even three years ago, paid goons of the Islamic Republic murdered a 13-year-old British girl. They bashed their way into the room in which she had scrabbled for sanctuary with her mother and sister and shot her to death. … Read more
Tonight the celebration of the holiday of Purim begins. Purim is a Jewish holiday often neglected outside the more religious communities in America and Israel because it commemorates an attempt to exterminate the Jews. If Purim had concluded with a lesson on tolerance, liberal Jews might be more inclined to celebrate it. Unfortunately it ends … Read more
Notre Dame’s abortion-activist debacle exposes a leadership untethered from the Church it claims to serve. The University of Notre Dame came under fire over the course of the past month for promoting an associate professor known nationally for her radical abortion activism, which, needless to say, is in direct conflict with one of the most … Read more
The internet, that great distorter of information, tells me that Cardinal Robert Sarah is “a member of the right wing of the Catholic Church.” An outsider might look at this and wonder if the Catholic Church is a hockey team with right and left wings. If it were, Cardinal Sarah would be the center, harboring … Read more
In the eighteen months I have been writing a near-weekly column for Catholic Culture, I have not been shy on the topic of Catholic-Jewish relations in the shadow of the Israel-Gaza War. You can read my previous work on the topic here, here, here, here, here, here and here. My emphasis has been that Catholics … Read more
This year marks the ten-year anniversary of the martyrdom of Jacques Hamel, the 85-year-old French priest who was brutally murdered on July 26, 2016, by two Muslim men inspired by the terrorist group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, otherwise known as ISIS or ISIL. During the Prayers of Petition, the two men, … Read more
These first four days of the holy season of Lent serve as a preface, indicating the preparation that we ought to make in order to spend Lent well and to dispose ourselves to fast well. That is why I have thought to speak to you, in this exhortation, of the conditions which render fasting good … Read more
The Iranian regime used Chinese and Russian technology to silence dissent during recent nationwide anti-government protests, imposing near-total internet shutdowns and disrupting satellite communications to suppress public scrutiny, according to a new study. On Monday, the international human rights organization Article 19 released a new report examining digital cooperation between China and Iran, detailing Beijing’s … Read more
A weird tic appears in certain critics whenever the president does something particularly loathsome, like dancing on the grave of a critic who was just stabbed to death by his son. They’ll hop onto social media and declare, with great solemnity, that our children and grandchildren will struggle to fathom how we put this man … Read more
For the leader. A psalm of David, 2when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had gone in to Bathsheba.a I 3Have mercy on me, God, in accord with your merciful love; in your abundant compassion blot out my transgressions. 4Thoroughly wash away my guilt; and from my sin cleanse me. 5For I know … Read more
There’s a famous skit from the Irish sitcom Father Ted where, after hearing that his priest was caught making comedic caricatures of Asians, a parishioner greets him over a dry stone wall. “I hear you’re a racist now, Father,” he yells. “Should we all be racists now? What’s the official line the Church’s taking on … Read more
U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche joined ABC’s This Week on Sunday to defend or explain a lot of controversies for the Trump administration: the Epstein files release, the events in Minneapolis, etc. He was also asked about possible conflicts of interest between President Donald Trump’s family business and his job. Specifically, Blanche was asked … Read more
The All Saints Day proclamation of St. John Henry Newman as a Doctor of the Church was entirely welcome, if not without a certain irony. First, the good news. Newman was one of the most creative Christian minds of the 19th century, a truth seeker whose lifelong search for the face of Christ took him … Read more
“If we stop funding all sports stadiums tomorrow, then the world wouldn’t change hardly at all,” says one economist. This year’s Super Bowl between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots will feature several interesting story lines: Sam Darnold’s redemption arc, Mike Vrabel’s coaching job, and the Seahawks hoping to avenge themselves for the … Read more
Failing to mention the Jews on Holocaust Remembrance Day reflects a deep moral sickness. It’s not often we can say JD Vance and the BBC have something in common. The bruising VP of the United States and the lily-handed woke-mongers of Britain’s public broadcaster probably disagree on every big topic. But this week, briefly, they … Read more
A leading cardinal and former secretary of the Roman Curia has spoken to the Catholic Herald about the state of the Church, the role of the papacy, and how Catholics should approach authority. Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, described the veneration of the private and … Read more
Following USAID cuts, a network of Catholic university-based advocacy groups, staffed by USCCB and Biden-admin alumni, enables the bishops to continue advancing porous border initiatives. For decades, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops played an unmistakably political role in national immigration debates, issuing forceful policy statements, lobbying Congress, running public relations trips to the U.S.-Mexican … Read more
THE SHEER velocity of the wreckage is almost impossible to process. “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom,” Benjamin Franklin wrote. In just the past few weeks, the American president has threatened military action against Denmark, a NATO ally, if it doesn’t surrender Greenland to the United States. He moved to punish a US … Read more
A new long‑term study from the United States has revealed that a significant number of women continue to experience deep regret years after having an abortion, prompting fresh reflection on how society supports women who face crisis pregnancies. Researchers tracked thousands of women over a period of years and found that around one in four … Read more
Do you know what might have saved Renee Good’s life? A necktie. Bear with me. Good’s death was the result of a lack of professionalism on the part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Whatever silly shenanigans Good may have been up to before the shooting, the video of the incident makes it clear that … Read more