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The fearsome Wolf of Gubbio
I have a complicated relationship with the holy man of Assisi, St. Francis. I no longer profess to be a Catholic, but I was a member of the Catholic religious order Francis founded in the 13th century, the Franciscans, for five years, from the time I was 19 until I was 24. Before that, I…
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Spooky
It’s here… tomorrow night. Halloween. The weirdest holiday on the calendar, after Labor Day, when we celebrate work by – wait for it – not working. This holiday focuses on ghosts and disembodied spirits of various and sundry types. And we combine that with kids going door-to-door asking for candy wearing costumes, while some people…
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Putting America first does not mean putting humanity last
We have a vice president who is a recent convert to Catholicism and, like Ross Douthat at the New York Times, thinks this qualifies him to tell us what Catholicism is (and what it isn’t). It was JD Vance who was among the last people to see and speak with Pope Francis before he died…
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Triskaidekaphobia
While I stopped “practicing” the Catholic faith of my youth decades before, I “de-converted” to use Seth Andrews’ phrase (whose book I devoured, and to whom I wrote) in March of 2019. But de-converting is not as simple as just owning up to the fact that you don’t believe in god. I think most people…
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This is how religions get started
Perhaps the most erudite commenter on religion of my lifetime, the late Christopher Hitchens, once said: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him will believeth in anything. – Hitchens 3:16 In 1963 at a small, liberal arts school in Northfield, Minnesota called Carleton College,…
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What have Corn Flakes got to do with sex?
I like spicy food. Mind you, I don’t want to have to be taken to the ER over the spiciness, but it’s fun (and satisfying) when it presents you with a little bit of a challenge. You know who didn’t think so? John Harvey Kellogg, brother of Will Keith (better known as “WK”) Kellogg. John…
Your mileage may vary.