1. Something to get clear in your mind is that a religious dogma is no less of a dogma because it is materialist. Evolution is, for most people, a religious dogma. Therefore, the narrative that teaching Evolution makes students more critical or rational thinkers, as opposed to teaching religious dogma, is nonsense because evolution is … Continue reading Sunday Sundry: Evolutionary Mindset, Wodehouse, and Leadership
Faith
Friday Flotsam: Habemus Papam, Herzog’s Mindset, and Woodstock
1. Habemus Papam! Short hours ago, I would have taken it as axiomatic than an American Cardinal will never be elected Pope. We exert so much power and influence over the rest of the world that I took it for granted the Cardinals would never willingly give them the Papacy as well. I have no … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Habemus Papam, Herzog’s Mindset, and Woodstock
Palm Sunday Flotsam: Christ’s Majesty and Lesser Matters
1. On Palm Sunday, Christ enters Jerusalem as a conquering king, His way strewn with palms. But He is a most unusual king: riding unarmed upon a borrowed donkey, His retinue being a motley bunch of fishermen, zealots, and ex-tax collectors. And when He enters the city, He does not take His seat or meet … Continue reading Palm Sunday Flotsam: Christ’s Majesty and Lesser Matters
‘Death Note’ and Hell (*Spoiler Warning*)
I will be spoiling the end of Death Note in this one. In the beginning of Death Note, the shinigami (death god), Ryuk warns Light that any mortal who uses a Death Note will never go to heaven or hell, hinting at a unique punishment for such a transgression. At the very end it is … Continue reading ‘Death Note’ and Hell (*Spoiler Warning*)
Saturday Flotsam: Hammer Films and Not Much Else
1. My parents are in town visiting, so my schedule (such as it is) is thrown off, hence another Saturday Flotsam 2. I didn't have a lot of chance to get into the Halloween spirit this year, between work and other matters. I did get a chance to revisit Hammer Films' Horror of Dracula, starring … Continue reading Saturday Flotsam: Hammer Films and Not Much Else
Friday Flotsam: Sacred Heart, Fr. Kapaun, More Japan
1. A blessed Feast of the Sacred Heart, and month of the Sacred Heart! This is one of my favorite devotions, partly on its own merits, partly because of its associations (though of course, these are not unrelated). What is the heart? It is the core of a man, the source of life, the seat … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Sacred Heart, Fr. Kapaun, More Japan
Ascension Thought
Today is the transplanted Feast of the Ascension: scooped up out of its place in the week and stashed away on a Sunday where it won't trouble anyone. This is rather the opposite of the meaning of the event itself. Christ's bodily Ascension into Heaven is far from His 'removal' from the world; the obnoxious … Continue reading Ascension Thought
Friday Flotsam: Various and Sundry
1. The weather is warming up, which means my middle schoolers were extra rowdy this week. I am increasingly convinced that children are, in truth, reptiles. 2. For recreation I started re-reading The Ball and the Cross for the first time in quite a while. Chesterton's way with words is of the sort that is … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Various and Sundry
He Is Risen
Alleluia!
Friday Flotsam: Good Friday
No flotsam today. Watch and Pray.