Was Elizabeth Scalia — known to all as The Anchoress — the first writer to question the Shirley Sherrod story? Richard Hyfler of Forbes says yes, and adds that she’s the only one who emerged from the imbroglio looking good. When Andrew Breitbart released his heavily edited video — and most of us assumed it … Read more
Over on his newly launched blog, Michael Brendan Dougherty comments on children’s author Philip Pullman and his latest attempt to deconstruct Christianity. In his new book The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, Pullman follows a well-trod path by excising any reference to the miraculous in the Gospel accounts, leaving a Jesus who resembles … Read more
Man’s inborn religious instinct tells him that there is more than the sensible world; indeed, it “never feels natural to accept only natural things,” as Chesterton said. But about the afterlife we have more than just an intuitive inkling. Throughout history there have been manifestations — some vague, others more concrete — to support this … Read more
From time to time, I like to think nostalgically back to those days when the “silly season” of political campaigning was actually just a season — rather than the year-round, “all-day/every-day” media construct we are plagued with nowadays. From time to time, I am also reminded that this “charming” nostalgia of mine is probably more … Read more
Few saints are remembered in art, but those who are tend to appear with frequency. In their representations, these holy figures have come to be associated with some characteristic symbols… St. Peter with the keys Jesus gave him, St. Paul with the sword that killed him, and so on. In this piece, I’ve focused on … Read more
Because IC went offline last Friday while we worked on the redesign, I wasn’t able to post my usual Friday morning link round-up. (I know, it was hard for me, too.) One of the articles I had lined up that I didn’t want to go unmentioned was this excellent series from Emily Bazelon at Slate … Read more
Well, I’m home from Rome, and as always, the transition has been slightly bumpy. There are things that smooth it out – like when my niece Isabella randomly hugged me with all her little might and said, “I love you.” But there are things I don’t like so much… and one of them is noticing … Read more
Tolu Ogunlesi at 3 Quarks Daily wrote a fascinating piece yesterday called, “Five Things You Didn’t Know About Africa.” It’s short… and worth a read. Here’s a snippet: Ever heard of the Rift Valley? It’s the place in East Africa where scientists tell us humans first learned to walk on two feet, and from where … Read more
Commenter H.D.W. (7th comment down) wisely suggested a “Do It Yourself” approach to Distributism: To make economies more centered on individuals and families, work to make your household a place of value creation. This is both powerful and satisfying. Gardening, homeschooling, raising chickens, caring for elderly parents, shopping at the farmers market, fixing your own … Read more
Last week, I had an earache. You nod briefly. Okay. Duly noted. Earache. Can we get on to the article? I reply, “You don’t get it. Last week, I had an earache.” I don’t mean, “Little twingy pain, like a headache or a sore toe.” I mean, “Worst and most excruciating pain I have felt … Read more
Like Steve, I can’t wait to start familiarizing myself with the new IC blogging interface. Maybe I should say “couldn’t wait.” I got about 37% through Brian’s exceedingly helpful “Blogging Tutorial” before striking out on my own. And striking out. I kept uploading pictures (I thought), and then being unable to find them. I think … Read more
One wonders, did the Romans (the old pagan Romans) know that they were done for? I am thinking of the third and fourth centuries, when the markers of civilizational decline were all around them, and yet life went on. That famous Goth Alaric had not yet trashed the Eternal City, nor Attila shaken it with … Read more
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Steve Skojec, and you might remember me from such blogs as: Inside Catholic, or even, if you didn’t loathe every thought I committed to writing, my old blog at SteveSkojec.com (it’s now the site for my as-yet-in-the-idea-phase photography business, about to undergo changes of its own soon, … Read more
Among the many awesome additions to the new and improved InsideCatholic, this is one that I’m very excited about: Introducing Cord Hamrick — aka “R.C.” — to our blogging family. This is usually the place where I’d introduce Cord, but longtime readers will know him already: R.C. has been writing insightful, thought-provoking, and encouraging commentary … Read more
Two weeks ago, Slate‘s Amanda Marcotte wrote about how glad she is that women today feel free to opt out of childbearing. They’re empowered by “choice,” and that’s a great thing, says Marcotte. The problem, as she sees it, is that Americans increasingly believe it’s bad for society — the numbers are up 10 per … Read more
The Spectator just had this shitpile: “We’re going to have a public option,” Reid said. “It’s just a question of when.” Reid’s general comments reflected the same overall message to progressives that President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivered earlier today. It essentially boils down to: We’ve done a lot of stuff, but we … Read more
I’m old enough to remember three channels on our black-and-white TV, which was topped with rabbit ears. Those were the days when neighbors naughtily listened in to conversations on the “party line,” and the length of a long-distance phone call had to be carefully measured using the second hand on a wind-up clock. I’ve also … Read more
Welcome to the brand new InsideCatholic! Almost exactly three years ago, we launched the initial version of the site. While we’re proud of that effort, it was very much a first step. This is our second. As Deal mentioned in his morning column, we’ve designed this next iteration of IC to take full advantage of … Read more
Imagine one body with two heads. The twin giants of the Catholic literary revival of the early 20th century, G.K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc, were so much associated in the eyes of the reading public that they together became the butt of the caricaturist’s humor and the satirist’s wit. Most famously, George Bernard Shaw, in … Read more
It’s a pretty well-established fact that the new social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) have permanently changed the way we think about on-line privacy. But I’m not sure I had thought about it in terms as stark as those Jeffrey Rosen uses in his New York Times Magazine article, “The Web Means the End of Forgetting” (my emphasis … Read more