Occasional reflections on religion, culture, politics, and anything else that comes into my mind...
MY SONG ABOUT
THE LAST SUPPER
The first of my original song lyrics I posted after starting this blog focused on a key event of the Easter Triduum: the Last Supper. (I have reposted it in years since.)
The song was bit of conjecture about what one of the apostles (perhaps John?) might have thought looking back from a few years after. I wrote it as an Easter meditation piece, and have performed it many times at Holy Thursday services.
Give the lyrics a read, and have a blessed Easter…
GAY MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG CAN’T
AVOID JUDEO-CHRISTIAN MORALITY
As the old saying goes…
“Hypocrisy is the tribute which vice pays to virtue.”
That maxim — credited to 17th-Century French essayist Francois Duc De La Rochefoucaul — came to mind when I read that South Bend Mayor and would-be presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg had cited Donald Trump’s sexual history as a put-down of both the President and his supporters.
SMOLLETT AND MUELLER CALL
FOR MEDIA SELF-EXAMINATION
Jussie Smollett avoided prosecution by doing community service, but he worked on the wrong project. He should have been assigned to help OJ track down Nicole’s killer.
There. I’m sure I’m not the only one to have thought of that line. It’s so obvious. Are we hearing it from our trendy-lefty comedy hosts?
I don’t watch much late-night TV, so let me know if someone says anything like that.
What we do know is that Jussie is still insisting he’s dedicated to defending the rights of all those “marginalized” people. We also know we aren’t hearing very much contrition among media talking heads for all the attention showered on his hate-crime fantasy. And the reason is obvious…
HACKING PUTS US
AT RISK ONLINE
This week I appeared on the Catholic podcast, “Fiat Ministry Network,” speaking about my novel, MY BROTHER’S KEEPER, and mentioning how it could be purchased directly from my blog.
The next day my wife, Kathy, wanted to make sure the purchase link was functioning properly. So she went to the blog, where she discovered that overnight all the links had been altered to take anyone who clicked on them to some other website.
I had obviously been hacked.
Identifying the root URL of that mysterious page, she discovered that the underlying platform was a page written in Ukrainian.
What was this?
I’m of Ukrainian extraction. Is there someone back in the Old Country harboring a long-standing grudge against my emigrant grandfather? Do we owe money to some disgruntled relative over there? Why would anyone have taken it upon themselves to hack this blog?
FORGET EMPTY GESTURES ON HATE
DEFEND THE 1ST AMENDMENT
I hate hate. I mean I really hate hate.
And I hate the haters who hate. I hate them because they’re so…well…so hateful. And I just hate that.
It’s a good thing Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats pushed for that anti-hate resolution.
There can be no question now that Americans believe hate is bad.
And that’s good.
Because we don’t want any haters around here.
People could get the idea that we tolerate hate. And I’d hate for them to think that.
Hate is intolerance. And tolerating that kind of intolerance is…intolerable.
– – –
GET GREAT LENTEN READING
AND MEET THE AUTHORS
Good Shepherd Catholic Radio, an AM/FM station covering south-central Michigan, will host a group of distinguished Catholic authors — among whom is moi — at a mini book fair to be held at Queen of the Miraculous Medal Parish, 606 South Wisner Street, in Jackson, Michigan.
Titled Catholic Authors of Michigan, the event will be held Saturday, March 30, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. It is open to the general public, and refreshments will be available.
Guest authors expected to participate are…
IT’S GOOD TO REMIND OURSELVES
OF OUR FLAWS AND FAILINGS
In acknowledgment of Ash Wednesday, here are some thoughts I’ve posted several times since they first appeared back in 2014…
____________
I have to confess that there are certain Catholic pious practices I don’t entirely get.
It probably reflects the fact that I’m an adult convert and wasn’t raised in the Church — or that I’ve made less progress on my spiritual journey than I like to assume.
One of the things I don’t get is fasting.
SLANDERING TRUMPSTERS WAS
LOGICAL TO JUSSIE SMOLLETT
The endless media cycle has already spun ’round several times since Jussie Smollett’s claim of being attacked by two Trump supporters was exposed as another pathetic victimization fantasy. This less-than-A-list actor is already fading into Jussie-Who? status.
He enjoyed a moment of fame when his IMDb ranking (a measure of recognizability with which Hollywood folk are obsessed) peaked at Number 10. But his character was written out of the last three current-season episodes of the series, “Empire,” on which he’s been featured. Will he recover? Maybe. But at the moment, his long-term employability is uncertain.
So if boosting his career was the motive for claiming persecution based on his intersectional characteristics of race and sexuality — as has been speculated — it probably wasn’t the shrewdest move.
ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ
BENEFITS FROM CUTENESS
In an episode of the comedy/detective TV series, “Monk,” Adrian Monk’s assistant, Natalie, suggests doing something to gain information that might help solve the week’s mystery. I can’t recall what mystery they were trying to solve or what Natalie suggested, but I do remember her idea was considered so outrageous that she couldn’t possibly get away with it. “I can do anything I want,” she replied serenely, “I’m cute.”
Indeed, Natalie expressed a great truth: Much is allowed — or forgiven — a girl who’s cute.
STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
ANOTHER TRUMPIAN TRIUMPH
The Donald’s bravura performance in his State of the Union Address, and the overwhelming burst of public approval following it, remind us that individuals make history.
Unshaken by the scowling faces of those women in white — indeed, clearly amused by them — the President managed once again to put Democrats on the back foot in their resistance to his Great Wall of Trump. And pretty much everything else as well.
JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS
ABOUT THOSE COVINGTON BOYS
My friend and former Hillsdale College colleague, Dan Bisher, has gained some prominence as a regional historian through his book, Faded Memories, which examines Michigan’s frontier period, as well as through presentations he gives at libraries and schools.
A special focus of his work is the Potawatomi Indian culture that flourished in south-central Michigan until the infamous “Trail of Tears” episode that saw removal of indigenous people to reservations in the American southwest.
Dan’s talks are well attended, and they generate plenty of questions, especially from children, who are always interested in native American life.
Indian lore is a fascination for kids, exposed as they are from a young age to storybooks, TV shows, movies, and school lessons about the earliest residents of the Western Hemisphere. When they learn about the displacement of native culture by European civilization, youngsters tend to feel a special empathy that blends romance, nostalgia and a sense of loss. I dare say no other people have quite the same hold on their hearts as American Indians do.
Which is why I was quite perplexed when I saw the first video images of those Covington, Kentucky, school boys confronted by a native drummer on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.