Is it really too much to ask those who struggle to define the word “woman” to refrain from running for public office? Ketanji Brown Jackson, Joe’s Biden’s nominee for the Supreme Court, was asked to provide the dreaded definition during her confirmation hearing on Tuesday. “No I can’t,” she replied. “I’m not a biologist.” Jackson…Have we …
Our Obsession with Credentials
Growing up with an obsessively patriotic father, one of the advantages he gave of our society over the one we separated ourselves form (and I mean the United Kingdom) was that, while the UK elevated people based on their credentials, ours did so based on what they actually accomplished. Whether his characterisation of the UK …
With Swimming the Tiber, Timing is Everything
The stampede of bishops from the Church of England continues: In little more than a year, four former Church of England bishops have come into full communion with the Catholic Church, either through the ordinary Roman Catholic diocese or through the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, a Catholic diocese with Anglican traditions for the …
Continue reading "With Swimming the Tiber, Timing is Everything"
Those Treasonous Conservatives
They are the object of the ire of establishment lefties and neocons alike: As pervasive as “traitor” accusations were during the Trump presidency, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has elevated this "treason” mania to never-before-seen heights. Everyone and anyone who questions or deviates in any way from the prevailing bipartisan consensus is accused of being …
The Real Reason Space Colonization Will Fail
Werner Herzog has his idea: It is a utopia, and you do not need to be a scientist or expert researcher [to understand what will pass]. You just sit back, twiddle your thumbs, enjoy your beer, and wait until it fails. [Space colonization] will fail. My explanation is a little more mundane in explanation, if …
Continue reading "The Real Reason Space Colonization Will Fail"
Book Review: Richard Niebuhr’s The Social Sources of Denominationalism
It's another pet peeve of mine: Americans can't bring themselves to discuss the effects of class differentiation in the life of the church, let alone the life of the nation. They'll talk about just about every other type of differentiation, especially those related to race or gender. But class? Off the table. That applies to …
Continue reading "Book Review: Richard Niebuhr’s The Social Sources of Denominationalism"
Energy Puritans Enable Enemies of Democracies — Science Matters
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg (Reuters) Western media has stirred up a puritanical revulsion against carbon-based energy, resulting in calls for prohibition of fossil fuels. Leaders in western democracies responded with regulations and constraints punishing companies either producing energy or operating supply infrastructure. This empowers market dominance by sovereign energy […]Energy …
Continue reading "Energy Puritans Enable Enemies of Democracies — Science Matters"
Anglican Tidbit: Bulletin for the First Sunday in Lent
In another installment of this series of "Bulletins from Bethesda," here is the First Sunday in Lent, 1967. There are quite a few interesting observations to be made about this bulletin: As was the case at the time, the Holy Communion was celebrated consistently at 0800. This was the appointed (second) Sunday for the Holy …
Continue reading "Anglican Tidbit: Bulletin for the First Sunday in Lent"
Penitential Rite, from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer
It's needed now: One thing that always struck me about this and so many other penitential rites in the Anglican liturgy (like this one) is that God always is ready to forgive and have us back. That's missing in many of the moral systems that are being imposed on us these days.
The Hidden Life of Jesus Until His Baptism
This section of the Elevations concentrates on Jesus’ growing up years, and specifically the one incident that is recorded in the Gospel: his visit to Jerusalem, his separation from his parents, his time in the Temple with the Jewish sages, and his reunion with his parents. The weeks are as follows: The hidden life of …
Continue reading "The Hidden Life of Jesus Until His Baptism"
Positive Infinity 