> I think the subreddit they probably frequent and enjoy and view as genuinely informative and productive is a shitty, shitty echo chamber of nonsense that is not only convinced that they're right about everything but also convinced that it's literally impossible for them to be wrong about anything
Am a committed Catholic, can confirm.
Once I tried convincing them that the Catholic Church doesn't teach that God's covenant with the Jews is utterly null and void. I cited explicit quotations from cardinals, popes, and even the last ecumenical council, and was universally shouted down -- dozens arguing against me, not a single voice of support.
That place is a dumpster fire and it saddens me that it's the most prominent representative for Catholicism on Reddit.
Perhaps one day they'll learn what the Catholic Church actually is and they'll all go SSPX.
I was thinking along similar lines this morning when I was reading to my daughter.
I was reading to her about the creation story and Adam and Eve being kicked out of the garden and I started to worry a little, thinking to myself - What is she going to think when she realises that I don't think this story literally happened? Will she think I lied to her?
And then I remembered as I read on that this story has so much more value than its literal meaning. It conveys all sorts of messages and ideas. There will come a time when she is ready to separate truth from fiction and when that time comes, I will explain to her how some stories exist to make us think and the truth of these stories is in the lessons they teach us.
But until that day, I see no reason why I should deprive her of these stories altogether.
On a side note - I really liked the moral that this children's book ended the Adam and Eve story with. The moral was: Even though there are consequences to being naughty, God never stops loving us and he never stops watching over us.
It's written by Desmond Tutu. For those who have children, I highly recommend it since it highlights what's best about the bible: compassion, kindness, justice, peace, and hope.
Hey, you sound like a very data-driven person. Don't just take my or any other redditor's word for it -- look at the data. The APA has some great literature reviews and other studies. When it comes to sexual orientation change efforts, this is their research. But God, don't you see how it stigmatizes and pains us when you say you don't believe us when we tell you our experiences? The scrutiny is effectively silencing.
I'm still a senior. My Chinese exams were pushed to next Thursday. Sigh. I just want to open up my copy of Pokemon Moon already. Why can't I finally get the Poppilo I deserve?! cries
Also, small mini-rant: I love Stephen King, and I love On Writing, but, Jesus, he can be so strict when it comes to writing sometimes. Last NaNoWriMo I wasn't able to follow his guidelines due to schoolwork, and I worried about my quality decreasing for a bit. As it turned out, my prose actually got better the less I limited myself to a certain time period or location. Now that I'll have more time to myself for Camp NaNoWriMo, I'm wondering whether to follow his advice or mot.
Hmm, you'd think he'd prefer an Iron Throne...
http://www.thisiswhyimbroke.com/iron-throne-made-of-dildos
I know I would.
[Now if only they could make a vibrating version... 8===D](/intensifies)
> I'm not sure of all of his opinions, but I do know that he had a sort of "acceptance" mentality toward the French republic and wanted Catholics to participate in it rather than refusing to take part in anything that wasn't a restoration of the monarchy - source, particularly 14-19.
Thank you for this.
>I've made quite a few posts on that sub trying to make the distinction between modern "conservatism" (aka right wing liberalism, at least in the US) and Catholic social teaching. I think it's improving, and I see other people making that same distinction...
Thank you for this as well -- I used to make similar comments with rather limited effectiveness. I'm glad people like you are still making them and that things seem to be improving.
I can only hope that the attitude of /r/Catholicism toward Judaism has improved as well. I could tolerate the derogatory things said about the ordinary form of the Mass and even the widespread sacralization of neo-liberalism, but the outright hostility toward Nostra Aetate and the statements of John Paul II on Jews absolutely horrified me. Not infrequently, I'd see posters describe Jews as a "past" and "outmoded" people, a religion based on a covenant with God which has long since been abandoned. My attempts to cite conciliar and papal statements to the contrary (and some remarkably provocative suggestions from several cardinals) were met with a kind of hostility that, I honestly fear, could only be motivated by a deep-seated anti-Judaism. It's a huge, huge problem and one that seemed pretty entrenched with the culture of that sub. Of all the mods, Penguin was alone in expressing any kind of reservation about it (even then, only privately to me). It's scary stuff.
Too bad Richard Beck already wrote the book Rod is writing: Hunting Magic Eels: Recovering an enchanted faith...
Way back in 2011, Frank Schaeffer wrote a tell-all book about his parents, with much lurid detail on their sex lives. At the time, Rod roundly chastised Schaeffer for writing such things about his family while some of them were still alive. Ironic, huh?
One of Wendell Berry's best and most famous essays is "Why I Am Not Going to Buy a Computer". He discussed how he writes in pencil and his wife types it up. He got a lot of grief for that, mostly people (wrongly) assumed that he was making wifey do the grunt work. In his follow-up essay, "Feminism, the Body, and the Machine" (both essays are available in the book What Are People For?), he had the great line, "I am aware that it is not possible to construct a public defense of a private life." He's right--you'll always come off either as making excuses and/or trashing your spouse. Rod, of course, seems not to get this. As you note, he continues to trash other people for their choices; and he's even indirectly trashed is wife and mother-in-law; and yet he still tries to publicly defend his private life. He could learn a lot from Berry.
Even more pertinent is this book.
I'm guessing that Rod has not read this book:
Anyone who is Orthodox, Russian or otherwise, or considering becoming Orthodox, needs to read this book. It really shatters any idealistic notions one might have about the Orthodox world. I'm not saying someone ought not to be or become Orthodox (or anything else, for that matter); just that they need to go in clear-eyed and at least a little bit cynical.
Haha! Yeah, that's a real problem with some sites. I was thinking along the lines of Google's current version of the reCAPTCHA which in many cases only requires the user to confirm with a single click that they're not a robot, or let them pick images that contain a certain thing. That plus some kind of rate throttling.
Oh you know the same old thing. Worked the late shift, didn't sleep till late, and has woken up by a dog's bleeding asshole. So I made it just in time to not go to church, pew!
After dealing with bloody poop everywhere I helped my father stare at some wood instead of moving it like we need to afterwards I enjoyed some fine ass black tea and a book about habits and habbit formation that is pretty dang good. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhhig if any one is curious.
Trying to figure that out. I'm going back over "How to Win Friends and Influence People" and checking out new books like "Cracking the Code" to refresh and challenge myself. Man audio books are great.
It's kind of a leitmotif in of all her writing. Here's a good digest, written primarily for a wider, non-academic audience. The Jewish Annontated New Testament is a great resource here too.