Concerning Islam

(I have been struggling with the bug that has been going around these last few dates. A commenter asked me to reprise what I had written about Islam a few years ago. I published this piece in November, 2015. The only thing I would change comes in Item 4 of my summary at the bottom, […]

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A Terrible Resolve

(A few housekeeping notes: 1) Of late, some commenters have adopted excessively salty language, which we frown on here. I have instructed moderators either to not clear such comments or, if the comment has compelling value, to edit out excessive saltiness before clearing it. 2) I was stunned to discover on Facebook that I have […]

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The End of the Beginning, Part II

By Charlie Johnston When he was in St. Louis and Milwaukee, Cardinal Timothy Dolan was an archetype of shrewd orthodoxy, a reliable defender of both the faith and the faithful. It was sometimes delightful to watch him elegantly skewer an attacker with a shrewd riposte. I miss that guy. Dolan announced he would not excommunicate […]

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The End of The Beginning, Part I

By Charlie Johnston As this decade began, every leftist leader in America – and most of the world – was pointing to Venezuela under the guidance of strongman Hugo Chavez, as the icon of what we should all aspire to become. They were downright fawning over how Chavez had shown how a “just” society could […]

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The Longest Night

I don’t really want to write anything until after Christmas. Maybe just a few notes to tide you over. In the last month I have spoken to about a dozen people I much respect who have had their faith shaken badly by events of this last year. Some have abandoned faith almost altogether, hanging on […]

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Paradise on Fire

(Mike and Deon Mangan are part of the team that facilitated my visits to the Sacramento area – and are great friends of this site. Several times, they acted as my primary drivers in the area. Mike looks almost exactly like my high school band director. The Mangans were among the families evacuated from the […]

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