Association Of Catholic Bloggers

I'll start with something that should be flamingly obvious. Murder is a bad idea and I shouldn't do it. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2268-2269) By murder, I mean deliberately killing an innocent person. Which is what someone who apparently expressed "ill will" against corporate America has been charged with. This isn't what I'll be talking about in my 'Saturday' post. But an insurance executive from Minnesota getting killed is still international news, and the situation touches on points I think are important. Some expert said the way folks are reacting is "deeply concerning". More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (The killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has been praised. American healthcare has problems, but I see the killing and praise as bad ideas.)

A little over a week from now, November 5, I plan on going to Sauk Centre's polling place. Then I'll vote. I'm not looking forward to that. But I'll vote anyway. That's because I'm an American. Voting is part of being a responsible citizen. Since I'm also a Catholic, voting responsibly involves comparing how we should behave to what the candidates have been saying and — perhaps more to the point — doing. If one of the candidates struck me as an obviously-good choice, then I would cast my vote for that one: and maybe say that you should, too. But I'm stuck with the reality we're experiencing. So instead, I'll — Share links to resources that discuss the 'should behave' aspects of public life Mention why I think voting makes sense Look forward to not seeing election angst in my news feed This week's post is shorter than most: Citizenship Without Hate and Fear: Resources Hot Button Issues and Loving My Country Anyway Obli...

Another election is looming, so I'm reviewing how being a Catholic affects how I vote. I'll mention what the USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) calls the "Seven Themes of Catholic Social Teaching", share some links, and talk about something Pope Francis said. Along with, as usual, whatever else comes to mind. Citizenship and the Common Good Love and Good Ideas Being a Catholic Citizen Political Venom: It's Not New Malevolent Memes of Yesteryear Principles, Priorities — and Prohibition, a Personal View Remembering Prohibition: High Ideals and Speakeasies Pope Francis and Our Choices Doing His Job — and Doing Mine There ARE Bright Sides The End of Civilization as We Know It — As Usual More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Being Catholic and voting. Catholic social teaching: 7 themes. Love and neighbors. The common good. Political cartoons, Prohibition. What Pope Francis said.)

"A False Alarm on the Fourth" Udo Keppler, Puck. (1902) "Uncle Sam — It's all right! There's no fighting! The noise you hear is just my family celebrating!" I like that double-page cartoon by Udo Keppler. And I like his image of America: a family of sorts, where everybody doesn't look just like me, but we can celebrate together anyway. Another Udo Keppler cartoon, made eight years earlier, shows a different attitude. I'll get back to that. I'll also be quoting John Adams, with a little more of the context than you probably see. Declaration of Independence: 248 Years Ago Today Flights of Oratory, Compromise, and a Missed Opportunity "...Our Pleasing Hopes..." and a Persistent Perception Being a Good Citizen AND a Catholic A "Patriot Dream That Sees Beyond the Years" More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Two quotes by John Adams, two cartoons by Udo Keppler. Hopes, perceptions, and an America that is not perfe...

Pope Francis visited the Vatican's exhibits at an international art show last Sunday. So this week I'll talk about the Venice Biennale, why "With My Eyes" doesn't horrify me, share a couple quotes, and show pictures from "Con i miei occhi". Venice Biennale Arte 2024: Propriety, Changes, and Context Plentiful Protest Possibilities That's Odd: Labels, People, and Art Groucho Marx, Samuel Clemens, and "The Whole Law and the Prophets" "Strangers" and "Foreigners", an Etymological Aside Pop Art, Patriotism, and Perceptions Loving America Anyway Living in Isaiah's World A Glimpse Behind Cattelan's Feet at the Venice Art Biennale "Con i miei occhi" / "With my Eyes" "A City of Refuge", "The World Needs Artists", and Pope Francis Moses, George Washington, and Me Personal Perspective, Catholic Concerns More at A Catholic Citizen in America (Pope Francis...

I'll be talking about a cartoon, a bishop, and brittle bigwigs. But first, an explanation or three may be in order. Politics, Pigeonholes, and Me Conservative? Liberal? Republican? Democrat? No: Catholic Out of Step: a Half-Century-Plus and Counting Protecting Americans From Unsanctioned Ideas Caricature and Sensitivity "...War Rages as Outcry Grows...." Self-Appointed Guardians of Freedom and Decency: Then and Now American and Catholic He Said WHAT? Resources: Political Life From a Catholic Perspective Irks, Ilks, Ethics, and Being Catholic Cancel Culture: New Phrase, Old Habit (Only) Free to Agree With Me is Not Freedom "Leaves of Grass", Underground Comix, and "Banned in Boston" More at A Catholic Citizen in America . How I see a cartoon, a bishop, and brittle bigwigs. Also politics, pigeonholes and me; caricature and unsanctioned ideas; and McCarthyism as cancel culture.

I like being an American. There. I've said it. I like living in a country where freedom of speech is part of our heritage. And where freedom of expression extends even to folks whose ideas aren't approved by The Establishment's current iteration. Usually.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (A quick look at America over the last century: good times, droughts, politics; and getting through anyway. Why being a good citizen matters: to me, anyway.)

First, the good news. I am not experiencing withdrawal (or, more politely, "discontinuation syndrome"). The not-so-good news is that I'm putting off what I was getting ready for today until next week. This 'journal' post is in part an explanation: Decisions — or — Ducks in a Row and Other Alternatives Smoke in the Air, Health Issues and a Needed Prescription Responsibility and Requirements, Reasonable or Otherwise Benefit/Risk and Labels Learning Experiences Diagnosis An Informed Decision, Unforeseen Results "Reefer Madness", "Frankenfish" and Me "...Odd or Eccentric"?.... I Can See That Schizotypal Personality Disorder: Two Lists Navel-Gazing — or — The Paranoids are After Me! 😉 Disorders, Cultural Expectations and Making Sense Living Up, or Down, to Expectations Being Out of Step A Few Good Ideas More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Disorders, controlled substances and me. I need a prescription which requires monthly aut...

(From Balon Greyjoy, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.) (Prometheus sculpture for Rockefeller Center's lower plaza. (Paul Manship, 1934)) It's been 246 years since a bunch of disgruntled colonists decided that they'd had enough of transatlantic micromanagement. There's more behind the Declaration of Independence than that. But today I'm focused more on what's happening and what's ahead, than on where we've been. Although, given the way I see things, that involves looking back, too.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . Patriots, pigeonholes and attitudes. The Apotheosis of Washington, loving America anyway. Alabaster cities and Hair. Working toward a patriot dream.

Patriotism comes in many flavors: cheesy, sour, salty: and that's enough 'flavor.' Maybe too much. My country's Independence Day celebration, our Fourth of July, started me thinking about patriotism. Also screwball notions, drought and Florida's pancaked condo. But mostly, the impending holiday is probably why part of an old song has been on my mind's playlist this week.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

I woke up this morning, which is always a good thing. My memory tells me that Friday night, January 1, I didn't sleep. At all. Maybe I dropped off for a few minutes to an hour, but even then I didn't get nearly enough sleep. Three weekends and most of a week after my all-nighter, I'm starting my eighth day of one-a-day 'journal' posting. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

(Looking across the street last Saturday. (January 2, 2021)) This week's weather has included, for the most part, dense or patchy freezing fog. I figure the weather, and Washington news, have been affecting my mood. Or should that be "has been affecting?"... ...I'd planned on getting a picture of the same twigs this afternoon. But something's removed an identifiable curvy twig. Maybe the night's and morning's frost hid it. Or maybe I just didn't notice it. So I took a picture of another part of the same set of bushes.... ...Sound and Fury, News and Opinion "2021 storming of the United States Capitol" may or may not stick as a name for whatever happened last Wednesday. I'm even less certain about what actually happened. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

This isn't the first time I've voted during a pandemic, but it's the first time I've had reason for extra caution. That's why I voted by mail this year. The election results will please or disappoint me. Or, more likely, do a bit of both. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

A presidential election is looming in my country. We have one every four years. Maybe I'd get more attention by demonizing or deifying a candidate. Or saying that nobody should vote, because "they" put subliminal messages in ballots. Oddly enough, I haven't heard that claim. Or I could express deep despair over the demonizing, deifying and drivel that dominates news and social media. I could do any or all of the above. But my heart wouldn't be in it. I am quite sure that no candidate is a fascist, the antichrist or a pawn of the Illuminati-pixie cabal. I don't even think the Illuminati-pixie cabal exists. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Several decades back, while I was living with my parents in Moorhead, Minnesota, a radio announcer read the day's weather forecast.... After finishing the official forecast, the announcer paused before rhetorically asking "what? No burning hail?" Or maybe it was "fiery hail." Something like that.... ...Maybe it's the sudden and temporary sunshine, but I'm even almost upbeat about the COVID-19 pandemic. Folks here in Minnesota aren't dying of the disease nearly as fast as we were a month or two ago.... ...The politics thing is pretty much inevitable. There's a presidential election on, so sound and fury is the order of the day.... ' More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Today's tech and social norms aren't what they were in my youth. It's exciting. Or bewildering. Or unstable. Or dynamic. or any of a myriad other options. Change happens, even if I don't approve. What matters is making good choices. More about that later. These are the 'Good Old Days' I'll indulge in nostalgia. Occasionally. Parts of my past are nice places to visit. But I wouldn't like living there. Taking a stroll down memory lane lets me see the best times places, people and experiences. It's a 'best-of' selection. But I certainly don't yearn for the days before social media, smart appliances, and online search software. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Someone's 'Tweet' about sin and how someone responded showed up in my Twitter feed Sunday. I noticed an unusually goofy item in my Google news feed that evening. Instead of expressing outrage and (self?)-righteous indignation over either or both, I made a few notes and went on with my day. That's no great virtue on my part. I'm no fan of emotional outbursts. I like them even less when I'm the one melting down. Avoiding that sort of eruption is much easier now.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Tomorrow is Halloween. I hope you have a good one. I mentioned St. Wolfgang of Regensberg, All Hallows' and All Souls' Day, and the autumnal equinox, last year. Also Gaelic and Welsh traditions, jack-o'-lanterns, and Easter eggs. Enjoying my culture's traditions, within reason, makes sense. To me. It's arguably better than bitter bewailing stuff I can't change: and don't want to.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Einstein's theories gave scientists good reasons for thinking gravitational waves exist. A century later, instruments detected the elusive radiation. Three American scientists won this year's Nobel Prize in Physics for work that led to the discovery. Observatories in America and Italy have detected three more gravitational wave signals. What they learned wasn't quite what they expected.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

The good news is that folks on the Gulf Coast probably won't be affected by Hurricane Irma. Not directly. Cleanup and rebuilding there is taking a back seat to news of this weekend's hurricane and Mexico's major earthquake. I'll be talking about this week's disasters, and how folks deal with them. Also faith, reasonable and otherwise, and a little science.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .