Mark P. Shea's Blog, page 12

MAGA Cultists are the main source of domestic terror in the US

That’s simply a statistical fact. FBI Director Christopher Wray said Tuesday that the agency has made about 100 domestic terrorism-related arrests since October, and the majority were tied to white supremacy. ”I will say that a majority of the domestic terrorism cases that we’ve investigated are motivated by some version of what you might call […]

Interesting Interview with Tolkien

…from the mid-1960s: I sense a certain impatience with some of the interviewer’s questions. But mostly it’s interesting. I am struck by the way Tolkien pronounces “myth” with a long I. Just some fun for a Saturday.

Bullying the Scrupulous

Scruples can be debilitating. Some people imagine “religion causes scruples” but I don’t buy it. You can meet people with scruples anywhere. It’s something more like OCD, an obsession with small things and a debilitating sense of fear that failure to maintain some petty system of order will result in calamity. Diseased religion can certainly […]

A Conversation with a Libertarian Observed

Here’s some of a conversation that happened in my comboxes recently, illustrating what I believe to one of the core failings of Libertarianism: it’s essential narcissism. Reader 1: Why not vote Libertarian? They don’t have a clear position on abortion, but won’t fund PP, and also oppose the death penalty. Reader 2: Libertarians tend to […]

And here is some of the last part of the series on TFP at Where Peter Is

This is a fine little series on the Rad Trad weirdness that is a major (not the only) contributor to Cult of Francis Hatred that now dominates the demographic which, a few short years ago, use to boast its complete fidelity to the Magisterium and which now is the single greatest internal enemy of the […]

Here’s the Next Part of Where Peter Is‘ Look at TFP

D.W. Lafferty continues to guide us into the core of the Cult of Francis-Hatred.  If you want to understand the Right Wing Freak Show’s struggle toward schism, start here: In my last post I looked at Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira’s concept of the Revolution as outlined in Revolution and Counter-Revolution, which is a defining text of the […]

Where Peter Is takes a three part look at Tradition, Family, and Property

The always-thoughtful guys at WPI have a nice series taking a look at one of the major transmission vectors of infection for the Francis Rage Virus.  Here is a taste of part one: You may have heard of an ultra-conservative Catholic group called Tradition, Family and Property (TFP), which has been involved in various efforts to oppose the initiatives of […]

The Tale of the Warrimoo

The story of the amazing  ship that was “not only in four different hemispheres, two different days, two different months, two different seasons and two different years but in two different centuries-all at the same time” seems like a suitable yarn for a Saturday morning.  Enjoy!

Some Elementary Catholic Moral Reasoning

Two days ago in this space we made clear, yet again, that anybody who thinks the Cult of Trump is the “prolife party” is a delusional fool. There are two parties.  One is the party that is 100% responsible for appointing the SCOTUS judges who gave us Roe and Casey and has refused, for 40 […]

How the Idiot’s War Really Went

Today’s narrative from the Cult boils down to “Victory! Success! Genius! Suck it, liberal snowflakes! He totally got away with it and that’s all that matters!” Here’s what actually happened: Trump threw a molotov cocktail through the Iranians’ window, but they had fire extinguishers, came out on the front lawn and threw some rocks at […]