Religion
It’s the Vatican’s jalopy. Ship it back.
by David Benjamin “Catholic teaching was that no homicide was involved if abortion took place before the foetus was infused with a soul, known as ‘ensoulment’. This was believed to occur at ‘quickening’, when the mother detected the child move for the first time in her womb. It indicated a separate consciousness. “In 1591, Pope…
Read MoreOh, yeah? Who says?
by David Benjamin “”The Roman Pontiff, head of the college of bishops, enjoys this infallibility in virtue of his office, when, as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful—who confirms his brethren in the faith he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals.” —Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph…
Read MoreSingin’ the bourgeois blues
by David Benjamin “Lawd, in the bourgeois town, ooh the bourgeois town,/ I got the bourgeois blues, gonna spread the news aroun’./ Me and Marthy we was standin’ upstairs,/ Heard a white man say, ‘Don’t want no niggers up there … ” — Huddy Ledbetter MADISON, Wis.—It’s instructive to regard politics, especially nowadays but—really—forever,…
Read MoreHope in a pope
by David Benjamin “I prefer a church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security.” — Pope Francis MADISON, Wis.—When Pope Francis made his extraordinary pilgrimage to the Congo and South Sudan…
Read MoreJudge Sam and the revirginization of America
by David Benjamin “No pity. After the carnage we are left with the hope of a purified humanity.” ― Tristan Tzara, The Dada Manifesto 1918 PARIS — There is nothing more poisonous to civil society than purity. The purity police reared their shrouded form and bared their scythes again this week, in the pinched, pious…
Read More“But, Sister, what if … ”
by David Benjamin “… There’s a limbo moon above/ You will fall in limbo love…” — Chubby Checker MADISON, Wis. — According to a shocking news bulletin, there are deacons in Catholic churches from Michigan to Arizona—and God only knows where else—performing counterfeit baptisms. Over the years, this scandal has affected hundreds, perhaps thousands of…
Read MoreRoe v. Gantry
by David Benjamin “Elmer had, even in Zenith, to meet plenty of solemn and whiskery persons whose only pleasure aside from not doing agreeable things was keeping others from doing them.” — Sinclair Lewis PARIS — On the flight over here, I finally got around to reading Elmer Gantry — during which it readily dawned…
Read MoreA vast eggshell of iron and glass
by David Benjamin “I shall always identify Washington with that huge… towering bulge of pure white… [that] vast eggshell, built of iron and glass… a beauty and genuine success.” — Walt Whitman MADISON, Wis. — This week, on the feast of the Epiphany, we learned perhaps why Walt Whitman described the Capitol Dome as an…
Read MoreThe Islamic siege of Verona
The Islamic siege of Verona By David Benjamin “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” — U.S. Constitution, First Amendment MADISON, Wis. — My friend Ivan (not his real name) in Verona is under siege. The Muslim invasion there is all around him. Mohammed’s spawn are…
Read MoreThe Elmer Gantry of Jamaica Estates
The Elmer Gantry of Jamaica Estates by David Benjamin “… if he is interested in assuring the public that he can see beyond his narrow politicking on immigration to tackle truly urgent problems, here’s a starter list…” — New York Times editorial, 4 Feb. ‘19 MADISON, Wis. — Wait, wait. Stop right there! Just before…
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