The Hall of Fire

With the added idea of whether or not you'd let one marry your daughter. Hypothetically, I mean.

Yeah, but...credible death threats. I can understand why the network might get nervous. I mean, it's one thing to make people angry. It's another thing to make them homicidal. Not that I think an episode of South Park 'makes' anyone do anything. I like The Ball and the Cross . I sometimes wonder if ...

Most of the groups that organize events for the National Day of Prayer are evangelical Christians. So, you would be more likely to be aware of it if you were one ;). You may observe it (or ignore it) in any way you see fit, but generally prayer consists of praising God, thanking Him for blessings re...

It's not 'all of a sudden' - Congress decided in 1952 that the president would mark one day each year as the National Day of Prayer. Of course, they all write their own proclamation. I quoted the text of Lincoln's and Obama's in full so you could see the very different tones of one in the midst of a...

Presumably, that's every day. The US has observed the Nat'l Day of Prayer every year since 1952 (and intermittently before that). It seems odd to me that people would only notice this might not be constitutional 60 years later. I don't think it violates the establishment clause, because presidential...

What happens on the national day of prayer is that private organizations organize prayer breakfasts or other events for the purpose of praying for the United States. Government proclamations of this nature tend to recognize community events that have been organized without them rather than declaring...

Oh...should I have said conjugal act? Marital embrace? Making love? I was trying to get at something beyond 'having sex.' I usually think the Beren and Lúthien story is a great illustration of the difference between love and lust, or how honest care for another person can compete with jealousy and p...

And I safely say that almost every act of rape or sexual abuse occurs because the perpetrator wanted to have sex with the victim and was indifferent to whether or not they consented. That is at the heart of the issue, regardless of whether the victim is a man, woman or child. There are complication...

Why the frown, yovargas? JewelSong speaks sooth. Well, yes, but for most men, the thought of voluntarily castrating oneself (or castration in general) is an uncomfortable topic. Doing it just to keep your voice from changing seems an...odd motive, whether you're familiar with the history or not. It...

I agree that eunuch and celibate are not synonyms. But the context suggests that Jesus was not discussing the practice of castration when he said that those who could accept it should make themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of God. The translations I've presented were likely trying to give nuance to...

Catholics are forbidden from castrating themselves or otherwise mutilating their bodies, and that's not a new rule. Castration as a medical procedure (as in the case of someone suffering from testicular cancer) is another matter, since that does not involve damaging an otherwise perfectly healthy bo...

I think it is true that women and men have different experiences and attitudes towards sex, power and violation. But if power corrupts...putting a woman in a position of power could just lead to a corrupt woman, not necessarily a renewal of the halls of power. Reform is something that is constantly ...

Well, lust is a complicated thing. Wanting power over someone, wanting to dominate and control them, wanting to bend them to your own will....wanting to hear them scream....this is pretty sick and twisted. But it also gives a high, which is why people enjoy watching certain types of violent movies. ...

Well, the obvious approach would be to consider the handling of abuse in institutions that involved/employed women, including in positions of power - such as schools with female principals. In one where I worked, the male teacher was dismissed immediately after the abuse became known, but this was a...

She is certainly allowed to express her opinion (as is Prim!) - I was just trying to articulate why I don't take her very seriously. Dissent is certainly an aspect of the modern Catholic church in America, and there are some quite articulate people who disagree with how the Church does things. She's...

I typically find Maureen Dowd...to harp on a single note. I know she's not happy with the Church the way it is, but her editorials merely convince me that she should find a church that suits her better. At least the Saudi women she was talking to could be like, look, this is our country, and we'll d...

Yeah, it's easier when you know that destroying the Ring by dropping it into a particular volcano will do the job and save the world. Maybe not forever, but it will at least take care of the problems in your lifetime....

I think I saw her in concert in 2000, with my sister; I haven't listened to her music in awhile, though, so I'd have to go back and replay some of her songs to remember. Ah, yes.... Undo Me A Little More Sing Allelulia Generally, I'm not a huge fan of female vocalists. I think her music is very hone...

It makes sense that you have to know and consider your audience, and that publishing for fellow scientists is very different from talking to the media or the general public...or politicians. I have a hard time looking at the asbestos regulations and not seeing 'overkill.' Certainly, nobody wants to ...

I am unaware of any study that suggests incidences of abuse are more common among Catholic priests than among clergy of other religions, or indeed of the population at large. What made the scandal unique was that all the cases came out at once, and that it revealed an institutional failure to act. O...