Mark P. Shea

Mark P. Shea

@chezami.bsky.social

Mark Shea, Author of THE CHURCH'S BEST-KEPT SECRET: A A PRIMER ON CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING https://markpshea.com/product/the-churchs-best-kept-secret-a-primer-on-catholic-social-teaching/. Blogger at https://markpshea.com. .

510 followers223 following609 posts

Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

I am writing a book on the corruption of the “pro-life” movement… ...into the most spiritually and physically deadly heresy in the history of the US Church. Its tentative title is SEDUCTION: HOW THE PRO-LIFE MOVEMENT SOLD ITS SOUL AND LOST ITS MIND....

markpshea.comI am writing a book on the corruption of the “pro-life” movement…...into the most spiritually and physically deadly heresy in the history of the US Church. Its tentative title is SEDUCTION: HOW THE PRO-LIFE MOVEMENT SOLD ITS SOUL AND LOST ITS MIND. Recently, I had a great conversation with reader David Wemhoff that I think will be of great interest to Christians perplexed by the phenomenon of the MAGA sect and the bizarre phenomenon of the "pro-life" heresy in the US Church, as well as how to think with the Church's Consistent Life Ethic.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

No Escape. Why Pro-Lifers Still Have a Moral Obligation to Vote Democrat Yesterday I made the case for why pro-life people have, not merely moral permission in light of the Catholic faith to vote Democrat but, I think, a moral…...

markpshea.comNo Escape. Why Pro-Lifers <i>Still</i> Have a Moral Obligation to Vote DemocratYesterday I made the case for why pro-life people have, not merely moral permission in light of the Catholic faith to vote Democrat but, I think, a moral obligation to do so. A reader replies to my remark that you can either vote Dem and reduce abortion rates or vote GOP and raise them with this chestnut, constantly used by "prolife" advocates of making the Perfect the enemy of the Good:
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

If you are pro-life, you have a moral obligation before Almighty God to Vote Democrat There! That should get your attention. Permit me to tell you why: Do you want to…...

markpshea.comIf you are pro-life, you have a moral obligation before Almighty God to Vote DemocratThere! That should get your attention. Permit me to tell you why: Do you want to lower the abortion rate or raise it? If lower, vote Dem. If you want to raise it, vote GOP. It's really that simple. Here's reality: you can either help reduce abortion rates or help raise them. There is no third option. If you vote third party, you are not only helping to raise them, you are helping to make sure that a host of&hellip;
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

When MAGA Liars for Jesus Attack! Here is an epic moment provided, free of charge, by lying dolt Tommy Teepell. More on him in a second, but first, savor this moment:...

markpshea.comWhen MAGA Liars for Jesus Attack!Here is an epic moment provided, free of charge, by lying dolt Tommy Teepell. More on him in a second, but first, savor this moment: Now, back to Teepell who, in addition to having a hilarious name, is also one of that breed of mediocre white Christian liars for Jesus MAGA breeds like larvae in the carcase of the rotting GOP.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

A Reminder Two(ish) Weeks Before Election Day At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it?-- Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow?...

markpshea.comA Reminder Two(ish) Weeks Before Election DayAt what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it?-- Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never!--All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

The Spirit Who Embraces Both East and West, Part 13 Interpreting Scripture No book, not even an inspired one, interprets itself. Humans do that. So when Philip asked the Ethiopian eunuch if he understood the meaning of the passage from Isaiah he was reading, the eunuch replied, “How can I, unless…

markpshea.comThe Spirit Who Embraces Both East and West, Part 13Interpreting Scripture No book, not even an inspired one, interprets itself. Humans do that. So when Philip asked the Ethiopian eunuch if he understood the meaning of the passage from Isaiah he was reading, the eunuch replied, “How can I, unless some one guides me?” (Acts 8:31). The Bible is a book written in three dead languages between three thousand and two thousand years ago.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

The Spirit Who Embraces Both East and West, Part 12 He Has Spoken Through the Prophets As we saw in Chapter 8, Jesus taught the Church to read the Old Testament with the assurance that Scripture had a literal sense, but also more than literal senses....

markpshea.comThe Spirit Who Embraces Both East and West, Part 12He Has Spoken Through the Prophets As we saw in Chapter 8, Jesus taught the Church to read the Old Testament with the assurance that Scripture had a literal sense, but also more than literal senses. These other “senses of Scripture” are the allegorical (which points to him, as the manna in the wilderness points to Jesus the Bread of Life);
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

The Spirit Who Embraces Both East and West, Part 11 Playing Dress-Up and Becoming What We Are Another vital likeness between drama and the Faith is… faith....

markpshea.comThe Spirit Who Embraces Both East and West, Part 11Playing Dress-Up and Becoming What We Are Another vital likeness between drama and the Faith is… faith. The theatre asks us for a willing suspension of disbelief—in other words, an act of faith. That’s not exceptional. That’s normal. That’s because all human relationships do that. Without faith, a civilization disintegrates because a civilization runs on and is lubricated by trust. Every human relationship asks us to entrust ourselves into the hands of somebody we can never fully know.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

The Spirit Who Embraces Both East and West, Part 10 The Drama of Worship in the Holy Spirit Catholic worship, like Jewish worship before it, is deeply…...

markpshea.comThe Spirit Who Embraces Both East and West, Part 10The Drama of Worship in the Holy Spirit Catholic worship, like Jewish worship before it, is deeply liturgical. Liturgy means “the work of the people” and is the great communal and ritual act of self-offering to God whereby the People of God enter, by God’s own invitation, into the mystery of Jesus’ own self-offering to the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit in the Marriage Feast of the Lamb.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

The Spirit Who Embraces Both East and West, Part 9 Learning to Worship God Saves Creatures from Our Destructive Demands Another reason God commands we learn to worship him is to save his creatures from our inveterate habit of “unduly demanding of them something which they, in their smallness,…

markpshea.comThe Spirit Who Embraces Both East and West, Part 9Learning to Worship God Saves Creatures from Our Destructive Demands Another reason God commands we learn to worship him is to save his creatures from our inveterate habit of “unduly demanding of them something which they, in their smallness, cannot give us.”[1] Not only does idolatry make an addict of the idolator as he seeks to find satisfaction from what cannot satisfy, it also makes victims of many an idol.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

The Spirit Who Embraces Both East and West, Part 8 Human Beings: Made for Worship, But Broken Too The Psalms speak of the whole of creation adoring and glorifying God....

markpshea.comThe Spirit Who Embraces Both East and West, Part 8Human Beings: Made for Worship, But Broken Too The Psalms speak of the whole of creation adoring and glorifying God. Sun, moon, stars, fire, hail, snow, frost, wind, mountains, hills, fruit trees, cedars, wild beasts, sea monsters, cattle, creeping things, and birds are all exhorted to praise the Lord at various times in the Psalms. The point is that simply by being what God created them to be, they bring glory to God.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

The Spirit Who Embraces Both East and West, Part 7 With the Father and the Son He is Adored and Glorified However much controversy may have surrounded the procession of the Spirit from the Father and the Son, the Creed has always been definite that all three Persons of the Trinity—Father, Son, and…

markpshea.comThe Spirit Who Embraces Both East and West, Part 7With the Father and the Son He is Adored and Glorified However much controversy may have surrounded the procession of the Spirit from the Father and the Son, the Creed has always been definite that all three Persons of the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—are to be given the adoration and glory due to God alone. This raises several points of confusion for different people.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

The Spirit Who Embraces Both East and West, Part 6 As we said on Friday in best Rest is History cliffhanger fashion, sometime in the 700s, a local council in Spain did something momentous: they unilaterally inserted “and the Son” into the Creed, apparently in response to a local controversy which…

markpshea.comThe Spirit Who Embraces Both East and West, Part 6As we said on Friday in best Rest is History cliffhanger fashion, sometime in the 700s, a local council in Spain did something momentous: they unilaterally inserted “and the Son” into the Creed, apparently in response to a local controversy which denied that the Spirit proceeded from the Son. In 796, we find another western bishop approving of this addition and finally a Council in Aachen approving it in 809. 
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

The Spirit Who Embraces Both East and West, Part 5 The Filioque Controversy One of the more arcane controversies in the history of the Church has to be touched on here....

markpshea.comThe Spirit Who Embraces Both East and West, Part 5The Filioque Controversy One of the more arcane controversies in the history of the Church has to be touched on here. It is a matter that tends to make the eyes of most ordinary people glaze over, and on those rare occasions it is discussed outside of extremely specialized theological circles, it is perceived by virtually every non-Christian (and by millions of Christians) as the dictionary definition of a theological quibble of no interest or consequence.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

The Spirit Who Embraces Both East and West, Part 4 The Procession of the Spirit Means God is Love Some people have the notion that all this sort of thing is just cold theological abstraction that comes from philosophers out of touch with ordinary folk....

markpshea.comThe Spirit Who Embraces Both East and West, Part 4The Procession of the Spirit Means God is Love Some people have the notion that all this sort of thing is just cold theological abstraction that comes from philosophers out of touch with ordinary folk. Such people ask why we can’t just skip it and get to heart of Faith where ordinary Joes find consolation in the words, “God is love” (1 John 4:8).
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

The Spirit Who Embraces Both East and West, Part 3 Practical Mysticism and the Paraclete This matters to us as more than a mere abstract question for reasons similar to those involving the atonement in Chapter 7....

markpshea.comThe Spirit Who Embraces Both East and West, Part 3Practical Mysticism and the Paraclete This matters to us as more than a mere abstract question for reasons similar to those involving the atonement in Chapter 7. Just as some people have the false idea that Jesus came to save us from his Father, so some people have the notion that the Paraclete defends us from God the Father, who longs to damn us.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

The Spirit Who Embraces Both East and West, Part 2 Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit,That my thoughts may all be holy.Act in me, O Holy Spirit,...

markpshea.comThe Spirit Who Embraces Both East and West, Part 2Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit,That my thoughts may all be holy.Act in me, O Holy Spirit,That my work, too, may be holy.Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit,That I love but what is holy.Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit,To defend all that is holy.Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit,That I always may be holy.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

The Spirit Who Embraces Both East and West, Part 1 Over on the Book of Face, I noted this story with a prayer that Jesus' prayer for the unity of the Church would be answered:...

markpshea.comThe Spirit Who Embraces Both East and West, Part 1Over on the Book of Face, I noted this story with a prayer that Jesus' prayer for the unity of the Church would be answered: Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I said at a gathering in Budapest that he prays for the day when Orthodox and Catholic Christians will share full communion again. He pointed to the 2024 restoration of the papal title "Patriarch of the West" as a significant step toward that unity, and based on the teaching of Pope Benedict XVI, he called for unity rooted in the shared faith of the Church's first thousand years.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

“How Was I Supposed to Know?” Long ago, a friend once observed that all of History is divisible into two phases: What Could it Hurt?...

markpshea.com“How Was I Supposed to Know?”Long ago, a friend once observed that all of History is divisible into two phases: What Could it Hurt? How Was I Supposed to Know? It's not altogether fair, of course. When I was five, I licked the bumper of our Buick on a freezing day in Michigan. I didn't ask "What could it hurt?" because the thought never occurred to me.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

The attractive witness of Pope Leo Given the meaning of the word "Catholic", the Pope has always been the planet's pope. But I'm happy to see…...

markpshea.comThe attractive witness of Pope LeoGiven the meaning of the word "Catholic", the Pope has always been the planet's pope. But I'm happy to see Rolling Stone appreciating him. Evangelists for 2000 years would call that a win. But the people most outraged and offended by that are the ones who consider themselves the Greatest Catholics of All Time. They see their mission as driving away the riff raff, pouring boiling oil from the ramparts of the Church on all who approach and driving out all the vermin within the Church who do not measure up to their rigorous standards of purity, beginning with the pope himself.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

Shocking Truths It is a shock to discover that Tyrannosaurus is closer in time to the cell phone than it is to Stegosaurus....

markpshea.comShocking TruthsIt is a shock to discover that Tyrannosaurus is closer in time to the cell phone than it is to Stegosaurus. It is likewise a shock to learn that Cleopatra is closer in time to AI than she is to the building of the Great Pyramid. And it is an even greater shock to American conservative Christians to learn that ancient and medieval Catholics are closer in spirit to Communists than they are to Libertarians and MAGA.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

Bible Stories Keep Happening Over and Over Meet Hank Kunneman. He runs Lord of Hosts Church in Omaha, Nebraska. He founded it in 1997 and calls himself a prophet....

markpshea.comBible Stories Keep Happening Over and OverMeet Hank Kunneman. He runs Lord of Hosts Church in Omaha, Nebraska. He founded it in 1997 and calls himself a prophet. He guaranteed Trump would win in 2020. Trump lost. Being a member of the Party of Personal Responsibility, he did not blame himself for being a false prophet. He blamed demons. And being a good worshipper of Mammon, his church has piled up an estimated $14.9 million in real estate since then.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

A reader with the blues writes… The realization that my kids came of age during Trump I didn’t know how good we had it with Clinton Bush etc…...

markpshea.comA reader with the blues writes…The realization that my kids came of age during Trump I didn’t know how good we had it with Clinton Bush etc And I can’t believe I’m saying that He’s unleashed demons in our country mark I really believe that He revealed demons in our country. None of this is a surprise to Christ. Only to us. This is a moment the Divine Physician tells the patient he has cancer.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

In which I indulge in some insufferable pedantry Over on the Book of Face, I ran into this excited proclamation: The caption breathless asked, "Could humanity be on the verge of answering one of its oldest questions?"...

markpshea.comIn which I indulge in some insufferable pedantryOver on the Book of Face, I ran into this excited proclamation: The caption breathless asked, "Could humanity be on the verge of answering one of its oldest questions?" Now, don't get me wrong, I will be as tickled pink as anybody if they are able to prove there is life on K2-18b, or one of the other earth-like planets orbiting other stars.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

Why I’m Voting Dem Yeah. That's really kind of it. I have no particular devotion to the Dem party. I certainly have no personal devotion to Dem politicians....

markpshea.comWhy I’m Voting DemYeah. That's really kind of it. I have no particular devotion to the Dem party. I certainly have no personal devotion to Dem politicians. The idea of looking at a Dem pol the way the weirdos and cultists in MAGA routinely look at Trump is absolutely foreign to me. Such looks should be reserved for the Son of the Living God.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

Greg Bovino Did Nazi That Coming The weirdest thing about about the Cult is their everlasting surprise when their orange messiah--who has made an entire career of betraying and discarding wives, family, friends, workers, sycophants and toadies--betrays and discards them....

markpshea.comGreg Bovino Did Nazi That ComingThe weirdest thing about about the Cult is their everlasting surprise when their orange messiah--who has made an entire career of betraying and discarding wives, family, friends, workers, sycophants and toadies--betrays and discards them. Case in point: Greg Bovino, the former Border Patrol commander who led President Donald Trump's mass deportation raids, accused senior administration officials of pulling his security detail because "they want me dead ...
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

How MAGA Cult Members Dodge Responsibility There is nothing the Party of Personal Responsibility loves to more than dodge responsibility. As we noted in this space yesterday, ex-MAGA contrition is nearly always deeply imperfect contrition....

markpshea.comHow MAGA Cult Members Dodge ResponsibilityThere is nothing the Party of Personal Responsibility loves to more than dodge responsibility. As we noted in this space yesterday, ex-MAGA contrition is nearly always deeply imperfect contrition. Case in point: This, being translated, means, "I remain as vengeful and stupid as I always was, but I don't want to take responsibility for it. So instead of admitting that Biden did a pretty good job, I will lie that he&hellip;
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

Ex-MAGA: Finish Your Half-Repentance People ask what I think of ex-MAGA. Are they sincere? Should we forgive them? Should we trust them?...

markpshea.comEx-MAGA: Finish Your Half-RepentancePeople ask what I think of ex-MAGA. Are they sincere? Should we forgive them? Should we trust them? In order, I reply: Depends. Yes. Always. Depends. Here are some samples of ways I respond to MAGA who claim to be out of love with the antichrist they did so much to create: He is exactly the same man. You are lying to create distance from him and try for a piece of market share among disaffected MAGA.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

There is far more to being Catholic… ...than Real Catholics know. A loud subculture in the Church has, for far too long, reduced what it means to be a Real Catholic to a handful of boutique aesthetic obsessions about liturgy, and a couple of political obsessions with magicking away abortion and…

markpshea.comThere is far more to being Catholic…...than Real Catholics know. A loud subculture in the Church has, for far too long, reduced what it means to be a Real Catholic to a handful of boutique aesthetic obsessions about liturgy, and a couple of political obsessions with magicking away abortion and homosexuality, no matter how many people have to die to get the fantasy lied into being. All the rest of the Body of Christ are, in their eyes, vermin who can be safely dismissed as CINOs and LibCaths, including--especially--the Pope.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

Have you considered going solar? Back in November 2024, we decided to take the plunge and get 15 solar panels on our roof....

markpshea.comHave you considered going solar?Back in November 2024, we decided to take the plunge and get 15 solar panels on our roof. The system went live on November 25 It's worked out well so far as you can see from this graph charting our production and usage. Most of 2024 (till November 25) is just power we were paying for from the grid. But as you can see, there are marked declines in imported electricity starting in Feb 2025 (compared to Feb 2024) and by May our bill drops to almost nothing.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

C.S. Lewis Nails it This inexorably reminds me of C.S. Lewis' description of the Uncle Screwtape's Hell: "We must picture Hell as a state where everyone is perpetually concerned about his own dignity and advancement, where everyone has a grievance, and where everyone lives the deadly serious…

markpshea.comC.S. Lewis Nails itThis inexorably reminds me of C.S. Lewis' description of the Uncle Screwtape's Hell: "We must picture Hell as a state where everyone is perpetually concerned about his own dignity and advancement, where everyone has a grievance, and where everyone lives the deadly serious passions of envy, self-importance, and resentment. This, to begin with. For the rest, my own choice of symbols depended, I suppose, on temperament and on the age.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

MAGA Hates Reagan just as MAGA Catholics Hate the Pope Reagan now occupies for Republicans the same psychic space the office of the papacy holds for Traditionalist Catholics....

markpshea.comMAGA Hates Reagan just as MAGA Catholics Hate the PopeReagan now occupies for Republicans the same psychic space the office of the papacy holds for Traditionalist Catholics. They love to wave him as a flag but they hate and fear most of what he actually says. From gun control to respect for immigrants to tariffs and trade wars with allies to actual opposition to actual Communists, Reagan would be denounced, hated and mocked by the Cult if he were still alive.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

Creation has been subjected to futility Now and then I offer the periodic reminder that we are never getting off the Earth in any meaningful way and that the dream of colonizing even the planets, let alone the stars, is a secular eschatological fantasy clung to by a civilization that has (I think…

markpshea.comCreation has been subjected to futilityNow and then I offer the periodic reminder that we are never getting off the Earth in any meaningful way and that the dream of colonizing even the planets, let alone the stars, is a secular eschatological fantasy clung to by a civilization that has (I think without sufficent reason) abandoned hope in the only eschatology that we (literally) have a prayer of seeing fulfilled.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

How Donald Trump Won My Heart, Mind, and Soul The first intellectual and spiritual misgivings I felt about my failure to support Trump came when he coined the term "Dumocrat"....

markpshea.comHow Donald Trump Won My Heart, Mind, and SoulThe first intellectual and spiritual misgivings I felt about my failure to support Trump came when he coined the term "Dumocrat". The realization that "dumb" had the letter "b" in it was like a thunderclap to my smug, insular communist worldview. And then, when he hit me with the one-two punch follow-up of replacing the "e" in "Dem" with a "u" to make it "Dumocrat", the dawning and dreadful thought, "What if&hellip;
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

Fleeing Reality The principal effect wealth and power always have is to cocoon the wealthy and powerful from the consequences of their actions....

markpshea.comFleeing RealityThe principal effect wealth and power always have is to cocoon the wealthy and powerful from the consequences of their actions. When the wealthy and powerful are (as they already have a tendency to be) bad people, this effect is accelerated, which is one of the many reasons Jesus warns of Mammon worship. When the bad man is a sociopathic narcissist who lies constantly the cocoon effect is turbo-charged and he cuts himself off from anybody but a tight and sycophantic inner circle who labor to deny him all contact with reality.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

Since It’s STAR TREK Day… ...and the 60th Anniversary no less! I thought I would be a buzzkill. I am old enought to remember watching STAR TREK on my brother's little black and white TV in his bedroom....

markpshea.comSince It’s STAR TREK Day…...and the 60th Anniversary no less! I thought I would be a buzzkill. I am old enought to remember watching STAR TREK on my brother's little black and white TV in his bedroom. I would get a big bowl of chocolate ice cream and savor it and the show. I watched "The Menagerie" the very first time it played. I was a devoted fan and remain so.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

A Poem for Labor Day Brass SpittoonsBy Langston Hughes Clean the spittoons, boy.      Detroit,      Chicago,      Atlantic City,      Palm Beach.Clean the spittoons....

markpshea.comA Poem for Labor DayBrass SpittoonsBy Langston Hughes Clean the spittoons, boy.      Detroit,      Chicago,      Atlantic City,      Palm Beach.Clean the spittoons.The steam in hotel kitchens,And the smoke in hotel lobbies,And the slime in hotel spittoons:Part of my life.      Hey, boy!      A nickel,      A dime,      A dollar,Two dollars a day.      Hey, boy!      A nickel,      A dime,      A dollar,      Two dollars&hellip;
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

Luther once remarked that he would rather be ruled by a good Turk than a bad Christian Relatedly, I would rather be ruled by a good atheist than a bad Christian. But, of course, best of all would be to be ruled by a smart, competent, and good Catholic disciple of Jesus who wisely draws on the…

markpshea.comLuther once remarked that he would rather be ruled by a good Turk than a bad ChristianRelatedly, I would rather be ruled by a good atheist than a bad Christian. But, of course, best of all would be to be ruled by a smart, competent, and good Catholic disciple of Jesus who wisely draws on the riches of the Tradition to serve, not to be served and not to impose the heresy of Christian Nationalism on a population of slaves.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

Prophetic Clarity and Hope It is one of the great paradoxes of a uniquely Christian form of hope that David Bentley Hart can have such a clear-eyed and prophetic view of the deep corruption of American Christianity and culture (which are virtually the same thing and so all-penetrating--like a mold…

markpshea.comProphetic Clarity and HopeIt is one of the great paradoxes of a uniquely Christian form of hope that David Bentley Hart can have such a clear-eyed and prophetic view of the deep corruption of American Christianity and culture (which are virtually the same thing and so all-penetrating--like a mold or fungus--that even non-Christians bear its imprint.) And yet seeing all this, he hopes, like St.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

“Pro-life” MAGA Catholic Bloodlust Item: Last year alone the Sunshine State executed 19 death row inmates, and this year the number is already at 12, with three more to go....

markpshea.com“Pro-life” MAGA Catholic BloodlustItem: Last year alone the Sunshine State executed 19 death row inmates, and this year the number is already at 12, with three more to go. This trend alarms Florida's bishops and it should stir the consciences of all Catholics. Nobody loves killing people more than "pro-life" MAGA Catholics like Ron DeSantis. They will spit on Holy Church and the Eucharist if only they can murder 4 perfectly innocent people out of 100 in order to slaughter 96 people who do not need to be killed.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

“See How These Christians Love One Another” There is an old Russian joke about an angel who appears to a peasant and tells him he can have whatever he wishes: wealth, happiness, beauty, the works....

markpshea.com“See How These Christians Love One Another”There is an old Russian joke about an angel who appears to a peasant and tells him he can have whatever he wishes: wealth, happiness, beauty, the works. However, whatever he asks for will be give double to his enemy. The peasant thinks for a moment and says, "Gouge out one of my eyes and beat me half to death."
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

Ontario, August 1964 When I was a little boy, we went to visit my Grandparents, Thidder and Eva Collar, in a little hamlet in Ontario called Glen Miller....

markpshea.comOntario, August 1964When I was a little boy, we went to visit my Grandparents, Thidder and Eva Collar, in a little hamlet in Ontario called Glen Miller. They were my Mom's parents. It was 1964 and I was six. I remember their house had a hole in the floor upstairs from the kitchen where the stove pipe used to go through. You could drop stuff through it and watch it hit floor way far down below you (I never lived in a house with two storeys, so this was a huge thrill.)
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

Obsession Trump has found the perfect masochist partner for his sadism. The more he abuses her, the more cravenly she abases herself and begs for more....

markpshea.comObsessionTrump has found the perfect masochist partner for his sadism. The more he abuses her, the more cravenly she abases herself and begs for more. And in exchange, she urges him on to be his worst self, which is quite the challenge given how monstrous he already is. The grave danger, of course, is that she will urge him on to treat the entire world as he treats her.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

On the Passing of Dolly Parton I have a theory that, as the Body of Christ diversifies and ramifies like the roots and branches of a tree, its various expressions tend to produce both saints and sinners who become more and more specific to their particular traditions....

markpshea.comOn the Passing of Dolly PartonI have a theory that, as the Body of Christ diversifies and ramifies like the roots and branches of a tree, its various expressions tend to produce both saints and sinners who become more and more specific to their particular traditions. Dolly Parton expressed a very particularly American Protestant kind of saintliness. The Catholic tradition could not have produced her any more than the Orthodox could have.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

More on the Coming Religious Liberty Clash on Abortion Yesterday, I noted [H]historically, the roots of mass opposition to abortion spring from Christian seed. That means that there are lots of people from other (and no) faith traditions who see no reason at all why they should oppose abortion and…

markpshea.comMore on the Coming Religious Liberty Clash on AbortionYesterday, I noted [H]historically, the roots of mass opposition to abortion spring from Christian seed. That means that there are lots of people from other (and no) faith traditions who see no reason at all why they should oppose abortion and who regard the attempt to make them embrace a theology they do not, in fact, embrace as an imposition on their conscience.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

A First Amendment Clash Over Abortion is Coming The Indiana ruling is part of a growing multi-state legal strategy in which Jewish, Unitarian, Buddhist, Episcopal, and other faith plaintiffs are challenging abortion bans in Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Utah, Wyoming, and Florida on the grounds…

markpshea.comA First Amendment Clash Over Abortion is ComingThe Indiana ruling is part of a growing multi-state legal strategy in which Jewish, Unitarian, Buddhist, Episcopal, and other faith plaintiffs are challenging abortion bans in Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Utah, Wyoming, and Florida on the grounds that those bans impose a narrow Christian doctrinal view of when life begins onto citizens of all faiths — a direct violation of both state and federal church-state principles.
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

The Epitaph of the “Pro-life” Heresy in Two Images (Note: This is grossly unfair to Evangelicals, by the way. Millions of MAGA Catholics also whored themselves out to this dimestore antichrist.)...

markpshea.comThe Epitaph of the “Pro-life” Heresy in Two Images(Note: This is grossly unfair to Evangelicals, by the way. Millions of MAGA Catholics also whored themselves out to this dimestore antichrist.) "To get the man's soul and give him nothing in return--that is what truly gladdens the heart of Our Father Below." - Uncle Screwtape on every single member of the MAGA "prolife" movement A reader writes in response to the abject failure of the "pro-life" heresy:
Mark P. Shea
@chezami.bsky.social

One Periodically Hears This Exhausted Wheeze Jesus clearly, painfully obviously, intended to do exactly that. It is an utterly delusional reading of every single document from every single witness to his ministry to say he never intended to set up a religious system....

markpshea.comOne Periodically Hears This Exhausted WheezeJesus clearly, painfully obviously, intended to do exactly that. It is an utterly delusional reading of every single document from every single witness to his ministry to say he never intended to set up a religious system. He trained disciples. Told them "He who listens to you listens to me". Declared that they would sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel.