When Mary Was Mixed Race: Mary and a Catholic Approach to Social Justice

Praised Be Jesus!

I hope that everyone is doing well and navigating the crazy change of weather — Jersey has been a mess! As we journey on now that the Synod of the Family has drawn to a close, and we will soon see what the Holy Father plans to do with the challenges facing the modern family. Many of the issues in the modern world do fall into the realm of Catholic social teaching and how we are to respond to the many cultural and justice issues in our day-to-day lives.

Tani Trashes Terrible Christian Movies: Christian Mingle

[WARNING: This review contains spoilers, but that's only because I watched this movie so you don't have to.]

Here at Unpleasant Accents, we have a long and rich history of drunk book reviews. In that vein, I have decided to start writing high Christian movie reviews. Don’t worry, folks; it’s a totally legal high on my painkillers for EDS, which is good, because to get through Christian Mingle: The Movie, I had to take a few extra ibuprofen. It’s that bad.

Not O.K., Takei: On Defining Dignity

By now, any of you with an Internet connection and even a mild interest in pop culture has heard about George Takei's unfortunate remarks about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. In short, Takei, who is in a civil marriage with another man, took issue with Thomas' dissent in the Obergefell v. Hodges decision, which found that there is a Constitutional right to civil marriage for same-sex couples. Much of the media focus has been on Takei's racially-charged remarks and not on the merits of his criticism of Thomas. Takei finally apologised for being "uncivil" in his remarks towards the Justice (after explaining that there is totally nothing racist about saying that a black person is a fake black person, because famous actor, or something), but he stands by his critique. The problem is, his critique is as baseless as his racist remarks are offensive.

Don't worry, George. This won't hurt. Much.

Love Over Hate, Mercy Over Revenge

Nothing brings out self-righteous anger quite like people killing each other, amiright? A few months ago, when white police officer Darren Wilson shot and killed black teenager Michael Brown, we all exploded with condemnation for whichever party we thought was guilty, and praise for the person we decided was innocent. The city of Ferguson, Missouri, where this shooting took place, flooded with protestors, then looters. Everyone, from the lowly bloggers up to the President himself, used this horrible situation as a platform to decry racism in modern America. Finally, after a few weeks, everything seemed to calm down, until a grand jury decided to not indict Officer Wilson, and now, the fires of our fury have rekindled. The protestors again descended on Ferguson, and some protests quickly turned violent, resulting in multiple businesses being looted and even burned. In the streets and on the Internet, we have again divided ourselves into factions, some of us calling Michael Brown a martyr and hero and Officer Wilson a thug, and some of us proclaiming the opposite. We spout off vicious rhetoric and beg for whatever "justice" we deem most just. We're all angry — dangerously angry — and all very quick to condemn whoever we think is the "bad guy" in this scenario. 

Christians, wrath like this isn't the answer. Mercy is. 

Liberty Is Liberty, and Love Is Love

The latest chapter in America's ongoing struggle over how to deal with teh gheys in public life has come to a predictable close. Arizona's proposed law, which would permit business owners to refuse to participate in activities which would conflict with their religious beliefs, was met with the Governor's veto.

Although such a law could apply in a variety of situations and to those of multiple faiths, it was fairly obvious that the bill was passed to prevent Christian business owners from having to lend their services to same-sex marriage ceremonies. Multiple lawsuits by aggrieved same-sex couples in other States, which consider sexual orientation a protected class in their public accommodations laws, have resulted in rulings against Christian business owners. Arizona has no such law on the books, and the bill's supporters sought a preventive measure to circumvent such litigation. But for what it's worth, much of the discussion surrounding SB 1062 treated "religious freedom" in nondenominational terms. What is the Catholic response to those with same-sex attraction, and how do Catholics live out their faith in the public square?