SAINTATHON 2014: Day 1 - Saint Josephine Bakhita

Welcome, one and all, to Unpleasant Accents' first annual Saintathon! To commemorate our anniversary, which falls on All Saints Day, our team is posting about their favourite Saints throughout the week. We begin with Saint Josephine Bakhita:

Saint Josephine Bakhita is not exactly a household name when it comes to Catholic Saints, and that's a shame. Bakhita's story is one of courage, forgiveness and renewal, and it deserves to be told.

A Glance at Death...

Praised Be Jesus!

I hope everyone is enjoying all the fall festivities and that this post finds everyone well! The Halloween season is upon us, and so is the season of many huffy Christian posts about Halloween — but luckily, this will not be one of them! As we approach this time of year, there is a torrent of content which seeks to either destroy the practice of celebrating Halloween or to discourage those who wish to revitalize its Christian roots. But as I see it, the way the modern celebration of Halloween flows into the great feast of All Saints Day can give us greater insight into the mystery of Christ.

Lean Stupid: msnbc Tackles Catholicism and Science, Fails Miserably

"Oh, are we seriously having this discussion again? Fine. ANDREA! HOLD MY CALLS!"

So, there's this guy, right? His name is Daniel Berger, and he fancies himself a "Political Junkie/Policy Wonk" and is msnbc's Community Editor. He's kind of a big deal.

He also just so happened to have the most popular article on msnbc.com for much of Tuesday, featuring this completely-not-sensationalistic-and-totally-journalistic headline:

Pictured: Subtlety.

The article in question covers Pope Francis' recent comments supporting the theories of evolution and the Big Bang, asserting that he is taking Church teaching in a new direction and contradicting the theology of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. As a really important, obviously qualified journalist™, surely Dan's got his facts right? Right?

Brittany Maynard and the Myth of Dignified Suicide

Pictured: courage, dignity, and death that didn't serve a politically correct agenda

If you're alive and have spent any time on the Internet in the past few weeks, chances are you've heard the heartbreaking story of Brittany Maynard, the 29-year-old with terminal brain cancer who has decided to kill herself rather than suffer the effects of the disease. Like most of you, I read her story and was saddened by her plight, but I got stuck on one part of her interview:

“There is not a cell in my body that is suicidal or that wants to die,” Maynard told People.com. “I want to live. I wish there was a cure for my disease but there’s not. … Being able to choose to go with dignity is less terrifying.”

And suddenly, I found her story more exasperating than empathy-inducing. What, exactly, is dignified about giving up?

How To Tell If You Are In A Walker Percy Novel

(With apologies to The Toast, whose series started it all.)

Thought Experiment: Walker Percy eyes you over a glass of bourbon. Do you: 
A. consider the aesthetic nature of bourbon and the superiority of drinking it straight?
B. wonder if bourbon can do for you what cake did for Proust?
C. raise a glass of your own?