Ramakrishna I challenged a Chinese student to reflect on the influences on his thinking: whom did he trust? Whom did he accept as an authority? It is a useful exercise in these times, when authorities seem untrustworthy. It is time to reestablish our bedrock. So I propose to outline my own influences. I cannot trust the government. I cannot trust the priests, bishops, cardinals, or even the pope. I cannot trust the legal system. I cannot trust the academy. I cannot trust “the science.” I cannot trust the professions. I cannot trust my doctor. I cannot trust artists. But there ..read more

 It’s laughable, but it’s probably true. Warren Kinsella, who claims to have inside sources, says everyone around him knows it is time for Justin Trudeau to resign as Liberal leader. It is that party’s only hope to “save the furniture.” But the holdup is that they can’t find a suitable new job for him. This is an unfortunate consequence of electing someone unqualified to high political office. They are bound to cling to it. Other ex-PMs, with law degrees, could easily slip into a position with some top corporate firm. Otherwise, management experience or an M.B.A. might justify a seat o ..read more

  Friend Xerxes, former left-wing political columnist, has eschewed politics. I suspect this is because he realized that the left-wing position has become indefensible. Why fasten himself to a dying animal? His latest column is about prayer. In a piece titled “Getting Beyond the Rituals,” he expresses the common Protestant objection to rote prayers and ritual generally. Instead, you are supposed to speak and do from the heart. I was seduced when younger by this dismissal of rote prayer—after all, surely your heart can’t be in it? And the inevitable result was that I stopped praying.  ..read more

  There are riots on Parliament Hill applauding terrorism. One of Canada’s great advantages has always been that it is a high-trust society. It is a place where, as Michael Moore once remarked, people did not lock their doors while at home. That used to be true, and that was unheard of just across the border in the US. The old joke was that, in the streets of Toronto at 2 AM, deserted, cars still always stopped at the lights. This was a land where the police force was a beloved national symbol. It was the land of “peace, order, and good government.” The streets of Toronto were notorio ..read more

  Although he calls himself a secular man, Tucker Carlson believes in demons. He suggests that there is no other way to account for what is happening in the world. He sees a demon wherever there is a strong drive to do something that is in nobody’s best interests. He cites sexual transitioning for children. How can anyone actually want that? And he is right. This is what demons are: independent wills that seem to supersede our own. The classic example is alcoholism. First the man takes a drink; but eventually, the drink takes the man, and is in control. So too with addictions generally ..read more

  'Od's Blog: Catholic comments on the passing parade ..read more

  'Od's Blog: Catholic comments on the passing parade ..read more

  Keeping track of what is going on in the world is liable to drive one to despair. So many people are getting away with so many things. The slaughter on October 7. Putin in Ukraine. Unknown people , possibly foreign angst or terrorists, flooding into the US. People shoplifting brazenly in SF and not getting arrested. Homelessness; rampant drug use. Lawfare against political opponents. Everyone in authority turns out to be a pedophile. Attempted censorship everywhere. The list goes on. Every time I check on X, it is a half dozen more horrifying revelations. But perhaps this is the poin ..read more

  'Od's Blog: Catholic comments on the passing parade ..read more

  'Od's Blog: Catholic comments on the passing parade ..read more