May 2024 - To Give a Defense

TO GIVE A DEFENSE

The last thing I am going to write about Donald Trump.

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • May 24, 2024 • Politics

I do not like Joe Biden. (I think he’s a good guy, but as president I don’t like him.) I think he’s too old, he’s visibly showing his age, I disagree with probably 90% of his policies–including his support for abortion rights, including his support for same-sex “marriage.” But if this were an earlier year, if it were a very different candidate on the Republican side, all of that would actually matter. I would not hesitate to vote for Ronald Reagan over Joe Biden. I would not hesitate to vote for George W. Bush over Joe Biden. If the GOP did what it will not do and nominated Lynne Cheney, I would vote for her over Joe Biden. But that is not the election choice we actually do have, and for that reason none of those criticisms I have of Joe Biden matter.

The important difference between “grave matter” and “mortal sin.”

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • May 3, 2024 • Theology

If you’re not Catholic, you may be thinking: “But Alt! You guys throw these terms around—mortal sin; grave matter; venial sin—I don’t know what these mean.” I get it; it’s not you. Catholics conflate “mortal sin” and “grave matter” all the time—even those who know the difference and could rattle it off by rote if brought before the Inquisition. Often, some will speak as though there is only a tenuous difference at best, of no more note than the difference between mud and mire. “Abortion is a mortal sin!” they will cry.