To Give a Defense

Muslims are “brothers and sisters in the faith of Abraham.”

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • September 9, 2016 • Blind Guides & False Prophets; Islam

This is not, or need not be, complicated: Catholics, Protestants, the Eastern Orthodox, Jews, and Muslims all worship the same god. The difference is in what they believe about him. But regardless of what they believe about him, the god they worship is the god of Abraham. Dr. Shabir Ally (he’s a Muslim scholar and apologist) does not worship some different divine figure than Pope Francis does. Now, the Church affirms all this in Nostra Aetate. Lumen Gentium says the same thing, as do Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. Write them off if you can.

Yes, Virginia, Catholics can say abortion should be legal.

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • September 7, 2016 • Politics; Pro-Life Issues

I sympathize with Fr. Malone’s main concern, which was the presence of protesters as Sen. Kaine arrived for Mass on August 28. One of them held a sign that said that he and Mrs. Clinton are “a match made in Hell.” Another held a sign citing canon 915. These lovely people would be better advised to go inside, kneel, pray, and attend to their own worthiness to receive the Eucharist. If they have concerns about canon 915, or about Sen. Kaine, they should write his bishop. Engaging in self-righteous street theater does no one any good, including the pro-life movement.

On the seamless garment, and Catholics writing about politics.

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • August 22, 2016 • Politics; Pro-Life Issues

There is a species of reader who always seems to know better than you what ought to interest you and what you ought to say. Just as often, this reader (or Facebook denizen) knows all the things a writer like you should not bother with. I get e‑mails with the instructions, “Hey, Alt! You should write a post about the Johannine comma!” or “Hey, Alt! Did you see this stupid thing that Mr. Y posted at the-pope-is-the-antichrist.com? You ought to refute that!” One would think I took were a DJ, or an impressionist, and took requests. I marvel at this and much else.

In election, protecting conscience as important as ending abortion.

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • August 16, 2016 • Politics; Pro-Life Issues

In my own case, several people have hijacked discussions on my Facebook wall in order to write long and graphic descriptions of what happens during an abortion. Or to say that sixty million dead babies are pleading with us to vote for Mr. Trump. Yesterday, someone tweeted to me a graphic picture of a bloody and dismembered baby as the kind of thing I would be responsible for — not if I vote for Mrs. Clinton, but merely if I refuse to vote for Mr. Trump. This is emotional manipulation. It is the tactic, not of thinkers, but of bullies. And so my reader is exactly right.

Here’s your chance to convince me to vote for Trump.

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • August 15, 2016 • Politics

But here are the arguments you can not use: You cannot make “Trump has promised” appeals. If all you have is what Trump has “promised” to do, you have nothing. Trump claims to have changed his position. How do I know this is not mere expediency as he trumps for votes? Why are Trump’s mere promises enough to make me overlook everything else? “Trump said it, I believe it, that settles it” is no argument. It’s a pinky swear. And you can’t tell me how awful Hillary is or how awful abortion is, because I know all that already.

Gendering God to suit an agenda: A reply to Rabbi Mark Sameth.

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • August 13, 2016 • Exegesis; LGBT Issues

At the New York Times, Rabbi Mark Sameth asks pertly: “Is God Transgender?” Here’s the short answer: No. God has neither sex nor gender. The former is a biological construct, created by God; and the latter is a linguistic construct, created by man. (See what I did there?) God, being transcendent, is outside both. You can’t gender God. But Sameth attempts to do just that, which is why a longer answer is required here. After some introductory paragraphs involving a cousin who had sex-reassignment surgery, he turns to a few biblical texts.

Four questions for defenders of sola scriptura.

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • August 9, 2016 • Apologetics; sola scriptura

A commonplace argument among Catholic apologists, whenever the topic of sola scriptura arises, is that without an authority external to the Bible, one can not know which books belong in the Bible in the first place. No Protestant would argue that the table of contents is infallible, and yet somehow one must know that Galatians belongs in the Bible but not the Epistle to the Laodiceans, the Gospel of Luke but not the Gospel of Philip. Protestant apologist Stephen Wolfe, in “A Short Defense of Sola Scriptura,” tries to sidestep this problem.

Pope Francis Derangement Syndrome XVIII. Wherein LGBT groups lament the pope’s “dangerous ignorance” on gender identity.

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • August 6, 2016 • LGBT Issues; Pope Francis Derangement Syndrome

Does Ms. Duddy-Burke really think that the pope is advocating violence? Does she really think that there are people sitting around waiting for the pope to say something about gender identity that they can then use as an excuse to go on a rampage in clubs or bathrooms? That, if only the pope would make a bold departure on these points, such people would suddenly experience a wave of brotherly love, hold hands, and sing Jackie DeShannon? LGBT individuals will not be safe unless the pope changes Church teaching? This is strange.

Vote Republican to stop abortion! and other myths.

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • July 23, 2016 • Politics; Pro-Life Issues

Trump supporters overnumerous for mention promise, with prognostication and crystal-ball certainty, that a vote for Trump will help the pro-life cause of stopping abortion, and this matters above all. He will promote the right legislation, he will appoint the right justices. Right. Now it so happens that facts matter in this discussion, and because facts matter, I went and checked how the individual justices voted in Roe v. Wade, and then checked out who appointed them. Turns out five of the seven justices were Republican appointees. Facts matter.

Why we should pray the Luminous Mysteries.

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • July 12, 2016 • Catholic Devotions

On October 16, 2002, Pope St. John Paul II added a new group of Mysteries — the “Luminous Mysteries” — to the Rosary. Hitherto there had been three groups: the Joyful Mysteries, the Sorrowful Mysteries, and the Glorious Mysteries. These three together totaled 150 Hail Marys: originally meant to correspond to the 150 Psalms. An objection, among traditional-minded folks, to a new set of mysteries was that it would undermine this connection. John Vennari imagined the objections former popes may have had, as though he spoke for the dead.

David Wanat calls the pope’s critics to task.

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • June 30, 2016 • On Other Blogs

“I do not believe,” says David Wanat in an excellent article, “a person can withhold loyalty and respect to the Pope in small matters without eventually becoming disloyal and disrespectful in great matters. Our Lord warns us in Luke 16:10 … “ The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones.” If we can’t trust a person to be respectful and loyal to the Pope in small matters, how can we trust him to be faithful in large matters?”

An article by Steve Skojec I admire.

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • June 30, 2016 • On Other Blogs

At Crisis in 2010, Steve Skojec sounded very different than he does in 2016. Darth Vader used to be Anakin Skywalker. “Condemnations,” he said, “judgments, specious arguments, and morose dispositions do no favors for our cause, or its future. We’ve got something great going on, and it’s about time we acted like it.” About time indeed. Is that the mission of 1 Vader 5? Or is it a critique of 1 Vader 5? Perhaps Skojec should read it again and let us know. It’s called “They will Know We Are Traddies By Our Love.” What happened to him? Does anyone know?

Newman, St. Catherine, and Pius X: Three papalolators.

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • June 30, 2016 • Apologetics; papacy

“What need I say more to measure our own duty to it and to him who sits in it, than to say that in his administration of Christ’s kingdom, in his religious acts, we must never oppose his will, or dispute his word, or criticise his policy, or shrink from his side? There are kings of the earth who have despotic authority, which their subjects obey indeed but disown in their hearts; but we must never murmur at that absolute rule which the Sovereign Pontiff has over us, because it is given to him by Christ.” That’s Cardinal Newman.

Pope Francis corrects Pope Francis; will media correct media?

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • June 21, 2016 • False Report; Pope Francis

Here is a good rule of thumb. When someone says, “I misspoke, here is what I meant to say”: Believe him. Misspeaking is a known phenomenon. If you haven’t known about this phenomenon for some time, I don’t know what you know. Even popes can misspeak. It’s true. I have checked, and rechecked, the dogmatic definition of papal infallibility, and I find nowhere that the Holy Spirit protects the Roman Pontiff from misspeaking. Check it yourself if you like, but do not waste too much of your time. That’s what I’m here for.

If thy lips cause thee to sin: More on premarital kissing.

BY: Henry Matthew Alt • June 20, 2016 • Moral Theology

On Facebook, Joanne McPortland quips that premarital kissing “is only a mortal sin if you like it.” Guess it’s off to Confession for me, then. But what stands at the back of this sudden frenzy of scrupulosity about kissing before marriage is the idea that what constitutes a particular occasion of sin for you somehow binds all Catholics. And yet, if someone is addicted to pornography, the mere possession of a computer might be an occasion of sin. But for another, who is not addicted to pornography, there is no occasion for sin.