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Mom, why did you and Dad get divorced? I asked for the hundredth time. I was accustomed to hearing her respond, We just couldnt live together anymore. But this time she did not say that. We were on the way to the laundromat, and I can remember exactly where we were when she answered.

Because your dad is gay.

Oh, I know that, I lied, trying to cover my shock. I didnt know that. I was 9.

I didnt know that.

Although my parents had raised me with a Christian worldview and I knew the Bible well, my world began to shift radically after my father explained why he was sleeping with men. Before long, both my dads apartment and our visits began to change. A calendar of mostly nude men appeared in the bathroom, along with some revealing art. It was very uncomfortable to visit, but I tried not to let it bother me.

On the weekends when I visited, Dad and I would head to Castro Street in San Francisco. It was a colorful place, and I quickly found that I had to be careful where I looked, lest I would see more than I bargained for. I learned my way around the neighborhood, knowing which were the gay bars and which were the lesbian bars. I even attended the gay Olympics to cheer on a family member.

I was hip. I was open-minded. I was enlightened.

But I was also torn. When someone in authority, especially someone who is trusted, tells a child something is true, that child will believe them. In fact, that child may build his or her worldview on that foundation. I did. This is why Pride parades, drag queen story hour, and teaching gender as a social construct are so insidious.

Out of loyalty to my father, I would never have shared my instinctive doubts about his lifestyle, but I distinctly remember being unsettled by it. And yet I shrugged off my feelings and ignored my discomfort so that I could be a supportive daughter. As I got older, I became a good social justice warrior at my school. I learned to put condoms on bananas and the importance of safe sex, regardless of whom your partner happened to be. I certainly wouldnt judge.

My dad died of AIDS when I was 17, on the morning of my senior prom. I watched him suffer his last months without a partner, and I listened to him voice his regrets.

Shortly before my mom remarried, she and I became Catholic. But at our ultra-liberal California parish, there was very little accurate catechesis on what the Catholic Church taught on these issues. However, I certainly embraced what I heard the Church taught on sexuality: open-mindedness, tolerance, acceptance. I was desperate for a way to explain away what the Bible said so clearly, and the progressive wing of the Catholic Church was eager to help me.

My Jesuit university did a fantastic job of not just excusing but celebrating the behavior of my by-then deceased father by wholeheartedly embracing and validating the homosexual lifestyle. In my Theology of Marriage class, rather than have a heterosexual couple speak, the instructor had a gay couple come to talk about the sacredness of their marriage. At the time, I said I was so glad that the Church was changing their backward views on homosexuality; however, deep inside, such an idea left me unsettled.

This illusion of the changing Church continues today. In his recent essay at Outreach, Fr. James Martin, S.J., explains why Pride and the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus are not just compatible but complementary. He argues that Our Lord loves everyone, which is certainly true. But his slippery case that Pride Month is something Catholics should celebrate is filled with implied approval for homosexual relationships. First, he says, Imagine a young LGBTQ person who is not in any sort of sexual relationship but simply wants to be accepted.Where is the sin?Second, it ignores the fact that all of us are sinful. Who among us has not sinned?

Of course, a chaste person who struggles with same-sex attraction is not sinning. But then Fr. Martin pivots to the argument that we are all sinners. Well, yes. But we are also supposed to try to stop sinning. This sort of you-hate-chaste-LGBTQ-individuals gives way to we-are-all-sinners, and then the reader is able to fill in the blank as he is inclined: but God loves me anyway; or, so the Church is wrong; or maybe, so we should never judge the actions of anyone else.

This type of article is exactly the type of evidence I clung to in my progressive, liberal days when I was trying to justify not just the homosexuality around me but my own sinful choices. While Fr. Martin is correct that we are called to love everyone, sometimes the most loving thing we can do is call others out of mortal sin.

After I had my own children, I was befriended by several traditionally-minded Catholic women who took the time to educate me on the Churchs teaching on homosexuality. What made them so effective was that they shared the truth in the context of our larger relationship. Even though our family did not homeschool, these homeschooling moms welcomed me. We had monthly dinners out and occasional stump the priest nights when we could ask questions and discuss the Faith freely. It was through these encounters that we were able to discuss and debate, but only after we shared our favorite recipes and lamented the sleepless nights up with our babies, and before we arranged the next park day for our kids to play together.

These sometimes-heated discussions on homosexuality did not define our friendship. They were just one facet of our relationship, and these women cared about me even when I was a relativist. That we could move on to other topics on which we shared common viewpoints gave me the space to reflect on their words and let down my guard. What I said as we argued was often no longer what I thought to be true. Sometimes, even as I believed what they were telling me, I felt I had to make every argument to the contrary.

Through the influence of my friends and by the grace of God, our family began to conform ourselves to the teaching of the Church. But without their courageous truth-telling, I wonder if I would have changed.

On Rod Drehers blog, he recently described the experience of a progressive artist he called Jane. One night, in the throes of depression, and in the clutches of transgenderism, she happened to click on a Jordan Peterson video that was in her social media feed. She was shocked to find that she agreed with everything Peterson said. His lone voice amidst the sea of insanity into which she had been swept, just like the courageous voices of my friends, gave her permission to pull herself out. She gave up her art career because she realized that the wokeness it required was not worth it.

Hearing the truth mattered to Jane, and it mattered to me. For those who are in the position of teaching others the truth on homosexuality, marriage, or transgender ideology, please do speak up. Share the beauty of the truth fearlessly because yours may be the only sane voice that your friends and family hear. Know that people may be angry. They might feel attacked. They could be defensive. But in a world where the schools, media, corporations, and even many within the Church (such as Fr. Martin), are teaching half-truths or outright lies, how will anyone find the truth if we do not show them? The fruits of wisdom and counsel are often unseen, but that does not mean that the seed of truth you sow will not grow.

Eventually, I was able to accept that the people who told me the truth and who defended the actual teachings of the Church were the people who cared about me. They were the ones who loved me and who wanted me to know of the plan God has for human sexuality. I did not always react with grace to their correction, and there were many arguments and disagreements, but my friendsmy real friendsalways patiently met my arguments with the truth, delivered compassionately. They neither backed down nor did they ostracize me when I was in the throes of my ignorance. They spoke the truth in charity and, over time, softened my hardened heart.

[Photo Credit: Shutterstock]

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How Having a Gay Father Showed Me the Lies of Progressive Catholicism - Crisis Magazine

The 2022 high school baseball season marked a near-complete return to normalcy on the diamond and Staten Islands Baseball Oldtimers (SIBO) had a full schedule to evaluate the local players.

And, for the third consecutive season (excluding 2020 because of Covid), SIBOs Most Outstanding Pitcher and Player selections are a pair of CHSAA players.

Moore Catholics Jordan Savinon was tabbed the Most Outstanding Pitcher and Monsignor Farrells Rob Rispoli earned Most Outstanding Player honors, according to SIBO president John Mattera.

They both had really strong seasons,' said Mattera. Their futures are obviously very bright.'

Most Outstanding Pitcher: Jordan Savinon

Moore Catholic senior Jordan Savinon boasted a 2.10 earned run average in 53 2/3 innings. (Courtesy of Gerard Tingos)

Receiving praise from your own coach is one thing.

But when you garner recognition from opposing coaches, it makes it even more impressive.

Savinon, who boasted a 2.10 earned run average in 53 2/3 innings, dazzled the competition from start-to-finish during the 2022 campaign and it was obvious.

Guys like (Monsignor Farrells) Bobby Mulligan and (St. Peters) Bobby Glennerster couldnt say enough about Savinon,' said Mattera. They said, some of the toughest games they had all season were against him.

He was really, really tough against some good lineups.'

Savinon was the third Moore pitcher to win SIBOs Most Outstanding Pitcher Award.

Savinon, a senior, finished 5-4 overall after allowing just 13 earned runs on 21 hits in nearly 54 frames. The southpaw finished with 68 strikeouts.

Perhaps his finest moment of the season came during a game against Farrell the eventual CHSAA Intersectional championship runner-up on May 2. The lefty fired a one-hitter and struck out 10 to help the Mavs register a 1-0 victory.

The kid was just a tough customer on the mound,' said Mattera. No matter how successful your team was this season, if you knew you were going up against Savinon, you knew it wasnt going to be easy and he proved that over and over again.

Jordan finished with an overall record of 5-4, but he could have easily had more wins.'

Most Outstanding Player: Rob Rispoli

Monsignor Farrell junior Rob Rispoli stole a whopping 36 bases during the 2022 campaign. (Courtesy of Monsignor Farrell)

Rispoli gave new meaning to the phrase, speed kills.

Farrells leadoff hitter made a habit of getting on base and when he did, he more often than not got the go-ahead to attempt a steal.

And, boy, did he ever steal bases. The junior spark plug finished with a whopping 36 swipes for the Lions, thus igniting Farrells magical run to the CHSAA Intersectional championship round.

Rob was one of the main reasons why Farrell went on that late-season run that saw them advance to the championship game,' explained Mattera of Rispoli, who became the eighth Lions player to take home SIBOs Most Outstanding Player Award. They won something like 11 or 12 games in a row at one point and Rispoli was in the middle of it all, whether it was finding his way on base, getting a big hit or making a tough play at shortstop.

He really gave Farrell a boost.'

In addition to his eye-popping steals total, Rispoli also finished with a .458 batting average (33 for 72) and a .550 on-base percentage as well.

The big stage wasnt too hot for the slick-fielding shortstop either. In the first game of the championship round against Iona Prep, Rispoli knocked in Farrells lone run with a sac fly and robbed an Iona player of a sure base hit with a diving grab on a line drive.

He was one of the best, all-around players on the Island,' concluded Mattera. Rob was the epitome of a catalyst. He made things happen and not coincidentally, he played a big role in Farrells success.'

OLDTIMERS AWARD WINNERS

2022Outstanding Pitcher: Jordan Savinon (Moore); Outstanding Player: Rob Rispoli (Farrell)

2021Outstanding Pitcher: Nicky DiMartino (Sea); Outstanding Player: Joe Ciancimino (Sea)

2020No Awards (pandemic)

2019Outstanding Pitcher: Cole Ryan (Farrell); Outstanding Player: Nick Cippoletti (Sea)

2018Outstanding Pitcher: John LaPointe (Farrell); Outstanding Player: Josh Diaz-Pitre (Tottenville)

2017Outstanding Pitcher: Vin Vitacco (Farrell); Outstanding Player: Jerry Huntzinger (Farrell)

2016Outstanding Pitcher: Reyan Mustafoski (Tottenville); Outstanding Player: Dan DiGeorgio (Tottenville)

2015Outstanding Pitcher: John Donohue (Tottenville); Outstanding Player: Fred Sabido (Susan Wagner)

2014Outstanding Pitcher: Angelo Navetta (St. Joseph by-the-Sea); Outstanding Player: Stephen Edelstein (Tottenville)

2013Outstanding Pitcher: Joe DiBenedetto (Tottenville); Outstanding Player: Darren Hanzich (Tottenville)

2012Outstanding Pitcher: Chris Falcone (Sea); Player: Michael Sullivan (Tottenville)

2011Outstanding Pitcher: Michael Sullivan (Tottenville); Player: Tom Kain (Tottenville)

2010Outstanding Pitcher: Nick Pavia (Sea); Outstanding Player: Kevin Krause (Tottenville)

2009Outstanding Pitcher: Nick Pavia (Sea); Outstanding Player: John Ziznewski (SP)

2008Outstanding Pitcher: Ed Medina (Moore); Outstanding Player: Jared Croce (SW)

2007Outstanding Pitcher: John McNeil (Tottenville); Outstanding Player: Chris DeSantis (Curtis)

2006Outstanding Pitcher: No recipient; Outstanding Player: Tom Visciano (Farrell)

2005Outstanding Pitcher: Andrew Costello (Tottenville); Outstanding Player: Tom Visciano (Farrell)

2004Outstanding Pitcher: Joey Rizzo (Moore); Outstanding Player: Mike Consolmagno (Sea)

2003Outstanding Pitcher: Matt Dilgen (Tottenville); Outstanding Player: Sal Iacono (Tot)

2002Outstanding Pitcher: Mike Maynard (PR); Outstanding Player: Sal Iacono (Tottenville)

2001Outstanding Pitcher: Ray Rodriguez (Tottenville); Outstanding Player: Chris Reyes (Tottenville)

2000Outstanding Pitcher: Ray Peterson (Farrell); Outstanding Player: Jason Filoramo (Tottenville)

1999Outstanding Pitcher: Anthony Sclafani (St. Peters); Outstanding Player: Raul Carreon (PR)

1998Outstanding Pitcher: Marc Goldberg (Tottenville); Outstanding Player: Jack Tracy (Tottenville)

1997Outstanding Pitcher: Charlie Bilezikjian (PR); Outstanding Player: John Hagan (Sea)

1996Outstanding Pitcher: Jason Marquis (Tottenville); Outstanding Player: Frank Sansonetti (ND)

1995Paul Stabile (Tottenville)

1994Mike Grippo (Tottenville)

1993Bob Accardi (Tottenville)

1992Brian OHare (SW)

1991Bob Nigro (Tottenville)

1990Joe Schultz (Farrell)

1989John Baggs (Tottenville)

1988John Baggs (Tottenville)

1987David Honor (Tottenville)

1986Cliff Brantley (PR)

Charlie Wonsowicz (Tottenville)

1985Tim Fleming (Tottenville)

1984Steven DeFazio (SW)

1983George Quinn (Farrell)

1982Alan Silverstein (Tottenville)

1981John Toal (Tottenville)

1980John Toal (Tottenville)

1979Brian McDonough (Tottenville)

1978Jeff Szczecinski (Farrell)

1977Mike Ryan (Totenville)

1976Jim Stefanski (PR)

Chris Lein (Farrell)

1975Art Toal (Tottenville)

1974Dennis McNeil (Tottenville)

1973Ray Doyle (PR)

1972Kevin Ruffler (SP)

1971Karlus Trapp (C)

1970Dan Yaccarino (PR)

1969Dudley Scimeca (SP)

1968Mike Siani (ND)

1967Jack Donovan (SP)

1966Bob Lagattuta (Tottenville)

1965Jack Hurley (PR)

Visit link:
HS baseball: Staten Island Baseball Oldtimers announce its 2022 Most Outstanding Pitcher, Player awards - SILive.com

In the wake of the Uvalde, Texas, school shootings, Fathers Day feels different this year. As the national conversation has again turned to the intersection of gun access and troubled young men, we are wondering what is driving this streak of nihilism. Are boys and men in crisis? Is there something uniquely worrisome about American masculinity?

These were some of the questions bouncing around my mind when I spoke with scholar and author Warren Farrell about masculinity. Before his foray into boys and mens issues, Farrell, 78, was the only man elected to the board of the National Organization for Women three times. His commitment to feminist issues earlier in his career informed his passion to understand the experiences of men later in life.

Farrells 2018 book The Boy Crisis, which he co-wrote with John Gray, looks at why boys are falling behind girls, with an eye on the impact that absent fathers and male role models have. His work has been featured on the Dr. Phil show and Andrew Yangs podcast, and he has been a repeat guest on Jordan Petersons podcast, most recently on June 13.

We originally met months ago in his neighborhood in Mill Valley, California, just north of San Francisco, across the Golden Gate Bridge. On a balmy February afternoon, we walked alongside a meandering stream which cuts through the residential hillside bordering Muir Woods National Monument and the Pacific Ocean. Farrell took me to his church, the forest where he does some of his best thinking, and we walked under the canopy of 100-foot-tall redwoods. Here we discussed what issues are plaguing boys today and what can be done to help them.

This Q&A is a synthesis of that conversation and a recent phone interview. It has been edited for length and clarity.

Ari Blaff: Im curious to get your reaction to the recent mass shootings committed by young men. Are they connected to what you have called the boy crisis?

Warren Farrell: Weve been blaming access to guns, violence in the media, violence and video games, family values, replacement theory-style hatred (for mass shootings). And yet our daughters are exposed in the same homes with the same family values, the same access to the same guns, the same violence and the same media, the same violence and the same video games. They have similar mental illnesses, and our daughters have not been doing the killings.

Whats happening with boys is that there is a global boy crisis: boys committing suicide far more often than girls five times more often in their 20s dropping out of high school, dropping out of college more, dying from opioid overdose. All these are more than the 70 different ways that boys without fathers mostly do worse.

The difficulty is not just with boys. When boys dont do well, girls cant find good fathers (for their children) and that leads to children being raised by single mothers or divorcees.

The boy crisis resides where dads do not reside. There are about 10 causes of the boy crisis but fatherlessness, or dad deprivation, is the single biggest cause of it.

AB: You wrote an op-ed a couple of weeks back reflecting on the mass shooting in Uvalde. Is there something happening with American boys in particular? Obviously, there are instances of mass violence in Europe and even in Canada, but it doesnt seem to be the same rate or at the same frequency. Is there something about American masculinity, or a broader social crisis in American society, which is impacting boys?

WF: Well, I think theres two big things. One is the fatherlessness issue is the biggest here and in the United Kingdom. But the mass shootings are not as much in the U.K. as they are here. So it has to be more than just a fatherlessness issue. I believe that in the United States we have an addiction, and that addiction is to guns.

We also have very lax laws that a boy on his 18th birthday, without having any type of background check, was able to pick up a gun, despite having put threats on social media and showing many worrying signs of having significant problems, and none of that was detected or checked for.We have more guns in the United States than we have people. We dont have mass stabbings. We have mass shootings. The more powerful the gun, the more the boy has an ability to express his anger, and behind almost all anger is vulnerability. What we need to understand is that boys who hurt us are almost always boys who hurt.

When youre talking guns, you alienate the conservative community. However, when youre talking dads and fathers, the liberals are not very responsive. Were caught between a liberal and a conservative rock and a hard place. Very few peoples minds are opened to both issues.

Girls are not doing the mass shootings. And not all boys are the problem. It is more frequently the fatherless boys more than any other group of boys.

We need to pay attention to to three things. One is the boy crisis. No. 2 is the fatherlessness issue. And No. 3 is guns as the magnifying issue.

AB: How do you find your message is being received?

WF: Well, the people that interview me, if they are conservative, they want me to either minimize or leave out the gun issue. They are OK with my saying that guns are the third thing down the list and serve as a the magnifier for underlying issues. But if I start to talk about it in a more in-depth way, then they begin to get nervous. They get me back to families and fathers.

With liberals, I went out to interview the Democratic presidential candidates (in 2019) and there were a few people, like Andrew Yang and John Hickenlooper, who really understood. The campaign managers were not interested in having the candidates make boys and mens issues a feature of the campaign because they were afraid of alienating their feminist bases. They were also afraid that saying the father is important would alienate and offend single mothers.

AB: With Fathers Day upon us, what message do you have for parents?

WF: We really need to understand what I discussed in The Boy Crisis about the nine differences between dad-style parenting and mom-style parenting. Children do best when they have what I call checks-and-balance parenting which recognizes both mother and father communicating in a loving and respectful way.

Both mother and father bring unique parenting styles. Mom-style parenting focuses on protecting the child and being sensitive to the childs needs. The importance of the dad-style parenting is enforcing boundaries. From that, children learn to postpone gratification, to fulfill their dreams.

AB: I find it fascinating that your background complements the journey of gender equality. You began as an advocate for feminist issues in the 50s and 60s when it wasnt popular by any means and then expanded to mens rights and the importance of fathers. But for that, you get a lot of flak. Unlike feminist activism, mens rights activism appears to be a thankless pursuit. Does that surprise you?

WF: When I started speaking at colleges and universities, Id hand out these yellow pads throughout the audience. This was before computers and people would sign up to see whether they would want to join either a mens group or a womens group. I would get together with all the people that were interested, often until 1 in the morning. Id teach them how to run mens groups and womens groups and then keep in contact with them afterwards.

As I started paying attention to both of the mens group in New York, and then also to the feedback from the other mens groups and womens groups, I began to incorporate some of their insights into my presentations. It was at that point that my standing ovations became mixed standing and sitting. Then they became not mixed at all. Just sitting.

At the beginning, when I was just speaking from a feminist perspective, I got about four or five speaking engagements in referrals per event. Whereas after I started incorporating the male point of view, I would get one or zero referrals. I started to see that if I spoke about the male experience, or what was happening with boys, that I would soon be more and more unpopular.

AB: Fatherlessness is a big issue but does flow downstream from our cultural values. How would you reverse that trend?

WF: First, it involves getting women to understand that were all in the same family boat; when you focus on only one sex winning, both sexes lose. As parents, we want our daughters to have a man who is worthy of her love and respect. Someone who is able to have his act together enough to be able to take care of her and do his part in taking care of the children.

Historically speaking, every generation has had its wars, and during those wars, if Uncle Sam said, We need you. You are necessary to kill off Nazis, men signed up and came forward when they were told they were needed.

We have had to tell males now that they are no longer needed so much to kill and be killed, but to love and be loved. Women need their support, their skills, their checks, their balances to help with protecting and raising children. We need them to be father warriors now. The real warriors in the future are the ones who share the responsibilities and joys of raising children.

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What does fatherlessness, boy crisis have to do with mass shootings? - Deseret News

When the democrats get massacred in 2024, I hope Kamala Harris refusesto certify the results. Thats the way its done righteously, yes?

Well do it the South American Way.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/18/world/americas/jan-6-hearing-constitution-democracy.html++++++++In Constitutional Crises, Democracies Arent Always Democratic

When political leaders face a constitutional crisis, like that of Jan. 6,the process of collectively deciding how to respond can be messy, arbitrary,and sometimes change the nature of the system itself.

By Max FisherJune 18, 2022

If you look for international parallels to the moment last year whenVice President Mike Pence refused to bow to pressure from President Donald J. Trumpto help overturn their election defeat, something quickly becomes clear.

Such crises, with democracys fate left to a handful of officials, rarelyresolve purely on legal or constitutional principles, even if those might laterbe cited as justification.

Rather, their outcome is usually determined by whichever political elites happento form a quick critical mass in favor of one result. And those officials are leftto follow whatever motivation principle, partisan antipathy, self-interest happensto move them.

Taken together, the history of modern constitutional crises underscores some hardtruths about democracy. Supposedly bedrock norms, like free elections or rule of law,though portrayed as irreversibly cemented into the national foundation, are in truthonly as solid as the commitment of those in power. And while a crisis can be anopportunity for leaders to reinforce democratic norms, it can also be an opportunityto revise or outright revoke them. . .

Americans may see more in common with Peru. There, President Alberto Fujimoriin 1992 dissolved the opposition-held Congress, which had been moving to impeach him.Lawmakers across the spectrum quickly voted to replace Mr. Fujimori with hisown vice president, who had opposed the presidential power grab.

Both sides claimed to be defending democracy from the other. Both appealed to Perusmilitary, which had traditionally played a role of ultimate arbiter, almost akinto that of a supreme court. The public, deeply polarized, split. The military wasalso split.

At the critical moment, enough political and military elites signaled support forMr. Fujimori that he prevailed. They came together informally, each reacting to eventsindividually, and many appealing to different ends, such as Mr. Fujimoris economic agenda,notions of stability, or a chance for their party to prevail under the new order.

Peru fell into quasi-authoritarianism, with political rights curtailed and electionsstill held but under terms that favored Mr. Fujimori, until he was removed from officein 2000. . .

Modern Latin America has repeatedly faced such crises. This is due less to any sharedcultural traits, many scholars argue, than to a history of Cold War meddling thatweakened democratic norms. It also stems from American-style presidential systems,and deep social polarization that paves the way for extreme political combat.

Presidential democracies, by dividing power among competing branches, create moreopportunities for rival offices to clash, even to the point of usurping one anotherspowers. Such systems also blur questions of who is in charge, forcing their branchesto resolve disputes informally, on the fly and at times by force. . .

While other systems can fall into major crisis, it is often because, as in apresidential democracy, competing power centers clash to the point of trying tooverrun one another.

Still, some scholars argue that Americans hoping to understand their countrys trajectoryshould look not to Europe but to Latin America. . .

The phrase political elites can conjure images of cigar-chomping power-brokers,meeting in secret to pull societys strings. In reality, scholars use the term todescribe lawmakers, judges, bureaucrats, police and military officers, local officials,business chiefs and cultural figures, most of whom will never coordinate directly,much less agree on what is best for the country.

Still, it is those elites who collectively uphold democracy day-to-day. Much aspaper money only has value because we all treat it as valuable, elections and lawsonly have power because elites wake up every morning and treat them as paramount.It is a kind of compact, in which the powerful voluntarily bind themselves to asystem that also constrains them.

A well-functioning, orderly democracy does not require us to actively think aboutwhat sustains it, Tom Pepinsky, a Cornell University political scientist, told meshortly after the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. Its an equilibrium; everybody isincentivized to participate as if it will continue.

But in a major constitutional crisis, when the norms and rules meant to guidedemocracy come under doubt, or fall by the wayside entirely, those elites suddenlyface the question of how or whether to keep up their democratic compact.

They will not always agree on what course is best for democracy, or for the country,or for themselves. Sometimes, the shock of seeing democracys vulnerability willlead them to redouble their commitment to it, and sometimes to jettison that systemin part or whole.

The result is often a scramble of elites pressuring one another directly, as manysenior Republicans and White House aides did throughout Jan. 6, or through publicstatements aimed at the thousands of officials operating the machinery of government.

Scholars call this a coordination game, with all those actors trying to understandand influence how the others will respond until a minimally viable consensus emerges.It can resemble less a well-defined plot than a herd of startled animals, which iswhy the outcome can be hard to predict.

Before Jan. 6, there had been little reason to wonder over lawmakers commitment todemocracy. It had not been a question of whether or not they supported democracyin a real internal sense that had never been the stakes, Dr. Pepinsky said.

Now, a crisis had forced them to decide whether to overturn the election, demonstratingthat not all of those lawmakers, if given that choice, would vote to uphold democracy.Ive been floored by how much of this really does depend on 535 people, Dr. Pepinskysaid, referring to the number of lawmakers in Congress.++++

Wonder what theyll be teaching in high-school civics classes in 2030.

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The Texas GOP party platform the madness continues - Freethought Blogs

The Rev. Helen Orr, at home in Cambridge

I wanted to share with you some good news, for once. What follows is the text of my last two Substack newsletters, to which you can subscribe here. I use the newsletter to focus on spiritual, religious, and aesthetic interests which is to say, no culture-warring or politics. Though I am unhappy to be a displaced person (Im in the UK, waiting on getting a visa to get back to Europe), graces abound. Read on. RD

[The first one, titled, The Abbess of The Moorings]

You readers are going to get two of these today. Im on my way back to England, having been deported by the Austrian authorities when I tried to return to Vienna last night. My papers werent in order. Totally my fault! And the border police were actually very nice about it. Still, I have to go back to the UK and appeal to the Austrian Embassy in London for a visa. Further bad news: my research trip to France is now impossible, because I cant get anywhere into the EU without a visa.

The good news is that I will now have more time to write. The further good news is that Ill be returning to The Moorings, the Cambridge home of my friends James and Helen Orr, who hosted me there this week. I have to tell you, their rambling home on the banks of the river Cam, north of the town, is an oasis of peace and Benedictine hospitality.

James Orr is one of the bravest men in British public life for instance, he led the resistance to the universitys attempt to crush free speech and keep Jordan Peterson from speaking there but Helen is the happy genius of their household. I had not met her until this trip. She is the daughter of a prominent Anglican bishop, the late Simon Barrington-Ward, and is herself an Anglican parish priest. She and James, and their two children, host Christian student boarders in their house, and have built a kind of Benedict Option community there. The place and its people are so welcoming, and I think its mostly down to Helen.

(Ive added her as a subscriber to this newsletter, so I know she will be reading this and will probably be embarrassed by my praise, but sometimes one has to push on ascetically through such trials.)

When I arrived there earlier this week, Helen took me on a walk through their back garden. One of the best things about England is their gardens. Im an ardent Francophile in most things, but on gardens, I much prefer to messy English approach to the Cartesian severity of the French style. Helen told me of her plans to build a chapel there, and to keep working to make it a real center of art and healing in Christ.

She knew about my divorce situation from her husband, with whom I have been friends for several years. We stood down by the river and she spoke to me about it with directness and pastoral compassion in equal measure. I sure needed to hear what she had to say. In an earlier time and place, she would have been a great abbess of a vast and famous monastery. Today, she is vicar ofthe countryside parish of Bassingbourn, which dates back at least to the 13th century.

Over the past few days, Ive watched Helen oversee people coming and going from her house, feeding us, taking her kids to their activities, running a lodger to the doctor, and so forth. It was really something to see, how much passion she poured into making us all feel at home and cared for. And then when she sat down to talk with me from time to time about life in Christ, her words were always deep, wise, and comforting in fact, comfortingbecausedeep and wise. She has a rare gift of being able to speak with casual cheerfulness about profound things. Helen makes one feel seen. Whatever one thinks of womens ordination I think its impossible for us Orthodox, but the Anglicans can do what they want Helen has a pastoral gift that might be more powerful than any I have ever seen.

It might be that she made such a powerful impression on me because she reminds me of my Aunt Lois and Aunt Hilda, about whom Ive written a number of times over the years. Lois and Hilda were sisters of my fathers grandmother. They were born in the 1890s, and were very old when I was a little boy, and knew them. I would go to their tiny cabin at the end of a pecan orchard every day to visit, and to be dazzled by their presence, and their stories. Here they are with little me, about 1969:

Thats Hilda on the left, and Lois on the right. They were formidable, let me tell you. They had volunteered to be Red Cross nurses during World War I. I trace my abiding love of France to their stories about serving in the canteen in Dijon, and traveling around France after the war. Hilda was especially indomitable. In the great 1927 Mississippi River flood, she wanted to deliver relief supplies to the stranded in rural north Louisiana, but the Red Cross wouldnt allow its female workers to take that risk. So Hilda disguised herself as a man, took command of a supply boat, and went into the wild.

Thats the kind of women they were. So is Helen, I divine.

I wish I had been able to get through the border police and back to my apartment in Vienna. But it is not necessarily a bad thing that Im headed back to Cambridge, and to the home of the Orr family. Last night I bedded down in the airport chapel here in Vienna, comforted by the thought of sleeping where travelers pray. I was thinking that though my interrupted travel is unwelcome, maybe God allowed it to happen because He has something He needs to show me back in England. Helen is so full of life and curiosity about the world God has made that I can easily believe enchanted things are about to happen.

More later today I have to transcribe and publish here an amazing interview I did with an Anglican ordinand. And I want to share with you some things I read in the Venerable Bede last night, about St. Cuthbert. I had never really thought about the Anglo-Saxon saints until hearing about them this week in England. You just never know who you are going to meet, and what you are going to learn once you step off the everyday path.

The plane is boarding here in Vienna now. Back to Blighty!

[Here is the second one, titled The Pearls Of The Abbess]

Well, the adventure continues. Last night at the vacant terminal at the Vienna airport, I took comfort in the fact that the only place I could find to sleep not on the floor was in the airport chapel. It calmed me deeply, because I was resting where God is praised. It made me trust that despite the unpleasantness of being deported, and losing my pilgrimage to holy places in France next week (because I cant get back into the European Union/Schengen area until I get a visa, for which I have now applied), I felt assured that God was in it. That He has a plan here. I should have been quite distressed and unhappy, but somehow, I was calm, and thought, OK, God, what are you up to?

I arrived back at Londons Stansted airport, and waited in a very long passport control line. Theres a rail strike on here now, so trains were running off schedule. I finally caught a local up to Cambridge, and arrived in the sweltering heat not long after eleven a.m. I couldnt get an Uber none available, unusually so I decided to walk to The Moorings. Only twenty minutes away, though the weather was hot, and I was toting three bags. Still, I just wanted to get a shower and fall into bed, so off I went.

On the way, I began to pray the Jesus Prayer. I usually do when Im walking.Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.I walked a few minutes like that, but then the thought crossed my mind: back in the Before Times, I used to love calling my wife and sharing, in delight, the craziness of things like this (Can you believe it? I got deported! Isnt that just how it goes?). Now I cant do that. I havent been able to do this for about a decade. I miss it so much. That thought settled in, and brought with it sadness, and anger, and suddenly, I couldnt pray any more.

Dont surrender to it, I thought.Keep praying.But I remember making a deliberate choice to poke the sore tooth with my tongue, to linger on my unhappiness, and my sense of dislocation, of exile. I thought about this for the rest of the walk to The Moorings.

I let myself through the gate, and found the Abbess in her living room. I set my bags down, and flopped onto the sofa, while she flurried to the kitchen to get me something to drink. When she sat down, she showed me the handsome strand of pearls she was wearing.

I put them on today to remind myself to tell you the story about them, she said. The Abbess told me that she loved these pearls, but one day, she noticed they had gone missing. She looked everywhere for them, but couldnt find them. She was heartbroken, but figured that was just the way it goes sometimes.

As the year went on, Helen began to doubt whether she was doing the right things with her life. Finally, she prayed, Lord, if I am where Im supposed to be, doing the things Im supposed to do, please bring me back my pearls.

The next day, the Abbess got a call from her sister in Scotland. Did you lose your pearls? the sister asked. My friend found some pearls in the back garden. She thought maybe they were costume jewelry. I told her that no, I think those are my sisters pearls. Are they?

They were! The sister pointed out that her dog had gotten into Helens bag when she, her husband James, and the kids had been visiting last. The dog must have pulled the pearls out, and dropped them in the garden. For a year, people had been treading that garden, mowing it, and tending it, but no one had seen the pearls until that day. Until Helen had asked God to return them to her as a sign.

I wanted to share that with you because its a sign of enchantment, she told me. And of course I agreed.

We talked a bit more. She mentioned her late father, Anglican Bishop Simon Barrington-Ward, and how intimate was his friendship with C.S. Lewis and indeed, how before the bishop died in 2020, had been one of the last people left living who had been close to Lewis.

Soon I apologized to my hostess, and told her, My mind is so discombobulated that I cant form a coherent thought. I need to go down to the room, get a shower, and get some sleep.

At that moment, a neighbor showed up, poked her head in the back door, and gave Helen some information. I cant remember what it was about, but what I do remember was that the neighbor said that she felt so discombobulated. I dont know when I last used or heard that word, but now it had been spoken twice within four minutes. By now in my life, Ive learned to take that kind of thing as a synchronicity, as a meaningful coincidence. It always means, simply,pay attention, God is revealing something to you.

I went down to my room at the side of the garden, and got the last of my clean clothes to take to the bathroom for a shower. Ten minutes later, I was freshly washed and lying in the cool darkness of the room. Before I fell asleep, I looked at my e-mail. There was this from my friend Wesley J. Smith, a fellow Orthodox convert:

Just read of your travail in being barred from the EU.

If you are in England for a while, please spend a day or two at theMonastery of St. John in Essex.Founded by St. Sophrony the Athonite. Experience the Jesus Prayer service. Imagine hours of the JP chanted in different languages. It has to be experienced, it cant be described. I prayed at his tomb, and I have never felt the Holy Spirit so strongly. Completely off the grid. You have to call. Do. It is sublime.

Well, turns out that that monastery is not too far from where Im staying in Cambridge. Maybe I can get there.

Then there was a letter from another reader of this Substack, a priest, who sent this video. Its from eight years ago, with Helen interviewing her father, the late and much beloved Bishop Simon about the Jesus Prayer! I started watching it, and look, here is the first image, of Helen introducing her dad:

Shes wearing the pearls.

I thought, okay, this is a real synchronicity. I need to watch this video, but only when Im in my right mind. I closed my laptop and fell asleep.

A few hours later, when I woke up, I watched it. Here it is:

It is plain and gentle and like cool, clear water. The bishop who, Helen told me, wrote two books about the Jesus Prayer talks about what it is and why its so important. He mentions going to the Monastery in Essex, becoming close friends with the Abbot Sophrony, and learning the Jesus Prayer from him. In the video, the bishop holds a prayer rope that the future canonized saint gave him. Bishop Simon simply tells how to pray the Jesus Prayer, and why (e.g., he explainstheosis). None of it was new information to me, but it was like being stopped wandering off the road, and pointed back to the straight path by this dear old Christian Englishman, the father of my new friend the Abbess.

Do I even need to tell you that I am going to do my very best to get out to that Monastery this weekend, or at least while I am in England waiting on my visa problem to get sorted? I am so sorry to be missing Mont-Saint-Michel and Rocamadour next week, but I will get there eventually. There is something God has for me to learn here, in England, at St. Sophronys monastery.

When I finished the video, I came up to the house, and found the Abbess finishing her sermon for this Sunday. She told me that she has never watched that video of herself and her dad, but maybe now she should. What if it is, for Helen, another strand of pearls, lost in the garden, but now turned up at just the right moment?

I asked the Abbess if I could photograph her with the pearls. Yes, she said, but do so in front of this colorful painting hanging in her living room. She bought it many years ago, after a painful crisis in her life, one that she was coming out of with some professional success (before she became a vicar, Helen was a recording artist). She explained that she was walking in Notting Hill one day after signing a recording deal, saw the painting in a shop, and was so moved by the brightness of it, the warmth, and the life in its colors. But she figured it would be too expensive. It wasnt, so she bought it.

Helens husband James, a Cambridge professor, commented, That painting has enlivened every house we lived in, no matter how Dickensian. And there is the happy genius of her household, wearing pearls, in front of the painting.

Later, she loaned me one of her late fathers prayer ropes (not the one from St. Sophrony, which is with a friend at the moment), so I can pray the Jesus Prayer on it while Im here. I will pray it tonight, and ask for Bishop Simon and his friend St. Sophrony to join me in prayer. Im onto something. Turns out I was right to be calm in the airport chapel last night, and to trust that God was going to use that crisis to show me something I needed to see.

But what? Ill soon find out. And you know Ill report back!

Helen just showed me something she wrote down a while back to comfort her husband in a time of stress, and has kept near to hand in their bedroom. She wants me to share it as the Abbesss pastoral message to you all this evening:

Read more:
The Abbess Of The Moorings - The American Conservative