Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Catholic Authenticity

Home
About
Books
Contact
Archives
Categories
- Beauty
- Current Events
- Faith
- Family
- Fiction
- Humour
- Identity
- Philosophy
- Sexuality
- Virtues
- Charity
- Chastity
- Humility
- Justice
- Poverty
- Wombats

Home
Catholic

2017-03-13T15:32:26-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Pregnancy, Gender Dysphoria, and the Pill

Last updated on: March 13, 2017 at 3:32 pm By Melinda Selmys

A while back, I posted a link to the talk that I gave about gender dysphoria at last year’s Q conference. In that talk, I mention my own experiences with gender fluidity, and specifically the effect of hormonal shifts during pregnancy. A reader asked if I could elaborate on that, and wondered whether I had ever considered treating my dysphoria using estrogen/progesterone supplements in order to make myself feel more consistently feminine. So first of all, “gender fluid” is often... Read more

2017-03-09T21:15:55-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

It’s Lent, American Civilization is Crumbling, Let’s Talk About Zombies

Last updated on: March 9, 2017 at 9:15 pm By Melinda Selmys

Today, while watching a horde of crazy children, trying to conquer the laundry monster, and providing seemingly non-stop milk-on-tap to a toddler who thinks sitting on my head is a great nursing position, I’ve also been defending the zombie genre on FaceBook. Because, you know, one does. I’m not only a horror fan, I’m also a horror writer. I even wrote a somewhat ridiculous Platonic dialogue about the ethics of having one’s face devoured by the undead. I like zombies.... Read more

2017-03-01T16:08:59-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I’m Gonna Give Up Being Right for Lent

Last updated on: March 1, 2017 at 4:08 pm By Melinda Selmys

Every Lent I try to come up with something interesting and fruitful to do apart from the standard giving up video-games/sweets/alcohol type mortifications. This year I’ve been thinking a lot about the divisions within the Church. Basically, since Vatican II we’ve seen absolutely astonishing gains in terms of reconciliation between Catholics and Protestants – but at the same time, we’ve seen a growing, increasingly fraught divide between “liberal” and “conservative” Christians. It seems to me, then, that this new threat... Read more

2017-02-28T12:31:30-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Loving Milo Yiannopoulos

Last updated on: February 28, 2017 at 12:31 pm By Melinda Selmys

This week we witnessed the very sudden decline and fall of Milo Yiannopoulos as an interview he gave in which he praised pederasty came to light, and the curious spectacle of pro-life/pro-family leaders standing up to defend him in public. I want to open by saying that I actually have sympathy for Milo. My reasons for this are very simple: he is a human being. As my sister put it, “nobody should stand outside the circle of sympathy.” So long... Read more

2017-07-12T14:21:07-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Conservatives vs. Liberals: Who Are the Real Catholics?

Last updated on: July 12, 2017 at 2:21 pm By Melinda Selmys

Several years ago, I was involved in a frustrating and interminable exchange about Catholic sexual morality over e-mail. At some point in the conversation my interlocutor sent me a copy of the entire chapter of the Catechism that covers the sixth commandment, heavily highlighted to show the errors in my position. I recall reading it and being not so much alarmed as angry. I had read that chapter dozens of times, and yet the text that I was now reading... Read more

2017-02-13T15:48:59-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

8 Ways to Tell When Someone Is Playing the Victim

Last updated on: February 13, 2017 at 3:48 pm By Melinda Selmys

Several years ago I entered into correspondence with someone who, it seemed at the time, really just needed a friend, someone who would offer unconditional love. Since I am generally for friendship and kindness, I was happy to try to offer that person what they needed. Over the course of several months, the relationship seemed to take one bizarre turn after another. My correspondent expected me to write every day, and if I didn’t then they got very angry. They... Read more

2017-02-09T19:11:17-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Blood-Dimmed Tide is Loosed

Last updated on: February 9, 2017 at 7:11 pm By Melinda Selmys

Several years ago, I wrote a piece for First Things where I opined that a lot of the fear and anger that the religious right feels about LGBTQ rights and the sexual revolution is basically derived from grief. The world that people knew is gone. The values they grew up with are no longer valued by society at large. Moral precepts that were taken for granted as the bedrock of society have been dismantled. Unborn children are being slaughtered daily,... Read more

2017-02-05T09:31:04-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Selective Skepticism

Last updated on: February 5, 2017 at 9:31 am By Melinda Selmys

Yesterday I read a comment by 3vil5triker on my post Is Heaven for Real? My response ended up being much longer than comment length, so here it is. 3vil5triker writes: How come the original accounts, and the beliefs that derive from them, are not subject to the same kind of skeptical inquiry? Can you really say that the early church accounts and assurances of heaven were not bolstered and encouraged by similar financial, societal and religious incentives of the time?... Read more

Hildegaard von Bingem

2017-02-01T16:05:22-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Is Heaven for Real?

Last updated on: February 1, 2017 at 4:05 pm By Melinda Selmys

Colton Burpo, the boy featured in the story Heaven is for Real, is a child who is supposed to have been whisked away on a whirlwind tour of heaven during surgery when he was three. For over a week now, an older article about his story has been trending on Patheos. While I don’t know what sparked the new wave of enthusiasm, I do know that I think people need to be cautious with this kind of story. My reasons are... Read more

The Boy Who Went to Heaven

2017-02-01T13:09:52-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Open Wombs, Closed Borders?

Last updated on: February 1, 2017 at 1:09 pm By Melinda Selmys

There are basically three reasons I know of why a person is likely to be pro-life. The first is a devotion to traditional sexual ethics, and in particular a commitment to the patriarchal nuclear family as the ideal for human society. Within this worldview, abortion is wrong because it takes the life of a child — but also because it does away with the consequences sex and enables feminism. The second is a nationalist ethic in which abortion is wrong... Read more

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: According to 2 Peter, one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Select your answer to see how you score.

TRUE FALSE

Books by This Author Books by Melinda Selmys

See All Titles »

Support this
Column

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abuse Beauty Charity Chastity Current Events Faith Family Feminism Fiction Humility Humour Identity Justice Perseverence Philosophy Poverty Sexuality trauma Uncategorized Virtues Wombats

Select a Month February 2020 November 2019 October 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015

TRENDING AT PATHEOS Catholic