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

Home
Catholic
7QT: Life as a Walking Knock-knock Joke

7QT: Life as a Walking Knock-knock Joke

Last updated on: July 23, 2021 at 12:38 pm by Jennifer Fitz

7QT: Life as a Walking Knock-knock Joke 2021-07-23T12:38:53-05:00 Jennifer Fitz

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.

Since it’s that time of week, seven things to make you glad you don’t live inside my head all the time:

#1 I will almost certainly watch a little bit of Olympics this year, but honestly I’ve lost my taste for them. Reasons:

The regional chokeholds on broadcast coverage. I can’t watch the sports I want to watch, nor the commentary (or silence) I want to watch, because heaven forbid the television monopolies discover that half a dozen geeks worldwide prefer some other country’s telecast to their own. Geez. Might see what I can get this year using a VPN, though?
Men competing in women’s sports? No thanks. Deeply unimpressed by any further claims from the IOC that this is sporting “competition.”
Profoundly ticked off by this nasty nasty bit of ableism.
IOC gets guilty-by-association for Bikinigate. I’ve been irritated by the mandatory bikini-wearing since I first saw beach volleyball in the Olympics years ago. Dear women athletes: It’s all about voyeurism, your job is to be the eye-candy. Don’t wreck our ratings by dressing like the men do.

Guess the Olympics are turning me into a raging TERF.

#2 Just finished reading Trans by Helen Joyce. Hope a review will follow soon. I’ve quit predicting anything at all about my life, so who knows.

Two-sentence version: Highly recommended for most readers, excellent book overall, valuable contribution to the discourse, valuable for personal edification. Recommended only with caution for readers who are either coming in completely cold to the topic (little or no previous knowledge of the discourse), or those who would find reading an argument from a purely secular, atheist, and pro-abortion POV too unsettling to be of value.

#3 I have a shortlist of people (a few dozen or so) whose opinions I value so highly that if I should disagree with them, or they with me, I give immediate, serious thought to whether I have gravely erred.

Timothy Scott Reeves is one of them; Christopher Tollefsen is another.

Which would be (yet another) reason I tend to take a very conservative view of how public health policies should be implemented. Religious exemptions for vaccine mandates must be protected. Must. Must must must.

#4 And yet, because science, I think the US is being too cavalier in how we respond to the surge in Delta-variant cases.

Weird effect of being a walking knock-knock joke, “What do you get when you cross old-school liberalism with old-school conservatism?” –> You get someone who recommends (based on changing conditions on the ground and improved knowledge of the present surge, this was not my stance a month ago) aggressive use of vaccination, ventilation, distancing, face coverings, and heck just work on your garden this summer . . . without thinking that a whole-hearted embrace of that advice is in any way a call for limiting the freedoms protected by the US Bill of Rights, strictest possible reading.

#5 Insane fact about the Catholic faith: Even poor people should be able to raise children.

If you knew of, say, a high-profile politician who was both touting his or her Catholic faith and insisting we need to make abortion more available because-poor-women . . . they haven’t read their Leo XIII.

The answer to poverty and crisis pregnancies is not, “Poor people shouldn’t breed.” Tell me about what you’re doing to ensure even people who will never rise past the rank of Walmart stock clerk are able to raise their families in decent living conditions.

That’s the Catholic.

Doesn’t fit either party’s narrative, but there it is.

#6 Brandon @ Siris has written a fantastic discussion of what detraction is and isn’t.

#7 Reiterating for those who are bound to wonder: Don’t mistake my sudden presence online this week as a sign my life is sorting itself out. Quite the opposite. Nothing ominous in my saying that, just clarifying in case you were tempted to think maybe I was rejoining the ranks of the high-functioning. Nope. Not there. Still working on it.

Meanwhile, something fun:

Not just the world’s slowest paint job in the background, but also an Honorable Mention from the Catholic Media Association’s 2021 Book Awards. Huge thanks to OSV for submitting the beast for consideration.

Reminder for those who are, like me, still puzzling over how I of all people could have written such nice book? There were editors involved. Good ones. I promise it’s safe for the general public, Our Sunday Visitor is reliable that way.

Books

Catholic Q&A

Church Craziness

Disability & Chronic Illness

Previous Post

July 22, 2021

Nuances in the Vaccine Conversation

Next Post

July 23, 2021 More Stats from The Pillar

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Books Catechesis Catholic Q&A Chastity Church Craziness Come See Me Talk Disability & Chronic Illness Economics Evangelization Facepalm Forgiveness Good Things History Homeschooling Human Rights It's All Catholic Listen to Me Survey Series Liturgical Living Marriage Modesty Not Satire. But almost. Rant-o-Rama Sacred Art & Music Satire South Carolina Spark Clutter Stick that Corner Suffering Thinking Topics Writing Stuff

Select a Month September 2026 July 2026 June 2026 January 2026 December 2025 September 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 November 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 May 2019 April 2019 February 2019 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 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 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 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a statue of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and clay?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Hosea Ezekiel Daniel Obadiah