Back in the 80s, the fourth-century burning of the great library at Alexandria was a popular totem among atheists I knew. At the time it was widely believed that Church leaders torched it because they were afraid of knowledge, and the legendary act became a symbol of the kind of tragedies that can arise due to ignorance and fear. I recall a professor friend recounting the event in vivid detail one evening when my family visited his house, almost getting teary-eyed as he said, “Imagine all those rare books—gone. A collection unique in all of history, never to be seen again.”

Though we now know that it may not have been Church leaders who took out the library, it’s still troubling to...READ MORE

One of the most common question I get through my blog is: “How can I talk to my atheist friend / family member / coworker about the Faith?” First of all, you must remember that atheists are just like you and me, except that they eat small children for breakfast. (Kidding, kidding. They prefer them for lunch.) It also helps if you understand the average atheist’s mentality.

Below are the five most common misconceptions I encounter when I talk to cradle Catholics about this issue. Obviously, these are generalizations, so each one may not apply to every person who describes himself as an atheist. But as someone who grew up atheist and hung out in atheistic social circles for much of my life,...READ MORE

According to Wikipedia, Daylight Saving Time was first proposed by a guy in New Zealand who wanted more daylight hours to collect bugs, and was popularized by governments hoping to cut down on coal and oil use. That’s the official line, anyway. My theory is that it’s all part of a vast conspiracy by sinister secret societies who want to keep the citizenry oppressed so that they can carry out their nefarious plans. After all, a people cannot revolt if they’re using all their mental energy to try to figure out what time it is.

With four kids under the age of seven, I am particularly impacted by this scourge. I live and die by our daily schedule, and being sleep deprived is my default state....READ MORE

On the unfortunate occasions that I emerge from my lair to socialize, I end up having a lot of conversations that go something like this:

FRIEND: What do you think about Libya?
ME: Who’s she?
FRIEND: Umm, the country.
ME: Oh, right. Libya. I’m sure it’s lovely.
FRIEND: Uhh, you know they’re in the midst of a revolution, right?
ME: There’s a revolution in Libya? Wow, crazy. I hope that works out.
FRIEND: I was going to ask you what you think NATO should do about Gaddafi, but I guess that would be a total waste of time.
ME: Unless this Nate O. guy is someone here at the party and Gaddafi is one of the appetizers, yeah. It’d be a waste of time.
FRIEND: [Pretends to choke on a carrot stick to...READ MORE

When I talk to atheists about Christianity, one of the most common objections they raise is the existence of suffering. An atheist friend recently cited one of the more disgusting stories from the day’s news and asked: “How can you believe that there’s a loving God when something like that happens?”

One self-described ex-Christian explained it to me this way: “They always told me in church that Jesus died on the cross for me because he loved me. I used to believe that, and then my mom got cancer and my sister was killed in a car accident. Now I don’t see why Jesus’ death on the cross matters, and I definitely don’t believe that he loves me.”

I can sympathize with those feelings. Though I’ve...READ MORE

This weekend I came across an inspiring story at the feminist website Jezebel:

Saturday, a black and white puppy was put to sleep; his body was thrown in a dumpster. Sunday, the little dog was found alive and “as healthy as he could be.” Now he’s been named Wall-E, and being called a “miracle pup”...Happy ending sure to come!

A common theme among the comments was concern about the off-handed way in which euthanized pets’ bodies are disposed. One person wrote:

Over the years, I took in three of my parents’ dogs, euthanized as a last resort. I then buried them in the huge backyard, each with a special blanket and a lot of my tears. They all have their own gardens now. The dumpster? No,...READ MORE

Some interesting stats from this USA Today article about young women entering religious life:

More than half of the women who professed final vows to join a religious order in 2010 said a parent or family member had discouraged their religious calling, according to a survey conducted by Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate.

Only 26% of the surveyed sisters said their mother encouraged them to consider religious life, and just 16% said their father cheered their choice, according to the report, which was released by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Feb. 2.

Wow! Why on earth would so many parents—many of whom are presumably Catholic—discourage...READ MORE

I was recently part of an email thread in which someone sent out a link to an article by Dave Ramsey called How Not to be a Financial Burden on Your Kids. Ramsey begins the article by saying:

If we’re honest, we all carry a deep fear that we won’t have enough money to sustain us through retirement—becoming a financial burden to our children. The 2010 Retirement Confidence Study shows that only 16% of workers are very confident that they will be able to live comfortably in retirement.

Then he goes on to cite the data that really had people panicked:

Only 46% of workers have tried to calculate how much they’ll need to save for retirement. As a result, 29% of workers think they can retire...READ MORE