Recent events are inspiring me to dust off this blog.
I was not a great fan of Charlie Kirk before his assassination last week. I liked him; I listened to him sometimes; but in my daily rationing of time, he was not someone I focused on.
But I’ve been deeply affected by what happened to Charlie. On so many levels, the absolute injustice of it has shaken me — how a man with so much talent, so much promise for the future, could be cut down with no warning or reason; how somebody else’s unrestrained hate could take away a loving father from his young family and a leader from his movement; how political leftists could so unjustly portray a voice of respectful disagreement as a voice of hate and intolerance, when he strived to have open dialogue with everyone he spoke with; how people I thought I knew and respected could exult in his death, or anyone’s death, for doing nothing but exercising his free speech.
And I identify with Charlie. As a follower of Christ, I am called to share my faith and the reasons for it — in this world that, I now realize more than ever, hates us. I too have felt a call to dialogue with people who don’t agree with me, but for a lot of reasons that maybe I’ll have a chance to get into, I haven’t felt able to continue this blog.
Charlie Kirk gave his life in the pursuit of his mission. Like many other people, in conservative politics and in conservative Christianity, this has lit a fire under me. I can no longer stay silent.
These are some thoughts I have about moving forward:
- I lost some so-called friends in the days following Charlie’s death. I suppose, if they hated me so much as to drop me for merely expressing sympathy and respect for a man unjustly murdered, they weren’t actually my friends at all. Fear of rejection is one of the things that has held me back most in the past.
- I started this blog to tell the story of my journey to Catholicism, to justify my choices, and to defend my newfound faith against unjust attacks. Over time, though, I found myself falling at times into polemics, attacking other people’s faith — or defending myself against the polemics of other Christians — which left a very bad taste in my mouth. The time for that is passed. I have no desire to take part in sectarian infighting among Christians, especially not after the battle lines have so clearly been drawn to show who we are really fighting against.
- I spent a lot of time previously on my blog responding to anti-Catholic attacks. I have no more patience for that. So I want to make even clearer what I’ve said in my comment policy from the beginning: If you want to respectfully discuss differences of theology, practice, or approach between Catholics and other Christians, I’m glad to do that. But if you come here only attacking, expressing only judgement and condemnation, rejecting the Catholic faith from even being Christian, with no room for discussion, you will be banned.
- So some new focuses for my blog, moving forward, will be presenting, arguing for, and defending Christianity and the Christian worldview in this secular world; presenting the Catholic understanding of Christianity in specific, where relevant and appropriate; and engaging with intersections between faith and history, theology, politics, and philosophy. I still care about apologetics, but I want my apologetics to be more pro-Christian than polemic or than pro-Catholic in a way that would denigrate or detract from other forms of Christianity.
I now have a crazy, busy life, and barely time for the things I’m already doing. I have two other blogs that barely get content. But I do want to return here and write again. If you have followed me in the past, and are still out there, I’d love to have you along for this journey.