Adopt-a-Bear

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Draco Layer Four: The Anagogic or Mystical Sense

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Here be dragons. And doves. Human beings long for transcendence. Such longing is, for the world, always out of fashion because, of course, it is not a longing for the world, and the world knows it. We know what the world wants. The world—by which we mean Satan, the Lord of the World—wants above all our obedience, a jewel so precious that he will do anything to get it: lie, steal, murder, bear false witness, pretend to social standing, pretend to insider knowledge to get us to consent to his influence.  “God lied to you. You will not die.” And suddenly we are anxious about having other people dislike us, about losing prestige in our social circles, about other people being more popular or influential or successful, about other people having secret knowledge, about our own influence and fame. “You shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” And with that temptation, our first parents fell. The irony is cosmic. There they were in the Garden, privy to conversation with God face-to-face, ...
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How to Be a Happy Warrior

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Several of my friends have remarked over the past few days how impressed they were that I was able to stay so calm during the engagement on the Facebook thread . Well, let me tell you, it wasn't easy! I was supposed to be at a fencing tournament today [ now, yesterday--FB ] at our club, but instead I have spent the day on the couch with Roger Scruton and a cold, my sinuses throbbing and my head in a whirl. Which is only to say, being a Happy Warrior takes it out of you. So how did I do it, stay so calm in the midst of the storm? A few training tips for those brave enough to step with me onto the strip.... 1. Arm yourself . If you are going to be a Happy Warrior, you need to know everything . I'm not kidding about this. There is a reason that after the Apostle Paul saw the Lord on the road to Damascus he went off to Arabia and did not return to Jerusalem for three years (Galatians 1:17-18). He was studying! (Okay, I'm getting this interpretation of what he says from Marg...
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Draco Layer Three: The Moral or Tropological Sense

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Learn to discern. We all know what sin is, right? Right?!  Once upon a time in the desert , the hermit Evagrius Ponticus (d. 399) set out to make a list of the most deadly ones, albeit he called them “deadly thoughts,” not “sins.” You probably know the list, even if you don’t think you do: gluttony, impurity (a.k.a. lust), avarice (a.k.a. greed), sadness (a.k.a. feeling sorry for oneself), anger or wrath, acedia  or sloth, vainglory, and pride (two different things).  Not quite the list you were expecting? That is because some centuries later—we’re talking ancient times here, when centuries passed like decades do now (or vice versa)—Pope Gregory the Great (d. 604) revised the list, somewhat accidentally, in his commentary on Job.  Gregory had been expounding Job according to its multiple layers—yes, that’s right! Job, like Shrek, has layers! —and he happened somewhere in book XXXI to mention the “seven principle vices” to which Pride,  the “Queen of S...
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Make the Middle Ages Dark Again

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I miss the good old days. You remember. Back when the only thing people knew about the Middle Ages is that they were Dark and filled with evil barons wresting a living off the back of their serfs, not to mention lecherous clergy imprisoning young maidens so as to rape them and then accuse them of witchcraft. You remember, right? What it was like when the Middle Ages were Dark? The Roman Catholic Church made slaves of everyone, stripped them of their sense of dignity and independence and made social status a matter not of achievement, but birth. The Church hated science and industry and did everything in its power to keep people in chains. It guarded its authority with the sword and the stake, stifled all innovation, and fed the common people lies. And why were these Ages so Dark? There were no universities, no towns, only castles with dungeons. Monks huddled in their cells thinking dark thoughts about sin, while Vikings stormed across the countryside, raping and pillaging and ca...
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Judge MILO

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Those who have ears to hear , let them hear . Can you read the signs ?* Sydney Morning Herald to MILO: “You’ve obviously done a tremendous job in building up a personal brand. You say the outrageous things, you wear the weird clothes and the dark glasses and all that. I’m wondering...do you genuinely believe all the things that you claim to, or are you now essentially living out a caricature?”   MILO: “If I didn’t believe it, I wouldn't say it. There’s no value to me, social, financial or otherwise, in having the opinions that I have. I would be much wealthier, much happier, and much safer if I were a liberal [in the American sense]. But I’m not.”   Former feminist girl: “My question is, I’m fourteen, and I’m wondering how I could help my peers...get interested in politics.”  MILO: “Raise merry hell. And I mean, merry hell. I use the word merry  advisedly because...it’s laughter and war. Risus et bellum  is my motto. As long as you’re k...
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