The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan recently posted this message on his Twitter account: "I used to give up food, like beer or ice cream, for #Lent. But this year, I decided to give up something different." He then elaborated on the matter in a video, saying, "I used to give up food things, I used to give up, you know, beer, or ice cream or pop. Typically what I do is don't pick those things back up. Ice cream and beer I still have a little bit, but I've given up so many things over the years, food-wise, that I decided to witch my Lenten vows to character deficiencies, or problems I've had." He then specified by saying he was giving up anxiety and impatience this year. Upon hearing this, Lindsay Holmes of the Huffington Post  criticized Speaker Ryan: "The more people conflate mental health terms with colloquialisms, the more alienated individuals with mental illness will feel. Do you know how many of those 40 million Americans wish they could jus...

While I care as much/little about who the Cardinals (not those swinging bats in St. Louis) chose to be the new Pope as I do about who Justin Bieber is dating and whether or not his date is inflatable, I will be the first to admit that the word "Pope" is a fun one. So, given that, here are ten Pope-ish ideas for the future: 10. The Pope Show - Based off the Marilyn Manson song "The Dope Show," the shock rocker will sport the mitre he's worn in music videos and concerts alike to make the Pope rock harder than Moses in a Coldplay video! 9. Corn Popes - There's nothing quite like cereal named after the Pope. If you thought the regular Corn Pops were delicious, just wait until you try Corn Popes! They're delicious, nutritious, and help guys get all the b**ches! 8. Soda Pope - Nothing screams caffeine like soda in the Pope's name! Whenever someone mentions the Pope, the first thing that springs to mind is a young, bubbly person, full of energy and l...

The more stories I read and hear about organized religion, the more difficult it's becoming to see myself joining any unless some drastic changes are made. Just recently, 92-year old Bill Brennan - a Jesuit in Milwaukee, Wisconsin - was punished because last month he celebrated Mass with one Janice Sevre-Duszynska of the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests. That's right - Catholic clergy can get punished for supporting women priests. My question for the people whom felt Brennan and others like him deserve punishment is "What would Jesus do?" Call it a hunch, but I'm guessing Jesus wouldn't say, "Well, for priests who molest little boys, I feel we should hide that for many years and try to deny that ever happened. For the clergy who show support for female priests, however, I think we need to go public with that right away, denounce their atrocious actions, and punish them severely!" Something feels contradictory with these people'...

Ever know a person who would openly discuss things with you, regardless of the topic, but if and when you got to the topic of religion, that all changed? I know some people like this and just heard a story from a friend of mine a couple years ago that illustrates it. She, we'll call her Lucy, was raised Catholic and he, Adam, is Jewish. All throughout the relationship, Adam said he had to marry a Jewish woman. Lucy, because she cared about him so much, showed an interest and was willing to convert. All throughout the relationship, Adam made it known that he was the ever omniscient one when it came to the topic of religion. He read in one book that a person felt Catholics believed that Jesus was God, so he told Lucy about this and Lucy came back with, "No, we believe he's the son of God." Adam argued and said, "You should do some reading and studying on your own religion before you come talk to me about it." There it was, a conversation closer, becaus...