Maureen Mullarkey Strikes Again (and a Reminder About Commonweal Catholic Centrism)

Remember Maureen Mullarkey? Sure you do! Back in 2009, when it became public that she had contributed to the prop 8 campaign to strip gay citizens of California of the right to civil marriage, though she had made a name for herself as an artist painting drag queens, I posted commentary about her. And then I noted her cozy connections to, well, see my conclusion below.*

Commentary on Archbishop Thomas Wenski and His Threatening Response to Arrival of Marriage Equality in Florida

Also today, ongoing discussion of the response of Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski to the arrival of marriage equality in Florida, something I discussed yesterday: as I noted, on 6 January as same-sex marriages began in the state, Wenski issued a threatening letter informing employees of Catholic institutions of the archdiocese that anything they say in public forums celebrating marriage equality may be grounds for firing. Here's further discussion of this story from the past two days:

Commentary on Cardinal Burke and the New Emangelization Project

"Men need to dress and act like men..." -Cardinal Burke, pictured, in an interview http://t.co/uAkzd65VgH pic.twitter.com/BRHsOP8aSR
— Michael O'Loughlin (@MikeOLoughlin) January 6, 2015

Twitter's aflame now with tweets about Cardinal Raymond Burke's new emangelization program, with tweets like Michael O'Loughlin's above. Do a search at Twitter with the search terms "Cardinal Burke," and you'll discover a sartorial smorgasbord of amazing photos of His Eminence modeling for us that manly resplendence he finds absolutely necessary to the maintenance of a manly civilization and manly church that will attract real manly men to the manly Christ and his manly priesthood.

My Real Very Own Strange Shopping Adventure: An Epiphany Story

In one of my disspirited spells last fall, some of you provided helpful feedback indicating that you like to hear me speak from what poet Sharon Olds calls my "real spot." (Well, I don't mean to say that anyone used that phrase — no one did, as far as I can recall — but that was the gist of how I heard some of your suggestions.)

Droppings from the Catholic Birdcage: Cardinal Burke on "the Critical Importance of a Manly Character"

His Eminence 'splains to us "the critical importance of a manly character."

Really. Cross my heart and hope to die, he said those very words.

More on Florida's Epiphanic Moment: Anita Crying, Catholic Archbishop Shaking Bully Stick

1st gay couple marries in #DaytonaBeach. #FLmarriage pic.twitter.com/ku2Wwfa25C
— news-journalonline (@dbnewsjournal) January 6, 2015

Yesterday, I called the breaking out of human rights and equality for gay citizens in Florida an epiphanic moment. More on that theme today, in articles I've read this morning commenting on the opening to same-sex marriage in Florida:

In Online Blog Conversations (Especially About Religion), Where Are the Women Commenters?

At her Flunking Sainthood site, Mormon blogger Jana Riess asks an interesting question yesterday: Where are all the Mormon women blog commenters? Riess notes that, though 46% of her readers are women and 54% men, 90% of the comments to her blog come from men.