"Christ Has No Body on Earth Now But Ours": An Easter Meditation on Hands and Feet by Jessica Pegis

In her recent essay at the Women in Theology site entitled "Hands and Feet," Jessica Pegis notes that one of her favorite icons, depicting Jesus washing his disciples' feet, shows Peter touching his head. This is, as she notes, a gesture noting divine epiphany in ancient Greek culture.

Sri Lanka, the Spiral of Violence, and Global Turn to Strongmen Messianic Solutions: The Temptation of This Moment

I grieve — so very much — the carnage we've just seen enacted in Sri Lanka, on the day many Christians consider the holiest day of the liturgical calendar. I grieve above all the enormous loss of life, the manifestation of gross religious hatred we see on full display in this event, and the way in which it's very clear that this latest act of religious hatred is immediately rooted in the atrocious act of religious (and white supremacist) hatred we saw recently in New Zealand. As Dom Hélder Câmara reminded us over and over, violence spawns more violence in an endless chain of reaction until someone finally has the courage and compassion to break that chain.

What They're Saying About the Mueller Report: "Russian Government Interfered in the 2016 Presidential Election in Sweeping and Systematic Fashion"

let this not be lost in Mueller Report: "The Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion." Part I, page 9

— Judy Woodruff (@JudyWoodruff) April 18, 2019

What They're Saying About Barr's Press Conference: What Checks? What Balances?! — Commentary Hot Off the Press

It's a disgrace to see an Attorney General acting as if he's the personal attorney and publicist for the President of the United States.

— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) April 18, 2019

Tara Westover's Educated: "What my father wanted to cast from me wasn't a demon: it was me."

Having finished reading Tara Westover's Educated several weeks ago, I've been thinking about what I'd like to say as a concluding statement about it. I've blogged about Educated previously — here and here — noting that Westover grew up in a survivalist Mormon family in Idaho. Educated recounts the story of her attempt over the course of years to emerge from the prison in which her upbringing put her. It tells us about her father's wild delusions of grandeur, his belief that he was directly guided by God and watched over by angels — and of his danger-courting and relentless attempts to control his daughter with threats of damnation when she sought to move beyond his control.

The Bannon Link: Using Trump Playbook to Attack Pope Francis

Steve Bannon: If Trump is reelected, the country is going to get "pure Trump off the chain" https://t.co/ItFWWiyOz4 pic.twitter.com/CqxdB9cwIc

— The Hill (@thehill) April 12, 2019

Yesterday, I wrote,

Benedict's poisonous letter; Cardinal Sarah's toxic bile: these are part and parcel of a bigger initiative, coordinated and heavily funded by right-wing Catholic money, especially in the U.S., to Trumpize the Catholic church. Bannon is at the very center of this.

More Valuable Commentary on Benedict's Poisonous Letter: Part of a Bigger Initiative of Catholic Right, with Bannon at the Very Center

Steve Bannon is on a new crusade to reform the Vatican. Critics say he, and a movement, are using the same playbook that helped President Trump into the White House against @Pontifex. Our report on @OARichardEngel 9pm @MSNBC https://t.co/5hyixHojSW

— Richard Engel (@RichardEngel) April 12, 2019

Jamie L. Manson, "Pope Benedict explains things to me":