Category Archives: Culture
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Endgame’s Greatest Scene: Agape in a Super-Powered Universe
1April 30, 2019 by Alex Johannigman
As a fan of all things superhero from a young age, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has held a special place in my heart ever since I watched Iron Man in the final week of my freshman year of college. I walked out of the theater on Sunday afternoon convinced that Endgame was the perfect capstone for the movies that have brought so much joy to the last 11 years of my life. But there was one scene in particular that has kept coming back to me for the past 2 days.
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The Tale of Two Fallen Stars We Need To Forgive
Leave a commentJune 9, 2015 by Alex Johannigman
Most of us are sick of hearing news about two reality stars who we love to either praise or hate. But what we’re almost all forgetting is that, as different as they are, they are both fallen human beings who need love, forgiveness, and prayer more than anything else.
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What America Actually Revealed About Itself After the RFRA in Indiana
2April 3, 2015 by Alex Johannigman
Fear has caused us to react in the worst possible ways to the news in Indiana this week. But is growing fear between the two increasingly divided worldviews seen in America only going to get worse, or is there a way that we can heal the open wounds?
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Indiana: Land of the Bigot? Try Again…
2March 30, 2015 by Alex Johannigman
A country that was founded on the free practice of religion should legally protect the rights of its citizens to practice their religions in all arenas where faith may come into play. But when practicing our religion in the public sphere and faced with difficult decisions we have to always ask ourselves, by taking this action, am I loving God and loving my neighbor?
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Why We’ve Ditched Superman for The “Flawed Hero”
2March 4, 2015 by Alex Johannigman
Superman is a hero who reflects the potential in all of us for greatness; a beacon of light in times that are grim and a glimmer of hope for the hopeless. But over the last couple decades we’ve developed a taste for heroes whose vices are more like our own. Why?
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7 Trends Destroying Families Faster Than a Same-Sex “Marriage” License in Texas
5February 20, 2015 by Alex Johannigman
Beneath all of the talk about “marriage equality” and “preserving the sanctity of marriage” there are much more harmful trends that are destroying the health and stability of marriages and families than the legal status of same-sex unions. The scariest part is that most of us are contributing to the problem.
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The Incredible Origins of Matt Maher’s Lyrics
2January 27, 2015 by Alex Johannigman
Matt Maher is one of the most popular musicians in the English-speaking Catholic world, but did you know that many of his lyrics are derived from ancient writings and prayers of the Catholic Church?
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Can the Supreme Court Get it Wrong? MLK Jr Thought So.
Leave a commentJanuary 19, 2015 by Alex Johannigman
“I have a dream” that one day we will look back at Roe v Wade and the decades that followed it the same way that we look back at Dred Scott v Sandford, as an ugly blemish in our nation’s history that we overcame when we as a people recognized that all people are created equally with equal rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness regardless of age, race, physical or mental handicaps, wealth, or educational background.
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A Rabbi Walks into the Vatican and Shares Some Poetic Theology of Love
Leave a commentNovember 20, 2014 by Alex Johannigman
I’ve been hearing a lot of great things being said about the presentation given at the Humanum Conference by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, the former Chief Rabbi of the UK and the Commonwealth, so I decided to start by watching his speech. I was very impressed by what he added to the conversation. One of the things I admire most about the Jewish faith is how poetic a lot of their theology is. Rather than speak about all the problems that the modern definition of marriage has (high divorce rates, abortion and contraception, ignoring gender, etc.), he discusses why marriage as it has been understood throughout history is so beautiful and necessary.
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The Greatest Disease in the West
2September 30, 2014 by Alex Johannigman
The greatest disease in the West, according to Mother Teresa, has little to do with not having enough bread to eat, and everything to do with not having a loving community to eat it with. But what can we do to cure what afflicts our culture?
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