Catholic blogs and websites I'll be watching

Here.   I'll certainly look for others.  Mike Flynn (TOF) is worth a read, when he does post.  John C Wright is a firebrand, and typically of more abrasive stuff than I feel comfortable with.  Nonetheless, he also has been calling out warnings against the encroaching war on the Christian West for some time, and was obviously right in doing so.  Plus he is good at unpacking lofty subjects that are often way over my head.  Of course The American Catholic has been a goto, not just for Catholic info, but for great insights into history, plus an annoying tendency to have shout outs to movies I've never heard of - and me considering myself a film buff.

I have made my peace with Rod Dreher.  Dreher was an evangelical who converted to Catholicism who then moved to Orthodoxy.  Though he remains Orthodox, I'd say a good 50% of what he writes and who he references is decidedly Latin in nature. Many of those he hangs with are Catholic, and he often looks back longingly toward Rome, giving only the most occasional nods to remind us he is Orthodox.  Whether he's run into some of the problems I discovered, I don't know.  I just notice that trend.  He clearly hasn't shuffled off the Latin coil any more than I could.  Though his collapse during the Covid-19 pandemic, and his willingness to haul those gathering to worship off to the prisons, showed he won't be the one to stand firm once the storm hits, that doesn't mean he doesn't have occasional good insights.  Especially when he can set aside his never-trump badge and focus on seeing the world through Christian lenses.   He is also a good resource for tapping into those such as I met in my Orthodox days.  He knows many like I met from Islamic countries or the former Soviet Bloc whose basic attitude toward what is happening in America is 'what the hell is the matter with you, you're already 1/3 Soviet and don't even realize it!'

I'll also put in a nod for Fish Eaters, that site I first stumbled on ages ago when I was first thought about taking the Tiber plunge.  That site continued to be a pit stop for me over the years, and though not friendly in any way toward Vatican II (and with some good reason), it does yeoman's work when it comes to breaking down the nitty-gritty and 'whys and what fors' of Catholic life.  Believe it or not, if you're not Catholic, it's darn confusing to figure out all the Catholic bells and whistles.  A single place to go that says 'that's why we cross ourselves and how' is worth its weight in gold.

There will be others naturally.  I'll keep more of an eye on things again when it comes to those naughty blogs who like to confuse politics or other agendas and opinions with the faith. Many I visited back in the day are less Catholic and more political now, especially those that swing left.  Because of that, and because I now have a keen interest in the tradition of my family, I'll watch to see how much false teaching and unchristian attitudes are percolating around those sites.  Especially since, unfortunately, many of those represent the majority witness among Western Catholics and even Catholic leadership.

And that includes Pope Francis and some of his shenanigans.  I don't dislike, much less hate, Pope Francis, but he does do things that I find bothersome coming from a prominent religious leader.  For instance, if you've ever noticed, he has a tendency to call out 'sinners' when musing on problems among more conservative and traditional believers and Western democracies, while merely calling out 'sins' when those apply to problem that are the left of center or outside the Christian fold.  That is, Pope Francis calls out 'rigid' Christians or the evils of Arms Manufacturers, but will only speak of 'abortion' (not those who get them) as a sin, or marriage between a man and a woman, but not homosexuals.  See how that works?   I doubt that's a coincidence, but it's a type of slickness that doesn't sit well when one is charged with speaking the Truth clearly and openly, where our yes should be yes, and our no should be no.

So I'll be doing my homework.  Since I don't have the time to study, I won't declare mine a 'Catholic blog' now more than I did.  I think to do that, I need to do the heavy lifting I'm just not ready to do at this point.  It will be my blog, from one who now has seen the three main brothers within Christianity and can speak to the experiences of each.  I simply have settled in the one I feel hits the mark the closest and, despite all evidence to the contrary, likely has the best chance of weathering the upcoming and nearing storms.