The Narthex
Random Ruminations #30
Chicago Drama... Anglican Cringe... No, Virginia... Connecting the Dots... and more
By John M. Grondelski | October 13th 2025 11:57 AMChicago Drama ICE's current campaign against illegal immigrants in Chicago has led to numerous detentions at its Maywood, Illinois, facility. Complaints are now being made that ICE is preventing pastoral access (confessions and Communion calls) to detainees. If true, that would be concerning. People should have religious care. However, I…
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Conversion Therapy on SCOTUS Docket... Truckers against Trafficking... and more
By John M. Grondelski | October 7th 2025 11:36 AMSarah Mullally’s New Role King Charles III through UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer (or maybe vice versa) has appointed Sarah Mullally to be the next “Archbishop of Canterbury.” Thoughts? Well, in one sense the question is moot. There hasn’t been a real Archbishop of Canterbury for over 400 years. Changes…
READ FULL BLOG POSTFederalizing Washington DC Law Enforcement
For some commentators, the 274 murders in DC in 2023 appears normal & acceptable
By John M. Grondelski | August 12th 2025 12:53 PMPresident Trump’s announcement to enhance federal control of policing in Washington DC to fight crime in the nation’s capital is welcome. Talking heads insist that “crime is down” in DC, that Trump’s move is “cover” for not wanting to discuss the Epstein case, that it usurps “home rule,” and augurs…
READ FULL BLOG POSTThe Eroding Right to Self-Defense
Subways do not exist to be substitute institutions for those who need institutionalization
By John M. Grondelski | May 8th 2023 2:50 PMAs a moral theologian, I am interested in just war theory. Just war theory, which governs whether a country can go to war (jus ad bellum) and what it can do in war (jus in bello), is essentially a nation’s right to self-defense. That’s why I reject the arguments that…
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