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A Neo-Modernist Lexicon for the Post-postmodern Mind Since I’m building a whole new framework for myself in tackling topics in criticism, rhetoric, aesthetics, and philosophy, I decided why not make up some new words, too? Let’s see what we’ve come up with so far. This index of words created to try to name the currently…
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“Being a queer girl isn’t something you decide. It’s something you survive, until you get old enough to claim it.”—Emily Pratt Slatin, Friendship Bracelets And Other Broken Promises This quote from my wife, Emily Pratt Slatin, is surgical. It names what so many queer femmes—especially lesbians and trans women—have lived: not a “choice” but a…
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There’s a quiet pressure in both digital and physical spaces to always be making. Many content creators get into the feedback loop of Post, Record, Publish, and Perform. It’s as if visibility itself has become a modern virtue. But a couple years ago, I gave up on creating content for the algorithm. I don’t speak…
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Christianity, at least in its most accessible, franchised form, is like McDonald’s. You don’t have to look for it—it finds you. Neon promises of salvation on every corner, identical services dressed up in regional accents, all offering the same combo meal: sin, confession, redemption. I’ve come to see churches as chain restaurants of the worst…
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No institution has done more to arrest intellectual progress under the guise of divine authority than the Church. For over two thousand years, Christianity has braided guilt and power into a crown it insists you wear humbly. Apologetics, especially the polished, genteel flavor popularized by C.S. Lewis and his successors, don’t exist to explore truth;…
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The next time someone corners you to tell you how amazing their pyramid-shaped miracle business is, tell them you’re a Problem Solver for Hire. It sounds mysterious and efficient, like a secret agent with a clipboard. Nobody knows exactly what it means, but everyone wants one. Why? Because most people have no clue how to…
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Anti-intellectualism flatters the ego by lowering the bar. It preaches that ignorance is purity and intellect is arrogance—but that’s just cowardice with good PR. We’ve been herded into a comfortable disdain for complexity, told that questioning is elitism, and that clarity is snobbery. It’s trendy to sneer at ‘book smarts’ and glamorize gut feelings. But…
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In my teenage years, I came to realize that angels and demons are actually the same thing, but spiritually polar opposites; it is then our place as mere mortal beasts cursed with divine reason to decide ultimately which side of the pendulum attracts us most. There’s a moment in adolescence—especially for those of us wired…
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There are days when everything feels like too much—like the very structure of reality is just slightly tilted, and you’re the only one noticing the slope. On those days, grand wisdom and motivational speeches just ricochet off your skin. But a small affirmation? That might make it through. Kate Cassidy recently said in her video…
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Today, let’s figure out just how a little symbol is now @ the top of the English dictionary. Yes, that curly little character that lives rent-free in your email address. Somehow, it managed to tango its way to the very beginning of the Merriam-Webster online dictionary. How does this happen, you ask? Once, the ‘@’…