Secret World Beta Weekend 2: Further Impressions
This past weekend’s beta was really just an extension of the first. Same zone, same faction, same character, with more of the content unlocked. It didn’t make a huge difference to me, since I hadn’t gotten anywhere close to chewing through all of the content available in the first beta weekend. A lot of that … Read more
A World of Secrets
I played a bit of the beta for The Secret World this weekend. It’s the first massively multiplayer game I’ve played since working on SW:TOR, and I found myself enjoying it far more than I’d expected. Well, eventually. Initially, it pissed me off in all the ways that MMOs have come to. Lag was not … Read more
Were There Really Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe?
So this article has been circulating: http://anthropologist.livejournal.com/1314574.html I am a gay, married Christian, so I have a great deal of stake in this. I am also a graduate student in Medieval history, so this article sets off alarms. Giant clanging alarms that say “It is more complicated than that.” I feel like it’s a good … Read more
Loving Past Amendment One
Much ink has been spilled on the events of this week. You know which ones I mean. No, not Cole Hamels admitting to intentionally hitting Bryce Harper with a pitch. North Carolina passes Amendment One, and Barack Obama alters the tense of his personal stance on gay marriage from “evolving” to “evolved.” Much of that … Read more
All Oppression Shall Cease
Fred Clark over at Slacktivist poses a difficult question: When is it appropriate to forgive the oppressor? Or, more accurately, he refuses to pose that very same question, arguing that it should be way, way down on our list of priorities as Christians. “The matter of “empathy and compassion for the oppressor” should not be … Read more
Feast of Feasts
This post will not be about penitence. This post will not be about fasting. It is about forgiveness. It is about grace. It is about abundance. It is about feasting. When God became Incarnate, joining the divine nature to the human nature, he overcame the distance that had, because of sin, separated creature from Creator, … Read more
The Past Is Not Defeated
I’ve written before about how History Has Not Chosen A Side, about how claims about being on the “right side” of history are all kinds of problematic. I don’t have a large readership (this is not news to me) so sadly, my eminent wisdom on the subject has not spread and people are still using … Read more
The Skydiving Level and You
All right, folks. It’s time to get serious. I know I’ve spent a lot of time discussing frivolous topics, but no more. I have a theory. A theory about skydiving levels in video games. My theory is that when present, a skydiving level can tell you exactly what the rest of the game is like, … Read more
Palms and Ashes
This year’s Ash Wednesday ashes are last year’s Palm Sunday palms. All the faith, hope, joy, and expectation which accompanies us on Palm Sunday when we hail the arrival of Jesus-on-the-Donkey-in-Jerusalem and Jesus-the-Lamb-that-was-Slain-coming-to-end-the-suffering-of-the-saints-on-earth is burned up. So it is fitting to remember Palm Sunday when we celebrate Ash Wednesday, and to remember Ash Wednesday when … Read more
History Has Not Chosen A Side
The headline of the day from the Seattle Times is Historic Senate vote clears way for gay marriage in state. This news makes me quite happy, but the contents of the article are not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about that headline. I want all headline writers and speechwriters everywhere … Read more
