Author Archives
Alec Ott
The Pro-Life Message of ‘Avengers: Endgame’
To be pro-life means to uphold the dignity of human life and promote life, not death, in our answers to the problem of human suffering. When we promote life, we in turn battle the “culture of death” in this world, a world-view that promotes death as a solution to problems. This ongoing battle for life and death is played out countless times in our traditional stories and legends. In such stories, the archetype hero fights for life and saves the people from the villain who wants death, destruction and power.
[Warning: Spoilers follow.]
Abortion Advocates Dare Not Face Their Own Beliefs
G.K. Chesterton’s masterpiece, Orthodoxy, remains completely relevant in today’s world in spite of being published over 100 years ago. This is so partly because he tackles and eviscerates the contemporary philosophies of his day that are still revered to this day. One philosopher he took on was , whom many in his own day praised as bold and courageous in his ideas and writing.
Chesterton would have none of this. In Orthodoxy, he criticized Nietzsche for having “always escaped a question by a physical metaphor, like a cheery minor poet. He said, ‘beyond good and evil,’ because he had not the courage to say, ‘more good than good and evil,’ or, ‘more evil than good and evil.’ Had he faced his thought without metaphors, he would have seen that it was nonsense.” Chesterton explained that the use of such metaphors was the mark of “vague modern people” who would not dare to define what was the good of their own doctrine.
Fighting the Abortion Status Quo With “Heartbeat” Bills
Part 3 in an Ongoing Series
This past week, Amanda Prestigiacomo of The Daily Wire reported on the signing of the “fetal heartbeat” bill into law by the Governor of Ohio, Mike DeWine. As a wonderful next move for the pro-life movement, the new law is intended to protect unborn babies with beating hearts from being aborted. Unborn babies’ heart beats are detectable after approximately six weeks of gestation.
As Prestigiacomo reported, a handful of states have passed such bills, including Mississippi and Georgia. And just to the south of Ohio, the Kentucky state legislature passed SB 9, and Governor Bevin signed into law the Commonwealth’s own “fetal heartbeat” bill. As summed up by a report from the Catholic Conference of Kentucky, the legislature passed several pro-life-related bills before wrapping up their session. One bill anticipates the overturning of Roe v. Wade to provide significant legal protection to the unborn. Another prohibits abortion on the basis of sex, race, or physical disability.
An Unplanned Conversion of the Heart
Roughly 50% of this country identify as being pro-choice, meaning that members of this group believe that abortion should be legal at least in the early stages of a pregnancy. I have often wondered how many of this group would remain pro-choice if they really knew what was involved with abortion. Rather than agreeing with a lofty concept of letting a woman have a “right to choose,” would they maintain the courage of their convictions if they actually spent time in an abortion clinic to witness what happens there?
For I hope obvious reasons, I myself have not gone to an abortion clinic for this purpose, but I have read the testimonies of women who have gotten abortions and people who have worked at such facilities. And just recently I had a great opportunity to witness the story of a former abortion industry worker.
Apathy Over the Killing of Infants
A state law was recently passed that permits the killing of human infants. Rather than rising up in outrage and disgust, the country’s reaction to this unjust and immoral law was largely apathetic. This in spite of the indisputable fact that a fully formed, human infant who is still within her mother’s body can now be legally killed in New York. The governor of Virginia would even take it a step further — permitting the legal right to kill an unwanted infant immediately after birth. Again, there was little outrage over this horrible, evil viewpoint. Most were more concerned about a yearbook photo from a Halloween party over 30 years ago.
Comparing Mary with Fantasy Characters
The Blessed Mother’s Odyssey Through Science Fiction and Fantasy, Part 3
About a year and a half ago, I wrote the article The Logos: A Perfect Man’s Odyssey Through Science Fiction and Fantasy, in which I compared the character of Jesus Christ with popular characters in fantasy and science fiction, such as Star Trek, Star Wars, select superheroes and The Lord of the Rings. My conclusion was that if he was considered merely as a literary figure, even in that limited sense, Jesus is a singular character in all of history, one that beats all other heroes at their own game. That is because he is portrayed as the Logos himself, a being incapable of making mistakes—but even more so—the model of perfection itself with unlimited, infinite power. No other figure comes even close—because, as I posited, it’s hard for mere humans to even grasp the existence of someone like that.
I now return with another comparable character, and one who is considered to be the greatest creature of all of God’s creation. Only the Logos, who is God and not a creature, is greater. And he is her son.
Comparing Mary with Characters in Star Trek and Star Wars
The Blessed Mother’s Odyssey Through Science Fiction and Fantasy, Part 2
About a year and a half ago, I wrote the article The Logos: A Perfect Man’s Odyssey Through Science Fiction and Fantasy, in which I compared the character of Jesus Christ with popular characters in fantasy and science fiction, such as Star Trek, Star Wars, select superheroes and The Lord of the Rings. My conclusion was that if he was considered merely as a literary figure, even in that limited sense, Jesus is a singular character in all of history, one that beats all other heroes at their own game. That is because he is portrayed as the Logos himself, a being incapable of making mistakes—but even more so—the model of perfection itself with unlimited, infinite power. No other figure comes even close—because, as I posited, it’s hard for mere humans to even grasp the existence of someone like that.
I now return with another comparable character, and one who is considered to be the greatest creature of all of God’s creation. Only the Logos, who is God and not a creature, is greater. And he is her son.
The Blessed Mother’s Odyssey Through Science Fiction and Fantasy, Part 1
About a year and a half ago, I wrote the article The Logos: A Perfect Man’s Odyssey Through Science Fiction and Fantasy, in which I compared the character of Jesus Christ with popular characters in fantasy and science fiction, such as Star Trek, Star Wars, select superheroes and The Lord of the Rings. My conclusion was that if he was considered merely as a literary figure, even in that limited sense, Jesus is a singular character in all of history, one that beats all other heroes at their own game. That is because he is portrayed as the Logos himself, a being incapable of making mistakes—but even more so—the model of perfection itself with unlimited, infinite power. No other figure comes even close—because, as I posited, it’s hard for mere humans to even grasp the existence of someone like that.
I now return with another comparable character, and one who is considered to be the greatest creature of all of God’s creation. Only the Logos, who is God and not a creature, is greater. And he is her son.
Why God Does Not Want You To Worry About Anything…
The Andrew Klavan Symposium, Part 7
Five Liberty Island writers – Fred Tribuzzo, Alec Ott, Jon Bishop, Chris Queen, and David M. Swindle — explore the insights from the memoir of one of their favorite novelists…
New Fiction: The Decent
When a Trump Supporter And a Progressive Go On Their First Date…
Gary showed up right at 5:25, coatless and tieless, trying his best to match Gina’s more casual khakis and polo shirt. They did start out in the coffee shop, Gina ordering them two decaffeinated lattes. (Wanda eyed her wryly, shaking her head.) After about an hour, he invited her to dinner at a local seafood bar that was appropriately causal. She agreed. And as it was a warm late Spring evening they walked the three blocks together.
