Neil McGarry's Blog

I was thinking the other day about politics, but also about vampires; specifically, how, according to legend, vampires can be held at bay by presenting a symbol of faith. For Christians that would be a crucifix, but I imagine that a yin-yang symbol or the Star of David would work as well. Yet, as Peter Vincent learned, the symbol works only if you have faith; otherwise, you're just holding a

This image has been on my mind all morning, probably because it reminds me of something that's been on my mind all year.Since the pandemic, I've spent a good amount of time wondering if I am a good person, and wondering what being a good person even means. So I did some reading on moral philosophy, figuring at the start I'd like deontology best. By the end, I was most in love with virtue ethics,

I'm listening to Shadi Hamid on the "Difficult Conversations" podcast. Hamid's written a book called The Problem of Democracy, and on the podcast he's making the case against consensus. He argues that, since some political questions touch upon fundamental notions of fairness and justice, polarization is acceptable and even desirable.To some extent, I see his point. I'm not going to support

I'm not religious by a long shot, but lately I've been thinking of something I read in college. I took a few religion courses as an undergraduate, and this from the Bible stood out: By their works, ye shall know them.* I didn't think very deeply about it then, but I do now. Over the years I'd become dissatisfied by some of the discourse in leftist spaces, but I couldn't put my finger on the cause

It’s easy to get into offices when you are me, even offices with swipe-card security. I just wait for the next employee to swipe, then grab the door and step in behind him. The receptionist with heavy bangs and too much makeup glances at him and not me, and I make my way to the throbbing heart of the office.Last time I was here I went right, into the conference like something out of a movie, with

 I’ve never been the kind of person who likes to be told not to think. As a kid, I was sent to a Catholic school, and early on I spent a lot of time worrying about dying when I was not sinless and thus buying myself an eternity in hell. I told myself I should attend church because the nuns said skipping was a surefire way to land you in trouble, but I never quite worked up the resolve to go. Then

As
has been wisely said, the map is not the territory. I believed this
the first time I heard it, and I believe it now. Myopic adherence to
principle is, in my view, one of the most pernicious human failings;
it's how religion manages to convince people to do terrible things
for what seem like the best reasons.


That
said, when you make a journey, it's best to bring along a map.

I'm
going to

I've been thinking a lot lately about being good.



There's a lot of debate over what it means to do good.
Is doing good creating as much happiness as possible, for as many
people? Adhering to rules of ethical conduct, against lying or
cheating? Embodying virtues like charity, humility, honesty, etc?
Although these are interesting questions, they are not what has been
occupying my thoughts.

The
New Republic axed this piece, but like
all things Internetty, it's
been saved for
posterity. I have a Mayor Pete problem, too, but it has little to do
with Mr. Buttigieg





I
feel
as though people really don't know how to treat his candidacy. Some
have detached Buttigieg's homosexuality from the rest of his
identity, so they can dismiss him as "another white guy."
That's true only in the

This opinion piece in the Washington Post has spurred me to (finally) write something that's been on my mind a long time.

You should read for yourself, but if you want to save time, Nana Efua Mumford of the Post is agonizing over the fact that she found certain details of Jussie Smollett's account of his alleged attack hard to swallow. Does doubting Smollett, she asks herself, mean doubting that