From The Desk of Holy Heresy

The white smoke has not yet risen. The Sistine Chapel remains closed to the world, as cardinals from across the globe gather under the frescoed eyes of Christ and the saints. It is a sacred pause in the life of the Roman Catholic Church, a moment set aside for prayerful discernment, ancient ritual, and, hopefully, holy listening. And yet, outside those sealed doors, the world clamors. Political figures, media personalities, and power brokers, many of whom show little interest in the church except when it serves their ideology, are already attempting to shape the outcome. As a Reformed Christian watching this unfold from outside the Catholic tradition, I do so with both deep respect and honest concern. The election of a pope is not just a moment of internal church governance. It sends ripples across global Christianity, international diplomacy, and the moral witness of the faith itself. But what should be a moment of spiritual gravity is now being treated, in some corners, like a campai...

In this hour of American life, something ancient and perilous is stirring. We are watching, in real time, the machinery of democracy strained under the weight of idolatry, not of gold statues or ancient empires, but of a modern-day cult of personality. We are being asked to bow. Bend the knee not to law, nor to justice, nor to the ideals etched into the architecture of our republic, but to the myth of one man. One voice. One power. But for those of us who live by faith, not faith in systems, not faith in party or ideology, but faith in the living God, this is our Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego moment. Their story, found in the book of Daniel, is often reduced to the dramatic finale: the fiery furnace. But the power of their witness lies in what came before that, their refusal to bow. With the full force of empire demanding submission, they stood. Not with weapons. Not with slogans. But with conviction. "We will not serve your gods," they said. "Even if our God does not...