Become a Member

Contributor

Valerie Pavilonis

Valerie is Ideas Editor at The Dispatch, based in New York City. Prior to joining the company in 2025, she worked at The New York Times and NewsGuard Technologies, and she is currently a Novak Fellow through The Fund for American Studies.

Valerie PavilonisCultureFormation

The Shape of Sin: Why We Paint the Vices (and the Virtues)

It’s good to know what sin is, so you can recognize it and cast it out. But you also need to fill your heart with good things, with abundant things, so that when sin knocks, it realizes someone strong is home, and it stays away.

By Valerie PavilonisCultureFormation

By Mere Orthodoxy

October 26, 2026 · 5 min read