Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s handling of the 9/11 memorial ceremonies: Last year, Mayor Bloomberg sought to justify his support for building a mosque near Ground Zero by recalling the bravery of the firefighters on that fateful day. “In rushing into those burning buildings, not one of […]
Libyan rebels take heed. Since relatively little remains left over from the Gaddafi regime, the transition process provides the first chance in the Arab Spring for national replanting in newly plowed soil. Neither Egypt nor Tunisia enjoys such an opportunity. Lest your opportune moment be let slip, cautions and recommendations carry more urgency. Invariably the […]
The Vice President is being hammered for seeming to condone Chinese-style population control. Answering a question about the one-child policy, he seemed to go out of his way to be noncritical, saying that he “fully understands” the one-child-per-family policy and was not “second-guessing” it. His defenders maintain that this does not constitute an endorsement of […]
Our family didn’t make it to an amusement park this summer, but when I was a kid, summer always meant two things: a trip to King’s Island and a new pair of shoes. My dad’s company had a company picnic every year in June, and from the time I was about 6, that picnic took […]
The new movie, The Help, based on Kathryn Stockett’s best-selling book by the same name, continues to lead ticket sales at the box office. Both dramatize the extent and tragedy of segregation and discrimination in the South during the early 1960s. Racism affected almost every area of Southern (and many areas of Northern) society before […]
The task we will face will depend on the shape of the collapse, which will vary from city to city, and from town to countryside. [Part 1, Part 2] Modern life is dependent on complex networks for electricity, water, sewer, transportation, gas, education, security, banking, food supplies, medical care, and so forth. Almost all of […]
Beggars No longer will you be an actor, play yourself, There is no script to follow Nor will the face behind the mask be hollow For then the scenery, the flats and props Fall down And charming false anticipation stops But truth is for themselves alone, not others, They live by what they’re taught – […]
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But of that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the […]
Science and art are not as distant from one another as it might seem. I suggest that one of the reasons “science nerds” also tend to be the “fantasy nerds” is that they are attracted to the same thing: fantastical worlds full of myriad laws and multifarious beings, whose interactions cannot be determined in advance, […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Ezekiel 33:7-9; Psalm 95:1-2,6-9; Romans 13:8-10; Matthew 18:15-20) Reaching Out to Others with God’s Mercy, Love, and Compassion “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:20) What a beautiful image: Jesus himself is with […]
Americans’ satisfaction and feeling of connection with Washington has dwindled to an all time low. According to a recent Rasmussen survey, only 17 percent of likely voters believe that the federal government has the consent of the governed. The numbers are hardly surprising. Congress recently cut a deal to saddle Americans with trillions of dollars […]
If you are a citizen of North Korea and a Christian, you are a criminal and will be imprisoned, and probably tortured as well. If you are Christian in Saudi Arabia you will be arrested for a public display of your faith. In China and Vietnam you will be imprisoned and persecuted by the state if […]
When working with smaller companies, I always try to stress the need to maintain as much control over their websites as possible. Unfortunately, I’ve run into folks who have given too much power to web developers whose ethics are less than stellar. For example, some developers will take over the task of registering a domain […]
It’s not very PC to consider yourself a drinker. Alcohol has a bad rap, and its consumption is best kept to a minimum in public and polite society. Think I’m joking? Not too long ago, at a military ball, an official announcement was made that anyone who had had anything at all to drink had […]
Though my mastery of Greek mythology is not strong enough to know off-hand the muse of history’s sexual orientation, I do know that Clio might try to persuade her father to hurl thunderbolts from Mt. Olympus into Sacramento as punishment for defiling her beloved discipline. The crime? On July 14, California Governor Jerry Brown signed […]
Jesus declared to the pharisees, “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). This enigmatic saying challenges what Father Stephen Freemancalls “two-storey Christianity,” which views the Creator as radically separated from His creation. Two-storey Christianity is responsible for the fixation on “getting to heaven,” so commonplace among modern western believers. In contradistinction, the Gospel […]
The GOP presidential primary, which I continue to compare to a colorful, shape-shifting kaleidoscope, is now in overdrive, revolving at a blistering speed, with the latest Gallup poll showing Texas governor Rick Perry rocketing past all other Republican contenders. According to Gallup’s Jeffrey M. Jones, 29 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents nationwide say they […]
Christians in Orissa, who suffered the worst persecution in India in modern times, have continued to be targeted and harassed in 2011, according to a new report. Three years after the series of attacks on Christians beginning in August 2008 – which saw 18,000 injured, 50,000 displaced and perhaps up to 500 killed after 4,104 […]
Chapter 3 Mary, the New Eve When Adam and his wife were expelled from Paradise, Adam gave her the name Eve (mother) “because she was the mother of all living” (Genesis 3, 20). In 1 Corinthians 15, 22 St. Paul teaches us: “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be […]
“In those days, there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” — Judges 17: 6 (ESV). You have to hand it to the British… they don’t mince words. Speaking of the violent civil unrest that erupted across London in recent weeks, Prime Minister David Cameron offered a frank assessment […]
Wheat Tallest of the crop, I held my head high. Dancing in the wind, beneath the sun’s piercing eye. Strong as steel, yet ignorant was I, Never knowing that I was predestined to die. The decay of time did its deed. Bone dry I stood- a rattling reed. Re-visiting memories of a burrowing seed, Never […]
Another World Youth Day has come and gone, and with it, all the usual speculation about what it means. Ever since the late Pope John Paul II launched the international faith festival in 1984 by welcoming 300,000 young Catholics to Rome, the chattering classes have struggled to account for its appeal. That struggle continued last […]
Truth in advertizing — after all the glowing reports of the benefits of a product, potential side effects need to be mentioned. Informed consent — before surgery, patients have to be told of all the things that could possibly go wrong. That way, they have the chance to opt out before it’s too late. As […]
The disciple Ananias hurried along the Via Recta through Damascus to the house of a man named Judas, a leading synagogue member. The door opened and the occupant admitted Ananias and then led him through a hallway to a room at the back of the house where he found a young man rapt in prayer. […]
