If there’s one way to determine whether an event has devolved into a circus maximus, surely it must be the entry into the public debate by Roseanne Barr. The erstwhile comedian and celebrity took up the Twitter cause last week on behalf of the late Trayvon Martin, the black teenager killed on Feb. 26 by […]
Most woman do not realize how valuable they are. I am not talking about cooking, cleaning or raising the kids while bringing home the bacon. I am talking about their biology. So many of the culture wars today are on the battlefield of the female body because of our awesome pro-creative power. There are many […]
Stop me if you’ve heard this one. Men and women can’t be just friends. It was the main point of a video that made the rounds a few months back in the wonderful world of social media, linked below for your convenience. http://youtu.be/T_lh5fR4DMA Makes a compelling case. But regardless of which side of the fence […]
The UN Commission on Population and Development is considering “sexual and reproductive health and rights” for children as young as ten. Even the Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon agrees. In a statement recently released he said, “Young people, as much as all people, share the human right to health, including sexual and reproductive health.” Currently international […]
Everyone has made at least one impulsive purchase in his or her life. Pet shops and women’s clothing stores thrive on such buys. But not many of us would be tempted to buy an entire zoo on impulse. Ah, but in the movies there are no limits as to what can happen. In the film, […]
There is a widely held view that Congress has virtually unlimited power to legislate, especially concerning economic matters. Consider, for example, the passage of the controversial Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act two years ago. While Congress’ power to regulate the economy is not completely unbounded, it is very far-reaching indeed. However, it was not […]
It may have been too much to hope that the recent Health and Human Services mandate requiring the provision of contraceptives and other immoral “medical care” could have alerted people to the dangers and errors of a political system built on a classical liberal understanding of freedom as opposed to one built on a Catholic, […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Acts 10:34,37-43; Psalm 118:1-2,16-17,22-23; Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-9) Allowing the Resurrection of Jesus to Strengthen Our Faith They did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead. (John 20:9) What a humble statement! Here is John, the beloved apostle, admitting that he […]
I opposed contraception at age 16 for reasons unrelated to the reasons I am against it now. I wasn’t yet against contraception because of faith in God’s providence, or fidelity to the teaching authority of the Catholic Church, or out of sheer horror at the culture of divorce that contraception has fueled. I opposed contraception […]
You know, when a book has endorsements from Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Scott Hahn, Kevin Vost, Marcus Grodi, and Mike Aquilina (to name a few!!), a thumbs-up from Shane Kapler is obviously superfluous. But in the spirit of “when has that ever stopped me before?” I have to share my deep appreciation of this book. The […]
I grew up reading Catholic Digest. I was one of those children who would pick up and read anything that was lying around the house, and it was a magazine that my parents subscribed to. Honestly, I don’t remember all that much about the articles. I’m guessing that, as a child, many of them probably […]
This summer, the Supreme Court will decide whether Congress violated the Constitution when it enacted the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which contains an “individual mandate” requiring virtually every American to purchase health insurance. Based on the Constitution’s text and structure, and judicial interpretations of the relevant provisions, the mandate should be struck down. […]
The Hunger Games trilogy penned by Suzanne Collins has proven to be hugely successful, and deservedly so. The tale of post-apocalyptic love, poverty, war, and oppression poignantly captures the fundamental injustice of tyranny. As the film premiere of the first book dominated the box office this past weekend, it’s worth reflecting on what can be […]
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Palm Sunday is the great doorway leading into Holy Week, the week when the Lord Jesus makes his way towards the culmination of his earthly existence. He goes up to Jerusalem in order to fulfil the Scriptures and to be nailed to the wood of the Cross, the throne from which […]
“So it is ourselves that we must spread under Christ’s feet, not coats or lifeless branches or shoots of trees, matter which wastes away and delights the eye only for a few brief hours. “But we have clothed ourselves with Christ’s grace, or with the whole Christ … so let us spread ourselves like coats […]
It has been said that the worst human sinfulness happened that day on Calvary when the creatures attempted to kill the Creator. The very people that God came to save rejected him and nailed him to the cross but in doing so they did not realize that they were rejecting themselves and the own love […]
Are you wondering how many businesses have to become “green” before the dream of the “green economy” becomes a reality? It seems like everything has to be green nowadays, whether its green jobs, green energy, or green skills. Now there is even green dry cleaning. Duh! If you feel like this is going to far, […]
President Obama has caused quite a stir with a private comment made to Russian President Dimitri Medvedev. In discussing missile defense, Obama suggested he would be prepared to yield to Russian demands after the November election. “This is my last election,” said Obama, not knowing his words were being picked up by an open microphone. […]
Recently, Professor Jeffrey Sachs made a public application to be the next president of the World Bank with an op-ed in the Washington Post titled “How I would lead the World Bank.” I was not aware they were taking applications, but since they are, I thought I’d throw my name in the ring. I must […]
A federal judge has ruled that allowing government grants to Catholic-run programs against human trafficking amounts to an unconstitutional endorsement of the Catholic religion because the Church does not facilitate abortions for trafficking victims. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Stearns sided with the American Civil Liberties Union in its case accusing the U.S. Health and […]
It’s been obvious for a long time, but now it is official: the National Catholic Reporter rejects the teachings of the Catholic Church on sexuality. In an editorial titled, “NCR Endorses Call for a New Sexual Ethic,” it supports retired Australian Bishop Geoffrey Robinson’s plea for the Church to change its teachings on sexuality. Bishop […]
Let it not be said that St. Augustine was a misogynist. He thought very seriously about the place in creation of human reproduction–of the male and the female and their particular beauty. Contrary to some contemporaries–mostly Manichees–he saw the female form as a cause of rejoicing. Now, you may read the following excerpt to your […]
It was a fitting blunder for a candidate with authenticity issues. Asked last week on CNN if the protracted Republican primary season had eroded former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s ability to appeal to independents in the fall, Romney advisor Eric Fehrnstrom foolishly acknowledged a universal truth in presidential politics: the fact that candidates spend the […]
Culture wars can produce nasty rhetoric. Political discourse quickly becomes emotionally charged and divisive. We are tempted to view those with whom we disagree as not only irrational but evil. The culture of demonization of our political opponents is what moral psychologist Dr. Jonathan Haidt seeks to dismantle with his new book, The Righteous Mind: […]
