“Theological courage calls the inner-man to ignore his buckling knees and take theologically driven stances that, while potentially controversial, are righteous in nature.” So write Owen Strachen and Andrew Walker in a recent article discussing Hobby Lobby’s stance against Obamacare’s onerous trampling of religious liberty. The idea of martyrdom, be it physical, social, or […]
Having just viewed Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln,” and knowing that Lincoln’s birthday is approaching, it seemed fitting to ponder one of Lincoln’s most famous speeches, and perhaps a lesson for Americans today. On June 17, 1858, Lincoln gave his famous “House Divided” address while being nominated to run for the U.S. Senate seat in Illinois. Lincoln […]
Defenders of traditional marriage may not believe it, but the Supreme Court’s apparent intention to decide two important same-sex marriage cases by midyear may be a stroke of good fortune for their side. This timing means the Supreme Court’s first head-on tangle with this issue almost certainly will come before President Obama gets an opportunity […]
In the debate over abortion in the United States, two women’s names appear more frequently than any others: Jane Roe and Mary Doe, the plaintiffs in the companion 1973 Supreme Court cases that legalized abortion in the country. With the 40th anniversary of those two cases – Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton – this month, news media […]
Just yesterday, I received the homily of a pastor here in my home diocese that spoke powerfully of the strange juxtaposition of the two national events happening this week. Obviously, as of this writing, the first of these events, the presidential inauguration, has already occurred, but when we compare it to the second of these […]
From a sermon by Bl. John Henry Newman: It is the death of the Eternal Word of God made flesh, which is our great lesson how to think and how to speak of this world. His Cross has put its due value upon every thing which we see, upon all fortunes, all advantages, all ranks, […]
When we first announced to friends and family our decision to move from Las Vegas to rural Alabama, you would have thought we said we were all growing bushy beards to live as hermits in a cave, way over in Mars, with Forrest Gump as our cult leader. But time has proven that: in the […]
Obama on Secession Something of a clamor for secession followed President Obama’s reelection in 2012. And the elections strengthened his ominous social agenda, with wins for same sex marriage in four out of five States. After election day, some half a million citizens signed petitions to have 13 States withdraw from postmodern America. The […]
One of two articles for Gun Appreciation Day. Violence may be justified in the service of self-defense, even to the point of killing an unjust aggressor: this has been settled Catholic teaching for hundreds of years. The most recent restatement of the Church’s teaching on self-defense is in the second edition of the Catechism of […]
One of two articles for Gun Appreciation Day. The federal constitution prohibits the federal government from depriving individual citizens of their right to possess and use firearms for lawful purposes, including self-defense. This right is not, however, unlimited: it may be withdrawn, for instance, from felons and the mentally ill, and it may be restricted […]
In “Nightmares and Dreamscapes from the Desert,” a These Stone Walls post during Lent last year, I wrote of a recurring dream I’ve had throughout 18 years of imprisonment. The dream had multiple variations and outcomes, all of them anxiety producing, but one version in particular seemed to be an archetype for the dream’s central […]
In 2012 America saw some of the worst mass shootings in the history of the country — the massacre at Oikos University in Oakland, California, the tragic shooting in an Aurora, Colorado theatre, the more recent heartbreaking incident in Newtown, Connecticut, and subsequent string of shootings which have erupted since. Understandably, people are asking questions […]
It has been a couple of weeks since the death of Robert Bork, which occurred shortly before Christmas and didn’t really get the news coverage that Bork merited. Bork died at age 85. In 1987, he became a national headline when President Ronald Reagan nominated him to the Supreme Court. He was a judicial conservative, […]
Farewell to Apostate America Some terms ring untrue, like songless birds, Whose yakking do lovers loath and rue. Under God,” and “Republic,” now voided words, To which pupils pledge, “indivisible” too. When grand lady’s turned to ruse and scorn, Gone hussy in hulk with virtue shorn, Willingly deflowered by Sodom and porn, Then must beauteous […]
On a dark February afternoon in 1988, 25 students in a U.S. Constitutional History class waited expectantly in a little-used dining hall on the campus of Grove City College (in Grove City, Pennsylvania) for a special guest lecturer to arrive. I was the professor in charge of that class. Through the doors of that meeting […]
In the wake of the horrifying deaths of 20 young school children in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting at Newtown, Connecticut, there is one question that we must ask. We must ask it while the horror is fresh and we must ask it when the process of grief has eased our shock and pain […]
Go to Part 1. Tentative Exit Plan What an exceptional nation America was! In 1945 Germany’s foremost rocket scientist, 34 year old Wernher von Braun, led his team of scientists and engineers along a war ravaged route from Peenemunde to Bavaria, where they surrendered to U.S. forces. His team of rocket scientists (developers of the […]
All nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court announced on Friday that they will hear two cases dealing with same-sex “marriage” in 2013, examining whether the U.S. Congress or the voters in any state have the right to preserve the traditional definition of marriage. Both the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California’s Proposition […]
This interview with Christopher Ferrara, Catholic author and founder of the American Catholic Lawyers Association, was conducted by Dr. John C. Rao, November 11, 2012. JR: Let’s begin, appropriately enough, with your title, [Liberty, the God That Failed: Policing the Sacred and Constructing the Myths of the Secular State, from Locke to Obama] and the […]
For the sequels to this article, follow these links: Farewell to Apostate America, part 2 Poem: Farewell to Apostate America Obama on Secession: Farewell to Apostate America, part 3 Union vs. Constitution: Farewell to Apostate America, part 4 President Obama has already appointed two Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court[1], and he is poised to […]
Judge Egan Walker announced this week that abortion is no longer an option being considered in the case of a pregnant Reno woman with mental disabilities. Judge Walker had been holding hearings to determine whether to force 32-year-old Elisa Bauer to abort her baby against the wishes of her adoptive parents, Bill and Amy Bauer, […]
What comes to your mind when you hear the familiar Bible passage from Luke 2:8-10, where the angels appear to the shepherds to proclaim the birth of a savior and His peace? Do you picture cute, little, cherub-faced boys and girls? Do you imagine shepherds that look like those sappy Precious Moments figurines you see […]
‘End this pregnancy and tie her tubes.’ That was the stark advice given by a a court-summoned doctor in a possible forced abortion case involving a mentally handicapped woman in Nevada, according to a transcript of a Nov. 1 hearing obtained by LifeSiteNews. Judge Egan Walker of Nevada’s 2nd District Court is holding evidentiary hearings […]
The policy proposal known as “same-sex marriage” is actually a proposal to redefine marriage. Instead of being a gender-based institution oriented toward the procreation of children and the good of the spouses, what is called “same-sex marriage” makes marriage into a genderless institution, oriented toward the good of adults only. Any possible negative consequences for […]
