The result of the Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd., v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission [1] has invoked claims of victory from both sides. But the case was so specific in its facts, and narrow in its ruling, that it is not altogether certain how subsequent cases will be impacted. It behooves us, therefore, to take a look at the Supreme Court’s opinion and decide what has been gained or lost. For those not familiar with the factual background, “Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd., is... Read more
It’s not as if the outcome of the Irish abortion vote was ever really in doubt. In the neo-liberal world, the value of both women and men is measured by how much they contribute to the gross national product, a basis of valuation internalized by most Westerners, and pregnancy has a tendency to interfere with the production capabilities of women. It is advertised as a women’s rights issue in the hopes that no one will notice that abortion has been... Read more
We need not delay long over whether separating children from their parents, and placing them in foster care, when the family crosses the U.S. border illegally is in keeping with Catholic teaching. It is a stench in the nostrils of the Lord. This is knowledge that ought to be instinctive to everyone who strives to be a follower of Christ. According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, “popes and bishops’ conferences have synthesized the Catholic theological tradition to... Read more
To the extent that your humble servant qualifies to have detractors, these will aver that the following will not be the first time that he has ventured to write on a subject that he knows nothing about. But, to my recollection, this will be the first time that I have openly, concededly, done so. The subject to be discussed is Monarchism as conceived by its American proponents; and the reason I cannot claim to know what I am talking about... Read more
You have likely been hearing that the United States Supreme Court ruled against labor interests yesterday. It most certainly did that, though, to be fair, it arrived at its decision through what could be considered a reasonable effort at statutory construction. In the reporting of these cases through the media, a fact that often gets lost is that courts are stuck with the statutes they are called upon to interpret. Thus a correct decision can often be an unfortunate result... Read more
The United States opened its embassy in Jerusalem this week thereby throwing its weight behind the long-held Israeli position “that Jerusalem is the ancient capital of the Jewish people, and home to sacred sites such as the Western Wall and the Jewish temples of antiquity.” [1] The Palestinians, on the other hand, “are outraged at the U.S. stance on a city that is home to more than 300,000 Arabs, and is the third holiest city in Islam.” Because of the... Read more
In a previous offering in these pages [1] your humble servant did his level best to explain that leaving wages to market forces is not in accord with Catholic social teaching. As Pope Leo XIII explained in his landmark encyclical, Rerum novarum, “Let the working man and the employer make free agreements, and in particular let them agree freely as to the wages; nevertheless, there underlies a dictate of natural justice more imperious and ancient than any bargain between man... Read more
By this time it’s not news to most that Gina Haspel, the Acting Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and President Trump’s nominee for the permanent position, has a background that involved torturing people. What may be surprising, or should be surprising, is that there are, apparently, a significant number of people who have no problem with that, notably Mr. Trump himself, who tweeted, “My highly respected nominee for CIA Director, Gina Haspel, has come under fire because she was... Read more
President Trump has withdrawn the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, and there doesn’t appear to be any real reason for it other than his opposition to the agreement from the beginning. While it is true that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that his country has acquired intelligence that the Iranians were misrepresenting their nuclear ambitions prior to the signing of the agreement, that is hardly a shocking revelation. The whole premise of the talks that led to... Read more
Contemporary debates between evolution and Creationism miss the point entirely. The real issue is not one of what happened, but its implications. Alas, there are Christians today, even some Catholics, who go about trying to claim that biological evolution, particularly of humans, never took place. Such have consigned themselves to an attempt to falsify mountains of contrary scientific evidence, and that to no perceivable end. Indeed, evolutionary “theory has been put to practical use in several areas…,” [1] which would... Read more
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