President Theodore Roosevelt: the most famous 3rd party presidential candidate. He ran on the “Bull Moose” (or, Progressive) Party ticket in 1912, and received 27% of the votes, to President William Howard Taft’s 23%, and Woodrow Wilson’s 42%. This was the best 3rd party result ever, and the only time a 3rd party got more votes than one of the two major parties. And of course it handed liberal Democrat Wilson the election. Some things never change . . .... Read more
William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925) as a young man [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** (6-6-09) *** [Note: a few years after I wrote this, I was able to visit the famous courthouse in Dayton, Tennessee] ***** I don’t think Bryan was so much a “pseudo-intellectual” as he was simply ignorant of biblical exegesis and the latest developments of science at the time of the Scopes Trial. The man was a lawyer (second in his class), a US Congressman, three-time presidential... Read more
[Flickr / CC BY 2.0 license] (3-8-09) *** [all verses: RSV. Passages in blue are not included in my book, Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths; and the Bible version in the book is KJV rather than RSV] *** FULL PERSONHOOD OF THE CHILD IN THE WOMB * Genesis 16:11 And the angel of the LORD said to her, “Behold, you are with child, and shall bear a son; you shall call his name Ish’mael; because the LORD has given heed... Read more
Armenian genocide, 1915 [public domain / Pinterest] *** (9-10-08 and 2-22-14: after the five asterisks) ***** One always hears this charge about pro-lifers being “one-issue” voters, as if this is a negative, undesirable, immediately discounting, disqualifying thing. The fact is, that there are many individual issues — not just support for legal childkilling — that are “deal-breakers” in terms of voting for a candidate, and rightfully so. Abortion is often not considered to be one of these, but the moral logic... Read more
All Saints’ Church, Wittenberg, Germany (built between 1490 and 1511), where Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door [Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license] ***** From my book, The Catholic Verses: 95 Bible Passages That Confound Protestants (Sophia Institute Press: 2004) ***** . . . [Martin Luther] believed in the Real Presence, although he denied transubstantiation and rejected the Sacrifice of the Mass. Luther (according to his nominalistic, anti-Scholastic leanings) didn’t want to speculate about metaphysics and how... Read more
1 Timothy 5:18 (RSV): “for the scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain,’ and, ‘The laborer deserves his wages.'” Detail from Labor mural in lunette from the Family and Education series by Charles Sprague Pearce (1851-1914) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] *** [2-22-14; a few additions and subtractions on 10-4-16] ***** [Note from 10-4-16: this was written six months after Catholic muckraker Michael Voris had attacked what he considered the excessive salaries and... Read more
[Pexels.com / CC0 public domain license] *** This article has been re-uploaded under the title, “Good Internet Discussion & Dialogue Are Virtually Dead” *** Read more
Photograph by Sara Marx, from Leipzig, Germany (4-7-07) [Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license] ***** This took place on my public Facebook page, with a meme that I put up. It stated: “Lip rings do not make you more attractive. They make you look like a fish that got away.” Someone (just one person on the thread) quickly objected to that. Her words will be in blue. ***** Being a jerk does not make you look good. It... Read more
Druids celebrationg rituals at Stonehenge (England). Photo by Sandy Raidy (6-22-07) [Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license] *** (2-4-09; additional links added on 9-27-16) *** Here are some recommended articles and one book about Wicca and witchcraft (similar but not totally synonymous): ***** CATHOLIC * Witchcraft 101: Five Things Apologists Should Know, Michelle Arnold (This Rock, July-August 2008) Anti-Neo-Pagan Apologetics, Jimmy Akin (This Rock, May-June 2003) Dispelling the Charms of Wicca, Mary Zurolo (Catholic Culture) Wicca’s World:... Read more
13th-century reliquary (container for relics) from Cologne, Germany, with figures of eight apostles [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] ***** Critics of Catholicism sometimes bring up the objection that sacraments, sacramentalism, and particularly belief in relics, amount to the notion of magic charms or talismans. We’re told that matter cannot convey grace, and that grace and salvation come through the spirit (Jn. 6:63), not through “holy objects”. But the incarnation of Jesus “raised” matter, and His death on the cross was intensely... Read more
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