There. I did it. I said feminist. Before I came to Patheos, I had a brief flirtation with that other biggie in the religious blogosphere. I actually debated with my silly self as to which was the best way to go. Then today, I learned that, if I had decided to go to that other place, a large number of the posts I’ve written here at Patheos might very well have been round filed. Of course, I don’t know... Read more
My brother-in-law’s funeral is today. Please pray for my sister and her family. I am very worried about them. Read more
Pope Francis rocked a lot of folks with his frank admission that there is a ‘gay lobby’ in the Vatican. The information we have about what he said does not come from an official Vatican statement, or recorded remarks. He made the comment in an audience with the Latin American and Caribbean Confederation of Religious. Our source for the Holy Father’s specific words comes from notes made by those in attendance. According to those notes, he said, “Truthfully, there are saintly... Read more
My father died in 1994. His funeral cost $5,000. The only reason we got away with costs that low was that Daddy had given us clear instructions that he wanted the least expensive casket and trimmings that we could get. “My body is going to rot, anyway,” he said. “So why does it matter? Don’t you dare waste money on burying me.” That helped us a lot when the funeral home people came at us with their vague suggestions about... Read more
Suppose you were an IRS agent. Suppose you had been tasked with singling out a group of religiously-based non-profit agencies for audits because they express their religious beliefs about controversial issues in public. They do this on issues that put them at loggerheads with the President of the United States. Suppose you had also been tasked with ordering those tax payers to cease expressing their religious beliefs about these issues or face the loss of their tax exempt status. Suppose... Read more
Do women need Planned Parenthood? Every time anyone raises the question of cutting government funding for Planned Parenthood, the organization’s supporters — who range from the President of the United States, through many people in Congress to much of the media and a large number of the wealthiest and most powerful people sitting on boards, and heading up corporations and organizations throughout this nation — raise a clamor about “women’s health.” You would think that Planned Parenthood was the... Read more
I’m going to be writing about the “new” prostitution a lot in the months ahead. One of these new ways to objectify and exploit women is commercial surrogate pregnancy. Jennifer Lahl, president of the Center for Bioethics and Culture, is a stalwart battler for women’s human rights in the face of the new forms of dehumanization and exploitation that medical technology has placed in the hands of doctors. She has fought a hard and often futile battle against a money-hungry... Read more
Matt Birk is more than a famous football player. He is also a devout Catholic and the father of six children. When the Ravens visited the White House recently, they did it without Matt. “I have great respect for the … presidency … but our President made a comment in a speech … he said ‘God bless Planned Parenthood.’ “Planned Parenthood performs about 300,000 abortions a year. I couldn’t endorse that in any way. I’m very confused by (the)... Read more
We had a death in the family last night. My brother-in-law of 34 years passed. I may not be able to check your comments for periods of time. Please forgive. Read more
We are Catholics. And we will be heard. Read more
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