Patheos’ own Mollie Hemingway participated in this Fox News discussion of the media blackout on the trial of abortionist Dr Kermit Gosnell. The bottom line: The media has not reported on this sensational trial because they didn’t want to. Why do you think they don’t want to report this story? Read more
I don’t usually write about internal Church government. The reasons are simple: I don’t know anything about it, and I don’t really care. I am a pew-sitting Catholic who mostly takes from the Church rather than gives to it. I take the graces of the sacraments, the support and advice of very good pastors, and teachings which form a moral spine for my life. All these squabbles about the Vatican Bank and the boys in the Vatican running amok don’t... Read more
Patheos will be transferring Public Catholic to a new system this weekend. I think that old comments will go away for a few days and then come back. There may be general wonkiness with current comments. If all goes as planned, this will be temporary and no comments will be lost permanently. Bear with me as we go through this funkiness. Let me know how it looks from your end. I’ll report anything really oddball to the IT whiz kids... Read more
Today’s quick picks feature two instances of attacks on Christians freedom of conscience and religious freedom in the United States. Each of these is direct government discrimination against a Christian’s right to practice their faith unmolested. The statutory authority for these attacks on individual liberty is so-called anti-discrimination laws that have been passed in the past few years. It would seem that, rather than ending discrimination, these laws are empowering it. I am beginning to look on at least some of... Read more
Pope Francis gave a homily at morning mass a few days ago that hits this lady right between the eyes. It was about one of my favorite hobbies: Complaining. My husband and I sometimes joke about a former member of the Oklahoma House that we both know. If you gave this guy a check for a million dollars all he would do is gripe about the taxes. One of my husband’s jokes is that you can walk outside with this... Read more
I held off on writing about this because I was trying to figure it out. An Army Training Manual designated Catholicism and Evangelical Christianity as terrorist organizations, alongside the Ku Klux Klan, Hamas and al-Queda. Reports say that the manual was used (presumably as a teaching device) during an Army Reserve Equal Opportunity training brief on religious extremism. You can find the entire training manual here. This is a screen shot I took of the slide in question: Fox News... Read more
Ambition is pitiless. Eleanor Roosevelt Catholic Charities of Northwest Florida seems to be agog and aghast at what its former board member has wrought. It’s no small thing when Catholic Charities learns someone who sat on its governing board has hitched her wagon to Planned Parenthood’s star. I can only imagine what the people who work there and the other board members must have felt when Alisa Snow popped up on the internet, advocating infanticide. According to Mark Dufva, Executive... Read more
Gonzaga University’s president Thayne McCulloh, announced that he will “review” the decision to deny recognition to the Knights of Columbus at the school. According to the Gonzaga web site, this review is expect to take 30-45 days, which means it will probably come down after the academic year is finished. That seems like a long time to review something that should, by all rights, be a slam dunk. This is the web site of the University’s board of regents. If... Read more
You’d think it was the last wagon leaving for the gold rush. Politicians are hopping off traditional marriage and jumping on board the gay marriage band wagon as fast as their fat little feet will carry them. It’s been kind of fun for me, watching them step up to the mike and explain how god (little g,) evolution, their philosophical understanding and reasoning abilities, as well as family and friends have finally made them come to this secular jesus (little... Read more
Caroline Laguerre-Brown, Vice Provost for Institutional Equity at Johns Hopkins University, Maryland, earned her salary last week when she cleared Voice of Life, a pro life organization, for recognition as a legitimate campus group. I say she earned her salary because her action pulled the university’s feet out of the fire of public approbation by simply honoring the idea of freedom of speech on campus. The student government had refused Voice for Life’s application on the touchy-feely grounds that their presence... Read more
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