In my opinion, the extreme sexualization of little girls that we see in our culture is a form of psychological violation. It’s also another expression of our growing cultural hostility toward innocence and the idea that any sort of sexuality is ok, no matter who it victimizes. Adults who find this entertaining are perverse, to say the least. One of the most important things parents of little girls can do is to shield them from this childhood-stealing perversity. A new... Read more
My fellow Catholic Patheosi, who blogs at Why I Am Catholic, published an interesting post today about organized labor. Franks says: Capital vs. Labor and the Ruling Class vs. the Rest of Us = the Same Thing December 4, 2012 By Frank Weathers 8 Comments Folks are starting to take notice of this development. Catholic social teaching has always noticed it, especially since the time St. Thomas Aquinas was writing his summas. And the Church has been outspoken about just... Read more
What is this “fiscal cliff” that commenters and pollsters talk about? What difference does it make to you and me? The following excerpt from a Yahoo Finance article does a good job of answering these questions. As usual, our elected officials are taking polls to learn what we the people think about their brinksmanship politics. They use the results of these polls to determine how far they can go in endangering the rest of us and keep their jobs.... Read more
America needs more babies for its economic health. At least, that’s what U.S. News and World Report says in it’s recent article “Why a Falling Birth Rate is a Big Problem.” According to the article, America has historically had high birth rates compared to our cousins in Europe. Many economists feel that contributes to our relative economic well-being. This article, with its what’s-good-for-business viewpoint, fits in perfectly with the way people in the West have approached their children, homes and... Read more
China recently issued a new maritime policy which, it says, allows Chinese border patrol to board and expel foreign ships (ie, non-Chinese ships) from the China Sea. This policy expands China’s borders beyond what maritime law currently allows and would infringe on the shipping rights of neighboring nations, some of whom, such as the Philippines, are United States allies. I am posting this because I think it’s pertinent to America’s economic policies. China’s new military and economic prowess are the... Read more
Pro-life advocates are asking the Republicans to stand strong on their party’s pro life position. Here’s hoping they listen. So far as I’m concerned the recent comments from various Republican leaders are just them, going public, with what they’ve been doing in private for quite some time. As an elected official, I see these things before they go public. I’ve said it before and I’ll keep on saying it until I don’t think it’s true. Many of the money people... Read more
Representative Pam Peterson and I filed an Amicus Curiae brief on an Oklahoma Supreme Court challenge to a pro life law in October. The Oklahoma Supreme Court just handed down their opinion on this case, as well as another one involving the use of ultrasounds in abortions. The Court has ruled against both these pro life laws. Needless to say, I am disappointed. But I am also not downcast. This is the way things sometimes go in our Democracy. Now,... Read more
As I told a commenter on this blog, “Don’t count Christians out yet.” The tales of Christianity’s demise may be a tad bit premature. Witness this beautiful response to the annual procession for Our Lady of Guadalupe in Los Angeles. Twenty-five thousand people joined the procession! Read, and be heartened. An outdoor procession for Our Lady of Guadalupe held Sunday in Los Angeles attracted 25,000 participants to venerate the Virgin and to express their Catholic faith. “We want to learn... Read more
I’ve been a feminist for a long time. The driving force to my feminism is violence against women in all its forms. I was one of the six original founders of the YWCA Rape Crisis Center here in Oklahoma back in the early 1970s. Violence against women in its many forms led me into a hot-headed pro choice advocacy and ultimately to the position of NARAL Director for Oklahoma. I’ve passed law after law trying to stop violence against women.... Read more
The following excerpt is taken from MercatorNet. I’m posting it with some trepidation, since it contains allegations in what has become a political tug of war. My advice is to not take this article or any other article about what happened to Ms Halappanavar too literally. There are too many people with agendas who have access to the press to make sense of the claims and counter-claims. That said, I will say that the kind of collusion between the press... Read more
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