That is the title of the piece published by my fellow contributor at The Catholic Thing, Brad Miner. Here’s how it begins: Author’s Note: The crimes described below are stated frankly. Those who do not wish to read details about sexual assaults are cautioned. Former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno is Roman Catholic and a regular churchgoer, not a nominal believer. Surely, he paid attention to the scandals that have roiled the Church in recent years. And you might... Read more
After a blogging hiatus of about a year, Rod Dreher is back, blogging over at The American Conservative. Even if Rod were not my friend, I would still highly recommend his blog. He is one of the more thoughtful writers online. You can go to his blog here. Read more
That is the title of my most recent entry over at The Catholic Thing. Here’s how it begins: The political regime of the United States of America is one founded on three core philosophical ideas: natural rights, consent of the governed, and the rule of law. The American Founders put in place a structure – a federal constitutional government of divided powers consisting of states with their own republican governments – in order to ensure that these core philosophical ideas stood... Read more
In an article about the Penn State case, ESPN reports: Paterno’s requirement that his players not just achieve success but adhere to a moral code, that they win with honor, transcended his sport. Mike Krzyzewski, the Duke basketball coach, said in June for an ESPN special on Paterno: “Values are never compromised. That’s the bottom line.” However, when a very courageous assistant coach at Baylor, Abar Rouse, had surreptitiously audio-taped his superior, disgraced head basketball coach Dave Bliss, telling Rouse of... Read more
That is the title of an article I published in the Summer 2010 issue of Ethics & Medicine: An International Journal of Bioethics (vol. 26.2). (The title, if you have not noticed yet, is from a line in the Bob Dylan song, “Dignity”). Here’s how the article begins (endnotes omitted): In March 2008, the President’s Council on Bioethics published a volume entitled, Human Dignity and Bioethics. It consists of essays penned by council members as well as other scholars and practitioners invited... Read more
Next week on the dates of November 16-18, 2011 I will be attending the 63rd annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) in San Francisco. I will be there delivering a paper as a member of the Evangelical Philosophical Society, whose sessions are part of the ETS program. (For those who may be attending, I will be delivering my paper, “Justificatory Liberalism and Same-Sex Marriage,” on Thursday November 17 at 9:20 am, in the same session as William Lane Craig... Read more
In a chapter I recently published– “The Human Being, A Person of Substance: A Reply to Dean Stretton,” in Persons, Moral Worth, and Embryos: A Critical Analysis of Pro-Choice Arguments, edited by Stephen Napier. (Dordrecht: Springer, 2011), 67-83–I respond to criticisms of an argument I have used in several venues, including my 2007 book, Defending Life: A Moral and Legal Case Against Abortion Choice (Cambridge University Press). My 2011 defense of that argument–“the argument from creating brainless children”–as it is appears... Read more
Karen, in the combox in a previous post, raises this concern: Persons get to sue. If this law passes [i.e., the Mississippi personhood amendment], miscarried embryos can sue their mothers for negligence that resulted in the miscarriage. Examples of things that cause early miscarriage are bicycling, horseback riding, breastfeeding, drinking coffee, tea, and alcohol. Insurance companies face astounding potential liability for covering restaurants or holiday camps that allow women of childbearing age to engage in those activities. Given what ‘prolifers’... Read more
Over at National Review’s “The Corner,” Robert VerBruggen writes: What’s not clear to me, however, is why “distinct DNA” should be the criterion by which we judge personhood for moral and legal purposes. As Reason’s Ronald Bailey has pointed out, 60 to 80 percent of human embryos — post-conception, with distinct DNA — are naturally destroyed by the woman’s body. Are we to see this as a large-scale massacre of human beings, develop drugs to prevent it from happening, and require all... Read more
Every time I watch this video I get choked up. You can find out more about Catholics Come Home here. It is a wonderful website. Read more
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