Texas is currently considering Senate Bill 17. This bill is designed to allow religious liberty for those in state-licensed professions. It simply states that, in most cases, a license can’t be revoked for someone acting according to their beliefs. Let me quote the key parts of the bill, show two reactions, and finally give my own analysis. The Religious Liberty Bill Itself The whole law is only 2.5 pages so I downloaded and read it myself. The key lines: A state agency... Read more
Last week it came out that many scientists want a 5-year moratorium on gene-line editing. This means no editing DNA that might be passed down to your kids. However, a recent piece argued against this. I will dissect the arguments against this to point out why we should have a moratorium. Top Scientists Want a Moratorium Stat ran a story titled, “Leading scientists, backed by NIH, call for a global moratorium on creating ‘CRISPR babies.’” The Chinese scientist who created... Read more
A recent report came out about a young woman who thinks she is a man so will be blocking puberty. However, her parents decided to wait until her first period before blocking puberty, and collect her eggs to freeze at that moment. I want to examine this and the moral consequences. The Details of Freezing Eggs MedicalXpress summarizes the story of this patient: You’re a 14-year-old transgender boy who has opted to block normal female puberty before it can begin.... Read more
23andMe recently added an option to test for your probability of getting diabetes. (Type-2 diabetes as that is by far the more common type to start in adulthood.) They are famous for the tests regarding which countries your DNA comes from. However, I want to examine if this is worth it. I examine problems both with the DNA testing in general and then talk about the issues related to diabetes in particular. New Diabetes Test CNBC carried the story of... Read more
Ever since Amoris Laetitia came out, there has been confusion about how to interpret chapter 8. I have written extensively on this document and with the second half of my more academic take came out this week, I think it is time to put together everything I’ve written for a complete guide. This guide will be made of a dozen articles I’ve written on the topic. (Yikes! I didn’t realize it was that many.) Here, I divide these article into... Read more
Yesterday, the Maryland house of delegates passed a bill legalizing assisted suicide by 3 votes: 74-66. (71 needed for passage.) This bill has been presented 3 previous times and died in committee all of those times. I can’t understand how someone could be so set on killing others. I will summarize this bill then speak of why assisted suicide is wrong. This Assisted Suicide Bill The Baltimore Sun reports: The legislation would allow a doctor to prescribe drugs to a patient that... Read more
All of us adult Catholics probably now have a habit of giving up something for Lent or doing something extra to grow spiritually. We should offer a little sacrifice to unite ourselves with Jesus and to prepare for Holy Week. Some people have the same thing they give up every year but those of us who vary year to year can sometimes get to the last minute before we have our resolutions nailed down. I jokingly posted about offering up... Read more
IVF has always been an issue for Catholic morality. New DNA tests that help find relatives create a further problem: what happens regarding anonymous sperm donors used in IVF? If a service points to a relative, you can probably find out who the donor was. I will discuss three cases, quote practical problems from articles, and then examine the privacy issues. DNA Testing Breaks Anonymity Three stories show this. CBS reported on a story, Danielle Teuscher’s 5-year-old daughter Zoe is one... Read more
As I have written online things, a few times I’ve had ideas for interesting shirts, mugs, etc. Recently, I decided to put some of these into action and opened up a Redbubble store where you can buy these items. All are available on a wide variety of products. I will explain each of the five designs I came up with then talk about the dynamics of the store itself as I value transparency. If you click on the headline or... Read more
Sr. Veronica Openibo, of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, gave an impassioned talk at the Vatican summit on sexual abuse of minors. I think a few of her points are worth sharing. If you want the whole text, Cindy Wooden of CNS posted it. The Mission of the Church Sr. Veronica begins with theological truths, relating them to the current crisis. The mission of the church flows directly from our deepest understanding of the Incarnation. Catholic Christianity is... Read more
Through Catholic Lenses
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In