In the beginning, there was candidate John F. Kennedy, who told an assembly of Protestant ministers not to worry about his Catholicism because, “I believe in a president whose religious views are his own private affair.” In that influential 1960 address, Kennedy boldly proclaimed: “I do not speak for my church on public matters, and the church does not speak for me. “Whatever issue may come before me as president — on birth control, divorce, censorship, gambling or any other... Read more
It was a decade ago during Lent that author Lauren Winner was visited by an angel, unawares. “Actually, it was my priest,” said Winner, who teaches Christian spirituality at Duke Divinity School. “I have learned that people in my life often tell me what I need to do during Lent. … It’s kind of like hearing from angels.” Although the voice wasn’t miraculous, Winner thought it would take a miracle to follow her spiritual guide’s advice. The challenge was deceptively... Read more
In one of Hinduism’s most sacred poems, the lord and sustainer of the universe chooses to be incarnated in human form — the ancient term is “avatar” — to help the Pandava people fight evil invaders and defend what is right. In director James Cameron’s blockbuster “Avatar,” a U.S. marine is transformed by technology into a blue-skinned warrior on a planet called Pandora, where he helps the Na’vi people fight evil corporate invaders and defend their sacred lands and traditions.... Read more
In one of the defining works of his historic papacy, Pope John Paul II argued that if people — believers and nonbelievers alike — want true freedom and peace, they must accept the reality of “universal and unchanging moral norms.” “When it is a matter of the moral norms prohibiting intrinsic evil, there are no privileges or exceptions. … Before the demands of morality we are all absolutely equal,” wrote the pope, in his 1993 encyclical Veritatis Splendor (“The Splendor... Read more
Elmer Towns had a big problem three decades ago after he moved to Lynchburg, Va., to help a Baptist preacher named Jerry Falwell start the school that grew into Liberty University. Month after month, Towns faced two house payments — a real family crisis. Thus, the veteran Bible professor decided to try something that he considered a radical, “Old Testament thing.” In addition to praying that someone would buy the house back in Chicago, Towns and his wife Ruth began... Read more
The way President Barack Obama sees things, Americans should be able to find unity in prayer — even if they disagree on the details of faith and politics. That’s true in the current debates about health care, poverty and even gay marriage, he said, at the recent National Prayer Breakfast. “Surely we can agree to find common ground when possible, parting ways when necessary,” said Obama. “But in doing so, let us be guided by our faith and by prayer.... Read more
Here’s a rather predictable news flash: American mothers want the fathers of their children to stick around, help with the kids and go to church. There’s something else that united the participants in “Mama Says,” a recent survey from the National Fatherhood Initiative — 93 percent of them believe America is suffering from what researchers called a “father absence crisis.” An earlier survey by the non-partisan group found that 91 percent of American fathers affirm that stark judgment. The survey... Read more
When Eunice Kennedy Shriver died, Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley candidly reminded his Archdiocese of Boston flock that this was one Kennedy who was consistently faithful to the church’s teachings. “She was preeminently pro-life, against abortion and there to protect and underscore the dignity of every person,” noted O’Malley, praising the founder of the Special Olympics. When Sen. Edward Kennedy died soon after that, the cardinal strongly defended his own decision to preside at his funeral — despite the senator’s public... Read more
The first time Denzel Washington read the “Training Day” script, he had an intensely personal reaction to his character — the charismatic, but fatally corrupt, detective Alonzo Harris. “I try to bend even the worst of my roles, like ‘Training Day,’ ” said Washington, the day after a press screening of “The Book of Eli” in Los Angeles. “The first thing I wrote on my script was ‘the wages of sin is death.’ ” After that biblical pronouncement, the superstar... Read more
There she goes again. According to a top strategist in the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain, Sarah Palin believed that the decision to pick her as the Arizona Republican’s running mate was actually made by Almighty God. Translated into the logic of an Associated Press report, this political theology sounded like this. “In an interview with the CBS news magazine ’60 Minutes,’ Steve Schmidt described Palin as ‘very calm — nonplussed’ after McCain met with her at his Arizona... Read more
Terry Mattingly
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