Quote of the Week: Henri de Lubac

Last updated on: July 19, 2010 at 9:44 am By Henry Karlson

First and foremost, then, it is suggested that Christians should take cognizance of the spiritual situation of the world in which they are involved. It is recognized that positivism is an immense edifice of scientific philosophy and practical politics; that Marxism, which has received its Summa if not its Bible in Das Kapital, is a vast and powerful system of political and social economy; and that Nietzsche’s ideas offer and extraordinary profusion of pedagogic resources (in the profoundest sense of... Read more

More on Real Life Abortion Funding

Last updated on: July 16, 2010 at 1:11 pm By Morning's Minion

In my last post, I pointed to the very weak pro-life protections built into the Republican Medicare Advantage program, which was supported by the National Right to Life Committee. I showed that at least some participants in this program are advertizing the fact that they are going beyond the restrictions of traditional Medicare and offering elective abortion. But a broader point can be made. As my friend Kurt notes in the comments, a key issue is that the pro-life movement is... Read more

Mozart: Clarinet Quintet, Allegro.

Last updated on: July 16, 2010 at 7:54 am By Mark DeFrancisis

Here is something for the weekend. Bruce Nolan and the Sierra Quartet perform the first movement of Mozart’s heavenly Clarinet Quintet. Read more

Quote of the Week: Bernard Doering

Last updated on: July 16, 2010 at 3:23 am By Henry Karlson

In 1958, when Maritain’s friend Cardinal Montini, archbishop of Milan and later Pope Paul VI, became painfully aware that the church was losing the workers of Milan to the Communist labor unions, Maritain advised him to consult Saul Alinsky on methods of community organization and the training of leaders, and Montini brought Alinsky to Milan to do so. Bernard Doering, “Maritain and America — Friendships,” in Understanding Maritain. ed. Deal W. Hudson and Mathew J. Mancini (Macon, GA: Mercer University... Read more

An Real-Life Example of Abortion Funding

Last updated on: July 15, 2010 at 12:24 pm By Morning's Minion

To follow on my from my last post and MZ’s more recent one, the energy of the Catholic blogosphere is highly concentrated on whether a Pennsylvania high-risk pool that receives subsidies will pay for abortion. Of course, it will not. The law is clear and the statements of the authorities are clear. And yet, private insurance plans that receive federal subsidies in other contexts are paying for abortions, but this does unnoticed. I’ve talked about this before, and this is what I... Read more

Rampant Dishonesty Continues

Last updated on: July 15, 2010 at 9:04 am By M.Z.

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As is the case with FEHB plans currently, and with the Affordable Care Act and the President’s related Executive Order more generally, in Pennsylvania and in all other states abortions will not be covered in the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) except in the cases of rape or incest, or where the life of the woman would be endangered. – Department of Health and Human Services (emphasis added for those with difficulty reading a full sentence.) This statement has been... Read more

Why We Should Stop Street Repair Now!

Last updated on: July 15, 2010 at 7:09 am By Henry Karlson

Our streets are a national disaster. The potholes in them are leading to great catastrophes. They need to be repaired, and people are taking this seriously. We can see that 2.8 billion is being used in the 2011 Budget of the United States Department of Transportation for “state of good repair” for our “transit infrastructure.” But with our present administration, this can’t be good. If you look behind the scenes, it should be obvious that such “state of good repair” ... Read more

Here We Go Again

Last updated on: July 14, 2010 at 4:26 pm By Morning's Minion

Updated Below We’re back to the abortion and healthcare debate. True to form, the National Right to Life Committee is attacking a Pennsylvania high-risk insurance pool for supposedly subsidizing abortion. And of course Republican John Boehner leaped with lightning speed on the bandwagon. But this is another major storm in a tiny teacup. The NRLC”s position is that federal subsidies for this high-risk pool (a paltry $160 million, mind you) will pay for abortion. Even though the guidelines say specifically that... Read more

Blessed Are The Pure At Heart, For They Shall See Jesus In The Poor

Last updated on: July 14, 2010 at 3:37 pm By Henry Karlson

To me, one of the most interesting stories in the history of Buddhism is found in the hagiography surrounding Asanga. As a convert to Buddhism, he sought long and hard to follow the path as he first learned it. But he never felt it gave him all that he was looking for, that there should be more. He decided he wanted to learn from Maitreya, the Bodhisattva who it has been said will be the next Buddha in our world.... Read more

“Unsustainable” Means It Can’t Continue

Last updated on: July 13, 2010 at 8:59 pm By Matt Talbot

Along the lines of Morning’s Minion’s earlier post, here’s Robert Reich, at TPM Cafe today: [A] larger and larger share of total income going to the very top while the vast middle class continues to lose ground. And as long as this trend continues, we can’t get out of the shadow of the Great Recession. When most of the gains from economic growth go to a small sliver of Americans at the top, the rest don’t have enough purchasing power... Read more

Which major biblical covenant is first introduced in Genesis?