They are here illegally. They might not be welcomed here much longer! They are causing too many problems! They must leave! That’s what we are hearing today. Because they aren’t citizens, and they have caused a lot of grievances to us, we are seriously thinking of deporting them. 100,000 of them. After all, they have violated the law by coming here! (more…) Read more
A short while, health law expert Timothy Jost wrote an excellent analysis of why the abortion provisions in the Health and Senate bills barely differ – I talked about it here. The USCCB put out a response, and in return, Professor Jost has come back with a compelling point-by-point refutation. Assuming familiarity with the various points of contention, I will quote some of the highlights: (more…) Read more
When Father Z offers one of his thrice daily prayers to Denver, his followers go a little crazy: How dare he place covering immigrants on the same moral level as abortion. — Heather You make a good point, Heather. And honestly, I don’t know when the Church has ever approved of Socialism,where what belongs to the haves is stolen to give to the have-nots. — kat And those are just the first two comments. More entertainment ensues. What is made... Read more
We have to face the facts: our bishops are both the successors of the apostles deserving our respect and obedience as well as humans who are fallible and make mistakes. The two go hand in hand, and we must always remember both of these facts when discussing the activity of our bishops. When they teach according to the basic principles of our faith, when they preach our basic moral positions, they are at their best and most authoritative. When they... Read more
One of the most intractable issues in ecumenical dialogue is the question of the mutual recognition of apostolic ministry. From an official Roman Catholic perspective, the Orthodox have valid ministry. The ministries of some other, much smaller, groups, like the Old Catholics and the Society of St. Pius X, are generally considered valid as well. (I say “generally” because there are obvious exceptions to this. The Catholic Church does not recognize Old Catholic ordinations of women any more than when... Read more
Back in 1994, when the new Clinton administration system was trying to reform the healthcare system, a group of Republicans came up with an alternative, one more conservative and incremental. This effort is very similar to today’s Senate bill. Let me post a hypothetical – assume that the moderate Republican bill of 1994 has formed the basis of compromise. Let’s assume further that the same restrictions on abortion coverage as in today’s Senate bill were built into this compromise bill.... Read more
If human stewardship over creation implies that we are to be, in some fashion or another, mediators of God’s grace to the world at large, then one might wonder if there were any examples of such mediatorship available for us to study. If so, this would allow us to better understand that role. After all, if we were made to be mediators, if that is a part of what it means to be human, one would expect that we would... Read more
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I am of at least two minds about my life as a wanna-be academic and a Vox-Nova contributor. The most practical question is whether I should include my Vox-Nova writing on my CV. There are those who insist that I should include it (along with my music, in some minds). There are others who wish I would stop writing here altogether, or at least keep it as hidden as possible. (more…) Read more
Because St Thomas Aquinas believed in a kind of human dominion over animals that suggested humanity could, in general, use them as they wish,[1] he had to explain why God would take care to include laws in the Torah which forbade various forms of animal cruelty. His answer was simple: God was forming a good habit in them, that which would lead them not only to not be cruel to animals, but to their fellow humans. If they learned to... Read more
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