Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Even Pretend

Last updated on: February 2, 2010 at 3:20 pm By Morning's Minion

I’ve talked before about the train wreck that is Robbie George’s American Principles Project, a project that is symptomatic of all that is wrong with the American Catholic right – partisanship over principle on every issue, an America-first nationalism, a radical liberalism in the economic sphere, a selective approach to morality, the all-t0o-ready embrace of Enlightenment-era reasoning, the tendency to focus on meaningless red-flag issues that fire up the base but do nothing to benefit the culture or the common... Read more

Catholic Church to France: Don’t Ban the Veils

Last updated on: February 2, 2010 at 5:03 am By Henry Karlson

The Catholic Church has spoken out against banning the veil in France. As reported on Islam Online, the New York Times, and The Daily Mail, they see it as an issue of minority rights and religious liberty. Moreover, it has been pointed out that the veil is seen as non-obligatory by French Muslims, and there is debate in France (and in Muslim nations) about its use. However, if the state were to ban it in public, it might have those... Read more

Life in the Bubble

Last updated on: February 1, 2010 at 11:25 pm By M.Z.

Ross Douthat wrote a fairly innocuous column in the NY Times recently. In it, he argues what I have long held: sex education programs in schools – abstinence and otherwise – are largely ineffective. Again we are largely dealing with the clinicalization of a social problem where the remedy is more education. The idea that young women aren’t engaging in pregnancy avoidance, because they aren’t interested in avoiding pregnancy is an idea that seems completely alien. (more…) Read more

The “Professional Pro-Life” Pharisee

Last updated on: January 31, 2010 at 1:18 pm By Henry Karlson

To start with, we must remember that, in theory, the Pharisees were often in the right, but in practices, in actualizing their theology, they became absolutists who demanded purity of anyone but themselves. If we were to place Jesus within the first century Jewish theological debates, he had more in common with the Pharisees than anyone else. Indeed, he would often recognize their authority and that much of what they said was true (as far as what they said went).... Read more

Virtual Polemical Videos, Not Real Catholic TV

Last updated on: January 29, 2010 at 8:54 am By Henry Karlson

There is something about the internet that people feel as if they get a following, they have become legitimate authorities and their voice is the voice of truth. While the internet does provide some good, because it allows the otherwise disenfranchised to speak, we must also remember why so many of these people are disenfranchised. They speak from their heart, it is true, but it is often a heart founded on ideology. This is true all over the net. Caution... Read more

Were the Bishops Used by the Pro-Life Movement?

Last updated on: January 28, 2010 at 8:46 pm By Morning's Minion

I have been more than a little disappointed with the US bishops during the healthcare debate. I do not doubt their utter sincerity, but I question their political savvy. In fact, this precedes the healthcare debate. Time after time, we have seen the US bishops acting as the cart being pulled by the pro-life horse, and I pro-life I mean the “professional” political pro-life movement that is solidly wedded to the agenda and strategy of the Republican party and the whole... Read more

Joseph in the time of his distress kept the commandment, and became lord of Egypt.

Last updated on: January 28, 2010 at 7:45 am By Henry Karlson

Joseph is an example Scripture gives to us of the wise ruler; he listed to what God told him and followed through with it.God showed him that in the time of prosperity, he was to work to increase Egypt’s savings. Grain was not to be saved for the sake of being rich. It was to serve a purpose: to help the needy in a time of famine. That is, in a time of decline, he was shown that he must... Read more

Howard Zinn (1922-2010)

Last updated on: January 28, 2010 at 2:53 am By Iafrate Michael

Many of us are thankful tonight for the full, radical life of historian/activist Howard Zinn who passed away today from a heart attack. Check out the well-done obits from the AP and the Boston Globe. If there is anything recognizably good or hopeful in u.s. american history, Zinn pointed to it. Thank you, St. Howard! Read more

Transportation Policy in Singapore

Last updated on: January 27, 2010 at 5:58 pm By Morning's Minion

The island state of Singapore has a rather appealing transportation policy: (1) Taxes – gasoline costs about twice as much as in the United States (this is fairly typical outside the United States), and cars themselves cost 2-3 times as much. SUVs are rare. (2) Every car in Singapore is fitted with an automatic card reader. This provides the convenience of automatically charging in every single parking lot in Singapore, but is also used for congestion charging – driving into certain areas at certain... Read more

Soldiers on Facebook and the worship of Death

Last updated on: January 27, 2010 at 1:13 pm By Iafrate Michael

Facebook, of course, has its plusses and minuses. One of the much talked about plusses is the ability it gives its users to reconnect with people from their pasts. As is well known to FB users, this can also be a minus when the reconnection proves awkward. Today I received a “friend request” from a high school friend. I went to a small Catholic high school in West Virginia and because we had a small class, we were pretty tight.... Read more

What does "Gethsemane" mean in Aramaic?