Earlier this week, we were informed that an Irish priest ministering in the United States will be deported to Ireland on account of a rejected green card application. Today we find out that seventeen year-old Arthur Mkoyan, valedictorian at Bullard High School in Fresno, will be deported to Armenia with the rest of his family. He’s been in the United States since 1995 when he was five years old, but his family’s request to remain in the U.S. was recently... Read more
An usher from Safeco field in Seattle asked a lesbian to stop kissing her date, because she was making another fan uncomfortable. (See CNN for more on the story). This is now happening more and more often now. Last year, I was with my dad and my brother buying fireworks for New Year’s and there were two girls in their 20s kissing and being affectionate. Most of the displays of affection were not necessary and even if it would have... Read more
In the anteroom of heaven each of us will be purified until he has acquired the disposition of perfect poverty. If every dispute about mine and thine or about the penalty, reprimand, judicial discernment or reversal of judgment that is one’s due under law; if every possible distinction between mine and thine and every claim on God or neighbor, on whatever grounds it is based and whether it is raised in one’s own name or in that of a neighbor... Read more
I wrote a few days ago about Msgr. Jim Lisante, a priest who made a pro-McCain, anti-Obama speech at a Republican event and used a prayer to make a cheap partisan quip. Well, now Lisante says he should not have done so during the invocation — but reserved the right to publicly back McCain. “I do not as a priest forfeit my right as a citizen to a point of view, even when it comes to standing by a particular candidate,”... Read more
There is a certain dogmatism when people start speaking about rights. Rights lend themselves to questions such as “What can I do?” Obligations bring a similar dogmatism and a similar question: “What ought I do?” Being in a society that has largely eschewed protocol, “Is it my place?” is often a question left unasked. Many would claim rights and obligations are a claim to place or competence. They reason that if you have the ability to do something by virtue... Read more
Previous in Series: What is Racism? According to the principle of colorblindness, it is always wrong to treat a person differently than you would have treated them in the same circumstances had they been of a different race. Many people take the principle of colorblindness to be obviously true, suggest that racism consists in the violation of this principle, and believe that the key to harmonious race relations comes from strict adherence to it. Certainly this is what I was... Read more
This election will be a key test. We already know what the Republicans will do, for it is what they always do. Expect to hear a lot about Jeremiah Wright, and all the stuff that makes Obama sound “foreign”, elitist, and hence out of touch– his name, place of birth, the “madrassah” he attended, his supposed Muslim background. Expect to hear about flag pins and his wife’s feelings about America. Expect to hear of his association with Louis Farrakhan and some dubious 1960s-era wannabe-revolutionaries.... Read more
Archbishop Romero’s pastoral letters have much to say on Marxism, why the Church rejects Marxism, why the Church’s social doctrine must not be confused as being Marxist, and yet also why elements of Marxist thought can be cautiously used to help inform Christians who, following their duty to the world, are trying to make it a better place to live. First, Romero is very clear – the Church must reject Marxism, but he also makes it clear people need to understand... Read more
I’ve noted previously the thin green line that separates parody from reality, but I have to say that the folks behind this website have taken unintentional self-parody to an all new level. The site, which appears to be associated with the Australian Broadcasting Company, asks kids to calculate their family’s level of greenhouse gas emissions.* Based on these answers, the site calculates “when you should die” in order to not use “more than your fair share of Earth’s resources.” If... Read more
Dick “Don’t Let the Door Hit Ya” Cheney made headlines yesterday after he made a joke at the expense of West Virginians in front of the National Press Club, a joke centering around the oh-so original image of Appalachian incest. West Virginia’s Democratic governor Joe Manchin promptly slammed Cheney for disrespecting his state and his people, demanding an apology — funny, coming from a politician whose eerily Republican policies have done more harm to West Virginians than any demeaning joke... Read more
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