I’ve always admired Obama’s rhetoric. It is the most soaring and lyrical since the days of Bobby Kennedy. It exudes hope. But, deep down, I’ve always had nagging doubts about what he actually stood for. Well, consider his recent foreign policy speech. This is perhaps the most sensible statement yet by a mainstream politician: “Just because the President misrepresents our enemies does not mean we do not have them. The terrorists are at war with us. The threat is from... Read more
Back when I was doing studies at Xavier, I would often talk to one of my friends, Eric, and discuss with him the people I have studied about and found to be quite important in the shaping of world history. I would constantly bring up a name he had not heard of, and I would explain why I found the person behind that name to be important. He said one day I should write a book along the lines of... Read more
Love, war, politics, religion, power, penance, friends and family – something was up in the 1960s when it was decided to have Peter O’Toole play King Henry II twice in movies which deal with these same themes: Becket and A Lion in Winter. The following two scenes, from A Lion in Winter show how far we have gone in the world: today so-called great movies are about the newest, most awe-inspiring spectacle; back in the 1960s, a movie needed more,... Read more
Have you ever heard this? “Catholics should follow their conscience in all things…whether it’s abortion, birth control, sex outside of marriage, women’s ordination, going to Mass, etc.” It’s true — the Catechism says quite plainly, “Man has the right to act in conscience and in freedom so as personally to make moral decisions. ‘He must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience. Nor must he be prevented from acting according to his conscience, especially in religious matters’” (1782).This... Read more
Back in 2000, George Bush ran on a platform dubbed “compassionate conservatism”. There were certainly overlaps with Catholic social teaching, so much so that many Catholics were seduced by this smooth Texas melody. After the election, John DiIulio served as the first director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Initially enthusiastic, DiIulio soon became disenchanted. He noticed that everything was about partisan politics, and that the administration had not the slightest interest in implementing the kinds... Read more
Intellectual dishonesty and moral laziness often are at the heart of political debate. People from various political positions justify their position on little to no logic. Indeed, there are two common ways of dealing with social issues which are found throughout the political spectrum, and both must be rejected. The first kind of response is simple: I have proven you wrong, therefore I must be right. This kind of response often comes from the fact that people tend to have... Read more
Source: NPR, Sidney Morning Herald The White House announced on Monday that the U.S. will provide $20 billion in military sales to Arab countries in the next 10 years. This is what Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, has to say about the sales: “We are helping to strengthen the defensive capabilities of our partners… We plan to initiate discussions with Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states on a proposed package of military technologies that will help support their ability... Read more
The New Republic has a nice editorial on something that should be extremely important from a Catholic point of view — appropriate time away from work. To put it bluntly, Americans still work under conditions that Europeans have not witnessed in generations. While the average American receives a mere 13 days of leave a year, the Canadians manage 26, the Brazilians 34, the French 37, and the Italians 42. Among the economically advanced countries, the US stands apart by not... Read more
I admit, I too have a pet peeve with the English translation of the Nicean-Constantinopolitan Creed. My issue pertains to a particular use of the term “man”. In the current translation, we hear “By the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary and became man“. Here’s a simple question: how many Catholics in the pews each week think that they are saying that Jesus the Christ became incarnate as a male? That might be factually... Read more
Liturgy and culture, grace and nature. For the on-going discussion of the more liberal (and ideal) access to the so-called “Tridentine Liturgy,” I’d like to offer a brief reflection on the wording of what is perhaps the most controversial clause of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, ecumenically speaking. The clause runs in Latin thus: “Et in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum et vivificantem, qui ex Patre Filioque procedit” (And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father... Read more
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