Our culture pretty much winks at adultery these days. It winks sort of like Maurice Chevalier, lecherously ogling "girls, girls, girls" in some old musical number. Adultery is sold as a charming but lovable fault, as with that adorable rascal Bill Clinton. Or else it is sold as exciting and sexy, as with Brangelina. … Read more
It might surprise some to learn that the basic idea behind the “welfare state” did not originate with either Marxist revolutionaries or bleeding-heart liberals, but rather with a head of state usually identified with conservatism: Otto von Bismarck. Faced with a growing threat from the German socialist movement, in the 1880s Bismarck established four programs … Read more
Late-term abortionist Dr. George Tiller will stand trial in Wichita beginning today, charged with 19 misdemeanor counts of failing to obtain a mandatory second, independent physician’s opinion to performing a late-term abortion. Tiller is accused of having a financial relationship with his partnered physician, Dr. Ann Kristin Neuhaus, who provided the second opinions. (Evidently … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, an up-and-coming writer named Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger meditates upon Romano Guardini’s masterwork, The Lord. Â Romano Guardini’s book The Lord has helped more than one generation of Christians enter into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. When the book first appeared, it offered a new approach to the spiritual interpretation … Read more
In my BC ("before children") days when I was still a full-time working girl, I was on the staff of a regional women’s publication that was decidedly left-leaning. When my boss (whom I also considered a friend) asked me to do a write-up on a pro-choice event, I declined, explaining that I was pro-life … Read more
The season of Lent is upon us, sending one of the few signals Catholic musicians hear outside Christmas and Easter. The message: The music should be sort of slow and penitential, unless we’re talking about one of those cheesy modern upbeat songs about our "Lenten journey" to work for social justice. Is … Read more
In "The Perils of Preaching," I offered a lament for the general mediocrity of Catholic preaching (and was treated to a number of thoughtful responses, for which I’m grateful). What follows are my layman’s suggestions for Catholic preachers. Strictly speaking, they aren’t exactly a layman’s suggestions, in the sense of being given by … Read more
The month of March brings with it many things, usually including the first spring-like days, Lent, baseball spring training — and, for college basketball fans, the NCAA tournament. Sixty-four teams from around the nation are invited to participate. For many programs (including the one at the university where I teach), a major goal of each … Read more
In this much-debated Crisis Magazine classic, historian James Hitchcock explains why he doesn’t much care for Chesterton, Belloc or Lewis. At an ecumenical conference, a Greek Orthodox bishop went around the breakfast table asking half a dozen people their favorite work of C. S. Lewis. There was animated discussion until my turn came, … Read more
The economy is in free fall and we may be facing another Great Depression. In response, the government is scrambling to spend its way back to health. Is this really the best solution? Brian Saint-Paul spoke to Thomas Woods Jr., author of the New York Times bestseller, Meltdown: A Free-Market Look at Why the Stock … Read more
"Lord, teach us to pray, even as John also taught his disciples" (Lk 11:1). Then Jesus gave us the Our Father. But that was by no means the limit of His teaching or His example. We hear Jesus bursting out into praise, glorifying the Father for concealing things from the wise and prudent … Read more
It’s a simple-sounding proposition: "You shall not kill" (Ex 20:13). And some people, such as pacifists, are absolutists in understanding it to mean that all killing is forbidden. But, in fact, that is not what the commandment means. In Hebrew, the Fifth Commandment forbids the taking of innocent human life. Both war and the … Read more
Many Democrats are wise enough to have a healthy fear of FOCA, the Freedom of Choice Act. Those on the religious left who support President Barack Obama are particularly sensitive to the symbolic power of FOCA to undercut their messaging about “abortion reduction.” If FOCA were to cause much-beloved Catholic hospitals to begin shutting their … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Evelyn Birge Vitz says that denying theological gender differences actually undercuts male and female dignity. For Christianity, gender is both important and irrelevant. God creates, Christ redeems, and the Holy Spirit sanctifies men and women alike, along with Jews and Greeks, rich and poor, black and white. … Read more
"How’s your Lent going?" my husband asked me the other day. I raised an eyebrow. He burst out laughing. "Isn’t that what Catholics are supposed to say to each other this time of year?" he asked innocently. My convert husband has never quite gotten over his amusement with some of the things we … Read more
In his powerful novel Serena, Ron Rash offers a haunting depiction of greed, inhumanity, and single-minded ambition. Put in more stark terms, he writes about the force of evil. Set in the Appalachians of Western North Carolina during the Great Depression, the book tells the story of a logging company owner named Pemberton and … Read more
For the securities industry to unravel as spectacularly as it did in September, many parties had to pull on many threads. Mortgage bankers gave loans to Americans for homes they could not afford, often based on inflated house appraisals and no documentation of income or assets. Mortgage bankers immediately transferred these mortgage loans to Fannie … Read more
I’ve lived through a lot of Lents, but none has felt quite like this one. Most years, we try as well or badly as we can to follow Christ a few steps into the desert — dipping our toes in the sand of some manageable sacrifice, penance, or works of charity. We give up some … Read more
Liberals believe that the American principle of religious liberty requires not only the separation of church and state, but also the separation of religion from politics. They argue that a prohibited “establishment of religion” exists whenever government promotes religion at all. Some conservatives agree that government should be neutral between religion and its opponents, but … Read more
It’s funny the things that sometimes irritate you. At the moment I am greatly — some might say unreasonably — irritated by a bill that passed the United States last week. If this bill becomes law, it will expand the number of seats in the United States House of Representatives from 435 to 437 — … Read more