Anyone who has been to a Catholic conference has heard the following remark rise up out of the audience: “What we really need to do is to pray and get before the Blessed Sacrament!” Anyone who has spoken at a Catholic conference has had to confront this statement. Usually, in order not to appear like … Read more
I was a teenager when he died. We went to visit him one last time when I was about 14 years old. Nobody said it was “one last time” — not to me, anyway. They said we would be taking some short trips to Canada — just a few of us kids at a time … Read more
Time for your Friday-morning link round-up — but first, a public service announcement: Don’t forget to set your clocks back tomorrow night! Also, today is Guy Fawkes Day. Please don’t go blowing up any government buildings. Thanks. On to the links: Forbes names Pope Benedict the fifth most powerful person in the world, just behind … Read more
It isn’t often that John Locke is mentioned in discussions of Catholic social teaching, unless it is to set him up as an example of all that the Church supposedly rejects. After all, Locke is considered one of the founders of a liberal and individualist political tradition that was rejected by the papacy in the … Read more
As the last several posts here on InsideCatholic can attest, everyone has different “take-aways” from Tuesday’s election results. For myself, I don’t know what to think; there are so many factors in play (and I know so little about most of them), I have trouble knowing what to take away. I am continually intrigued by … Read more
Over at the Public Discourse, Micah Watson argues that the “you can’t legislate morality” argument in politics is one of the most specious around: The governing authority’s power to pass and enforce laws takes account of the beastly side of human nature while holding that some wrongs are so fundamental that they demand a robust … Read more
Once upon a time, Catholic parents sent their sons and daughters off to a Catholic college confident that their children would receive a sound Catholic education. They expected their offspring to return home in four years not only with professional skills and greater knowledge of science, art, and culture but with a deepened understanding of … Read more
Brian Saint-Paul, in posting about Dan Burke’s piece at Religion News Service, alerted me to the following quote from Sister Simone Campbell, who is apparently one of those “progressive” Catholics I hear about: “Those [pro-choice, anti-limited-government, leftist legislators who culturally identify as Catholic] are folks who are really committed to the common good, with a … Read more
Dan Burke at the Religion News Service reports that the Democratic religious outreach that worked so well in 2008 was largely abandoned in 2010. In previous elections, the Democratic National Committee hired staffers for Jewish, Muslim, Catholic, and evangelical outreach. This year, those jobs are not filled, said the Rev. Regena Thomas, the DNC’s director … Read more
If we are to have, as Attorney-General Eric Holder suggested more than a year ago, a national “frank conversation about race,” the first thing that needs to be said is that such a conversation is virtually impossible. Why? Because those who are on the “conservative” side in this discussion will be accused of either racism … Read more
The Republicans have taken over the House of Representatives. Good. Fine. Way better than the alternative. WHAT NOW? Here’s the first step they must take, if they’re serious about not acting like the sometimes-corrupt, sometimes-perverse, sometimes-cowardly, self-serving Washington-insider unprincipled useless lumps of flesh they were in the later Bush years. (With, y’know, the human dignity … Read more
I watched Chippy run down the lawn, across the neighbor’s drive, and around the wall separating the drive from the yard. As the small football was thrown in the air, I hoped it would come down to him with the point up, making it easier to catch. Years ago, I could make a ball do … Read more
Pundits are still analyzing the outcome of last night’s elections, and it will take months to figure out what Americans’ votes will mean in terms of policy. Myself, I’m actually relieved that Republicans didn’t win both houses of Congress; since the economy (corrupted by bad investments encouraged by cheap money from the Fed) isn’t likely … Read more
In a must-read morning Wall Street Journal op-ed, Senator Jim DeMint offers some advice to the incoming Tea Party candidates: The battle with your Democratic opponents is over; your war with Republican insiders is about to begin. Many of the people who will be welcoming the new class of Senate conservatives to Washington never wanted you … Read more
CNN national exit polling reports this morning that Catholic voters returned to the GOP yesterday. By an eight point spread, 53 percent to 45 percent, Catholics supported GOP candidates around the nation. These numbers basically are a reversal of the 2008 presidential results. As I predicted in my pre-election comment for Catholic Advocate, Catholics were … Read more
As expected, Republicans fared well in last night’s elections — regaining control of the House, picking up at least six Senate seats, and adding several more governors to their ranks. I’m sure there will be plenty of feedback and analysis throughout the day, as well as much rejoicing from the GOP, but Ross Douthat cautions … Read more
It has fallen to my lot recently to teach classics in a small high school not far from my house that offers courses for homeschooled students. Most of them come from Christian households, so one may take it for granted in the classroom that traditional moral values are in place. This is convenient in an … Read more
I just returned from my polling place — things were awfully quiet in this corner of Baltimore — and thought I might do an Election Day roundup. First, if you’re looking for an interactive election map to keep track of results, the Huffington Post has a good one. * * … Read more
I’m de-lurking, as the young people say today, to plug a video produced by my employer, TAN Books, in promotion of our title Hungry Souls, which relates accounts of and physical evidences left by apparitions of suffering souls in purgatory. (See the author’s Inside Catholic feature on Catholic parapsychology here.) As I hope the video … Read more
This is not an article for those who are unabashedly in love with democracy, who look forward to election year with patriotic zeal directed first of all to the nation and second of all to one of the political parties. I write instead for the genuinely dispossessed: for those who feel deep in their bones … Read more