Contrary to popular perception, the rates of illegal immigration have dropped sharply over the past decade. This is the just-released conclusion of a new PewResearchCenter study: The annual inflow of unauthorized immigrants to the United States was nearly two-thirds smaller in the March 2007 to March 2009 period than it had been from March 2000 … Read more
On August 23, U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth issued an injunction prohibiting the use of federal funds to support human embryonic stem cell research (ESCR), because it violated federal law prohibiting the destruction of human embryos. Even if his ruling is overturned by the Supreme Court (it’s unclear which way Justice Anthony Kennedy, who … Read more
The Christian Post reports that over 100 religious groups are protesting a piece of legislation that would ban faith-based groups from receiving federal funds if they use religion in their hiring practices. The language can be found in HR 5466 – a bill introduced in the House in May by Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI). The … Read more
Last week I introduced the notion of “theological deal-killers,” hypothetical events which, if they happened in the real world, would cause one to question his faith. While a few readers thought it impious that I was willing even to entertain the idea, most chimed in helpfully with their own list of teachings so central, traditions … Read more
At Catholic Advocate, I have posted the speech given by Dr. Patrick Lee, a professor at Franciscan University, at the America’s Divine Destiny event last Friday night at the Kennedy Center. Sponsored by Glenn Beck, the Kennedy Center event featured a Jewish, Evangelical, Protestant, and Catholic speaker. The Catholic was Dr. Lee, a renown pro-life … Read more
Well that didn’t take long: The Obama administration on Tuesday asked a federal judge to lift a restraining order that it says could undercut federally funded embryonic stem cell research. The Justice Department filed its request with U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth only days after he blocked government funding of embryonic stem cell research. . … Read more
The debate over the mosque at Ground Zero and Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is of particular interest to me. I know Imam Rauf. Five years ago, he and I were participants in an interfaith dialogue event that took place in Rome. I spoke with him over the course of several days. I have read his … Read more
There are two reasons I particularly enjoy reading The Telegraph’s (UK) Damian Thompson. The first is his aggressive-yet-even-handed defense of Catholic matters in an environment that seems primarily hostile. And the second is his ability to come up with something to say when confronted by such things as this recently-released image of the altar planned … Read more
I have often learned my most valuable lessons from my worst enemies. In graduate school I spent several years wrestling with the texts of the atheistic philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who taught me one unforgettable lesson: Those who lack the tragic sense of life are apt to invent realities to replace the one they cannot face. … Read more
A few minutes ago I received the press release below, not yet posted at the Catholic Action League web site. I had to read it several times because I kept saying to myself, “It can’t be so!” But, sadly, it is. Caritas Christi, a network of six hospitals owned by Archdiocese of Boston, will soon … Read more
According to ABC, a Yemeni national named Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi was stopped by airport security in Birmingham, Alabama, before boarding a flight to Chicago: …al Soofi was found to be carrying $7,000 in cash and a check of his luggage found a cell phone taped to a Pepto-Bismol bottle, three cell phones taped … Read more
New York recently became the fiftieth state to allow no-fault divorce — an occasion that prompted New York resident Beverly Willett to reflect on her experience fighting to save her own marriage from divorce eight years ago. It was a grueling, five-year-long battle against a husband who had cheated on her and wanted out on … Read more
Childcare isn’t what it used to be, and good thing for that. Here’s a section from James Watson’s Psychological Care of Infant & Child, 1928. The chapter was entitled “Too Much Mother Love.”
The reaction to my “coming out” as Jolly last week has been huge. It turns out that we are larger than we realized! (That’s Jolly in-joke humor. We can say things like that. If you say it, it’s oppressive, obesophobic hate speech, and I will have your butt in court faster than you can say … Read more
At Catholic Advocate, I’ve posted the remarks I made at the Catholic League’s rally in NYC last Thursday in front of the Empire State Building. The rally was well-attended, around 3000 people stretched down 39th street. Bill Donohue was his usual bigger-than-life self, completely in his element introducing the seventeen speakers and keeping the proceedings … Read more
In case you missed it, Deal did a brief interview Friday with the Dallas Morning News on the subject of Catholic teaching and immigration. It’s a short piece, but informative, and included this interesting exchange: [D]oes a government have a moral right to set limits on the kinds of people who enter? Kinds of people? … Read more
Over at the Catholic Key Blog, the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph has published its plan for reforming the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. Already a year old, their CCHD plan is very convincing. I began reading it with a healthy skepticism… until I came to this: Our first decision, then, was to cease funding … Read more
Catching up is hard to do. It reduces me to elliptical reviews of new CDs, the merit of which you must accept from a few brushstrokes of praise from me, as space — even in this medium — does not allow for more. Therefore, this is a matter of trust and taste. By the latter, … Read more
It hardly needs pointing out that the Vatican isn’t always adept at managing its own PR (to put it mildly). An article in the UK Guardian today by Paul Donovan raises a good question: Is the Holy See’s press office ready for the firestorm that could very likely accompany the pope’s visit to Britain next … Read more
According to an article in The New York Times last week, there’s a debate going on in academic circles (mainly among psychologists and sociologists) as to whether a new developmental stage should be officially acknowledged. It’s called “emerging adulthood” and it covers the 18-29 age range. It could happen the same way the stage of … Read more