Via The Anchoress : Pounding his piano in blue-tinted sunglasses before nearly 50,000 screaming fans, Elton John took center stage in a battle over Israel’s image. The legendary British rocker’s concert on Thursday night followed a string of cancellations by artists like Elvis Costello and the Pixies. Resisting a growing wave of calls from pro-Palestinian … Read more
Yes, I know there is a novel by Turgenev by the same title, but I’ve never read it, so I feel free to use the title. Do I speak for most sons when I say I will spend my whole life trying to understand my father? My father, Jack W. Hudson, it seemed, was tougher … Read more
Yes, I know there is a novel by Turgenev by the same title, but I’ve never read it, so I feel free to use the title. Do I speak for most sons when I say I will spend my whole life trying to understand my father? My father, Jack W. Hudson, it seemed, was tougher … Read more
Yes, I know there is a novel by Turgenev by the same title, but I’ve never read it, so I feel free to use the title. Do I speak for most sons when I say I will spend my whole life trying to understand my father? My father, Jack W. Hudson, it seemed, was tougher … Read more
The cry, “That violates the separation of church and state!” has been the centerpiece of the secularist drive to marginalize Christianity in the public sphere since the 1940s. The real — and often neglected — question is what precisely that separation means and how it should be interpreted and applied. The secularists’ interpretation of the … Read more
After months of fevered anticipation, Pixar’s latest animated adventure — Toy Story 3 — has finally arrived. And if early reviews are any indication, it’s a worthy finale to one of the most enjoyable cinematic trilogies in recent memory. Over at RottenTomatoes, the T-Meter Critics are checking in at a whopping 130-for-130 in the Fresh ranking. … Read more
I posted a while back about Ayaan Hirsi Ali and her new book, Nomad: From Islam to America. On the Ms. Magazine Blog this past Monday, Rafia Zakaria focuses on an interesting new development in Ali’s views of Islam and women. Ali, as you may recall, is Somali-born and a former Dutch parliamentarian who became … Read more
I’ve written about the problem of obesity in the past. It’s an epidemic in North America now as we all know, and with one look around, it’s not hard to see why. But let’s say you want to lose weight — what do you do? There are so many diets out there, it’s really tough … Read more
Time for your Friday links: Ronnie Lee Gardner was put to death in Utah this morning by firing squad (the first such execution in 14 years). Many people protested what they saw as a barbaric holdover from the past, but are firing squads actually a better means of of execution than lethal injection? Best lede … Read more
More than a few eyebrows were raised when the new president of The Catholic University of America was named: John H. Garvey, Dean of the Boston College School of Law. Most people know Boston College, in recent years, has become the epicenter of Catholic dissent. And although Garvey is was not a name familiar to … Read more
More than a few eyebrows were raised when the new president of The Catholic University of America was named: John H. Garvey, Dean of the Boston College School of Law. Most people know Boston College, in recent years, has become the epicenter of Catholic dissent. And although Garvey is was not a name familiar to … Read more
Since it became the latest media sensation, commentators have attempted to exploit whatever demographic or philosophical fault lines they can discover within the Tea Party protest movement. One of the media’s favorite themes so far has been the alleged tension between fiscal and social conservatives, or between libertarians and Christians. Some believe that incidents such … Read more
Most Catholics just don’t realize what’s going on at many of our Catholic universities: They need to read the sad story of Marquette University as told by Anne Hendershott in the Wall Street Journal. Marquette had made an offer to Jodi O’Brien to assume the position of Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. … Read more
Most Catholics just don’t realize what’s going on at many of our Catholic universities: They need to read the sad story of Marquette University as told by Anne Hendershott in the Wall Street Journal. Marquette had made an offer to Jodi O’Brien to assume the position of Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. … Read more
Over the past several months, The Telegraph’s (UK) ever-interesting Damian Thompson has written a number of posts concerning Sydney’s Cardinal George Pell and the chance that he might soon be named Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops. In early May, Thompson reported that “authoritative sources in Rome” had all but confirmed the good Cardinal’s impending appointment. Yet … Read more
My first meeting with the bishop of Phoenix is at his home rectory of Sts. Simon and Jude. He’s halfway through Tuesday morning prayer with three other priests when I enter the small, unadorned room. Before I can register that there are only four seats, Bishop Thomas Olmsted kneels on the hard floor and motions … Read more
Over at Get Religion, Mollie Ziegler points out this Pew Forum study on the media coverage of the recent wave of clergy sex abuse allegations — the most scrutiny the Church has received since the story first broke in 2002. From mid-March (when the pope’s role in a decades-old abuse case in Germany came under … Read more
Chicago’s Francis Cardinal George says that in the healthcare debate, Sister Carol Keehan, President of the Catholic Health Association (CHA), chose the president over the bishops: During the bishops’ executive session held Tuesday morning to address the fallout of CHA’s support for the health care legislation despite the bishop’s opposition, Cardinal George recounted the events … Read more
It was on the feast of Christ the King. I remember it because it was a particularly gorgeous day in Buenos Aires, and we seminarians had been given the afternoon off in order to tour the city. We went to the renowned Church of Our Lady of Pilar, though I was not as impressed with … Read more
This should come as no surprise to anyone who has ever watched 22 men in short-shorts and knee socks kick a patterned ball around a grassy field: Soccer is officially out of the closet. This was a brave step for soccer to take, so I hope we can all be supportive. [Hat tip: Skojec]