The Gray Lady sells herself out to secular materialism once again. I would like to propose Shea’s Iron Law of New York Times Science Coverage: When Christians write about science, they are imposing their religion on the free pursuit of truth. When scientists pontificate about religion, they are innocently writing about science with no agenda … Read more
A Thanksgiving Mass reading from the Gospel according to AmChurch: Â The Jewish feast of Passover was near. When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” He said this to test him, because he … Read more
Following up on his last column, Mark P. Shea argues that what unites Catholics with Muslims — and the rest of the human race — is our sense of the sacramental in the created world. Atheists tend to make treacherous allies in the Clash of Civilizations. Just when Catholics sidle up to our godless friends … Read more
Here’s something you don’t read every day. The Middle East Media Research Institute reports the following: Media Uproar Following Egyptian Mufti’s Fatwa on Companions of the Prophet Muhammad Being Blessed by Drinking His Urine An uproar in the Egyptian media followed the recent publication of a book by Egyptian Mufti Dr. Ali Gum’a in which … Read more
I’m one of those people who roots for the moderate Muslim. And yes, they do exist. After the big flap last year following Pope Benedict’s remarks about Islam, the mainstream media never got around to informing you that his invitation to dialogue was answered by a number of imams and Islamic scholars, and the conversation … Read more
A couple of weeks ago, I made the case that the biblical warnings against confusing the traditions of men with the Tradition of God still apply in our day. A few days later, as if divinely ordained to illustrate my point, an outraged reader of my blog sent along a story that recently ran on British … Read more
Here’s a really cool site called Paleo-Future, devoted to chronicling the History of the Future. I’ve often thought such a subject would make a great book. After all, people have been making predictions forever, and it would be fun to see how the Assured Prophecies of Yesterday have panned out. Browsing through Paleo-Future, I note … Read more
St. Paul tells us that it was Jesus who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, pastors, and teachers. So far as I can tell, however, there is no office in the Church of “Professional Bomb Thrower.” That’s just one of the reasons I don’t turn to Ann Coulter … Read more
Back in the day, before the Republicans had made complete clowns of themselves, Rush Limbaugh was fond of observing that the Democrats had so prostituted FDR’s legacy that now their message was, “The only thing we have to offer is . . . fear itself!” That used to be funny. But now Rudy Giuliani has … Read more
It is an old truism that there is Tradition and there are traditions. Catholic apologist types typically illustrate this by showing clear examples of Big-T Tradition (the Creed, or the canon of Scripture) vs. small-t traditions such as, say, birthday cakes, Thanksgiving turkeys, or Super Bowl beer. All of these are human traditions, and none … Read more
What to my wondering eyes appears on my computer screen today but a big advertisement from something called “Paula White Ministries.” It has that sort of Oprah vibe to it that many non-denominational women’s ministries do. Unlike the martial sense one gets from male-run Evangelical outfits that are about “Fighting for the Truth!” and “Making … Read more
Two years ago, the mainstream media gathered in a special conclave in Rome to discuss the disastrous election to the papacy of Ratzinger the Enforcer, God’s Rottweiler, the hardliner, inflexible, rigid, etc., blah blah. Some of us suggested to our television screens that the talking heads might want to wait more than a few seconds … Read more
A few years back, Russell Shaw wrote a terrific book called To Hunt, To Shoot, To Entertain: Clericalism and the Catholic Laity. It took its title from an amazing remark by a 19th-century English monsignor who loftily declared, “What is the province of the laity? To hunt, to shoot, to entertain. These matters they understand, … Read more
In 1998, I was asked to give a talk at my parish on my conversion to Catholicism. The local Catholic bookstore set up a table of various materials on the Faith, and as I perused them, I was struck by the fact that virtually none of these materials had existed when I came into the … Read more
Every couple of days it seems somebody falls apart due to “insensitivity.” The problem has been buzzing around in our headlines for years. We all remember back in January 1999 when a group of Professionally Aggrieved Grievance Professionals came unglued after David Howard, a white aide to Anthony Williams, the black mayor of Washington, D.C., … Read more
Unam Sanctum is the sort of document that gives our Protestant brothers and sisters a real jolt, primarily because it looks at first blush as though it teaches that Catholics cannot have Protestant brothers and sisters. Written by Pope Boniface VIII in 1302, this papal bull concludes with a shocking dogmatic definition: We declare, say, … Read more
One of the reasons I appreÂciate the Catholic Church is that its lifeblood is apostolic tradition, which ensures against running around after The Latest Thing. However, I am also aware of the long history of Catholics trying to bind God to contracts He has never signed. Many times people leave the Catholic Church, not because … Read more
One of the most volatile passages in the New Testament is the moment at which Jesus turns to some of His Jewish audience and declares point-blank, “You are of your father, the devil” (Jn 8:44). This sounds pretty ugly to modern ears and, particularly in the shadow of the Shoah, strikes many moderns as prima … Read more
One of the reasons I appreciate the Catholic Church is that its lifeblood is apostolic tradition, which ensures against running around after The Latest Thing. However, I am also aware of the long history of Catholics trying to bind God to contracts He has never signed. Many times people leave the Catholic Church, not because … Read more
Last year, in the midst of the Harriet Miers flap, the media incorrectly reported that she was a convert to evangelicalism from the Catholic Faith. Before the error was corrected (she was never Catholic), evangelical heavy-hitter Dr. James Dobson puzzled some Catholics when he remarked, “I know the person who brought her to the Lord. … Read more