More is the pity that you did not know, but April 6 is National Twinkie Day, a day to celebrate that scrumptious little cake that, left uneaten and alone, will likely last until the end of days. Frankly, I did not know when National Twinkie day was either, but when someone mentioned it on Facebook, … Read more
In Lent, we confront the barrier between us and God, our sinfulness and many personal sins. For this, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are recommended, but a guidebook is also useful. Dante’s Purgatorio is one of the best I know. The crisis in the world is always a crisis of sin. For over forty years, I … Read more
Although it was 16 years ago, I remember it vividly. I was driving down I-270 in Maryland toward Washington, DC, listening to Rush Limbaugh on the radio. This was unusual for me, because my work didn’t allow me to be driving very often during his noon–3 PM time slot. At this time the Terri Shiavo … Read more
Recently, a PBS attorney was caught by Project Veritas suggesting that children from “Trump homes” should be taken from their parents and re-educated. PBS denounced this slip of the tongue in a public manner and has suggested that this is not indicative of any pattern of behavior. Considering PBS’s reputation (the only public broadcasters that … Read more
My wife and I are both huge Star Wars fans, and naturally we have passed our passion for Star Wars down to our boys. So, when Disney+ announced that it was launching a new Star Wars television series titled The Mandalorian, we were excited. After all, a series about a bounty hunter that looked like … Read more
Last week, Rene Rasmussen wrote an excellent piece alerting us to the unfortunate situation involving Abby Johnson’s planned speech at the Catholic University of America. For those who missed it, the CUA student pro-life group had invited Johnson and then, facing pressure from various students and, unfortunately, the university chaplain, cancelled the event. (Fortunately, the … Read more
In an online event recently, Bishop McElroy of San Diego criticized the idea of making abortion a “litmus test” for Catholic politicians. When Catholic leaders do this, he claims, “such a position will reduce the common good to a single issue.” Clearly, the bishop was thinking of many Catholic Democrat politicians, notably the new president, … Read more
In an essay written in 1927 on the British philosopher Francis Herbert Bradley—whom hardly anyone bothers to read, much less remember, anymore—T.S. Eliot, who wrote his Harvard dissertation on Bradley, sought to identify the secret of his excellence, tracing it to what he called “his great gift of style.” And while it is true that … Read more
First, what this is not: This article does not argue that we must hold Ash Wednesday services as usual, nor does it argue that scattering ashes on Ash Wednesday is perfectly licit and no one who really understands the Catholic faith can object. Instead, it argues that lack of planning ahead and understanding what’s at … Read more
In July 2019, Rafael Zaki was expelled from the Max Rady College of Medicine in Manitoba for refusing to change views he expressed about gun ownership and abortion on his personal Facebook page. According to the university, these posts constituted non-academic misconduct. Zaki, a Coptic Christian with strong pro-life views, emigrated from Egypt with his … Read more
Recently a local Catholic homeschool group announced a “Mom’s Day of Reflection” at a Catholic community center. The day would allow homeschool moms—those most harried of creatures—to have a chance to relax, reflect, and recharge. There was just one problem: one of the moms didn’t think the group would enforce mask-wearing sufficiently at the event. … Read more
Now that the growing tyranny of our government and the media have developed a “cancel culture,” the title of a recent article from The Pillar criticizing Bishop Joseph Strickland for his views on the COVID-19 vaccines is remarkably tone deaf: “Will the Vatican address vaccine confusion, and the bishop at its center?” The Pillar—a new … Read more
“If you forgive men their trespasses,” says Jesus, “your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Mt. 6:14-15). In permitting divorced and remarried Catholics to partake of the Eucharist, Pope Francis may seem to have such words in mind, words … Read more
On February 3, the Institute for Family Studies (IFS) reported research regarding American birth rates in the decade 2009-19. The results are not good. Even if we take 2008 as a baseline, the ensuing decade showed an implosion in birth rates. If birth rates had only stayed where they were in 2008 (remember, birth rates … Read more
On the few occasions that the USCCB has, as a body, decided to publicly criticize now-President Joe Biden for his more egregious rejections of Church teaching, a reminder has always been included that the bishops eagerly look forward to working with the new administration on those issues in which Biden’s politics do not contradict (or, … Read more
“At the bottom of their hearts the great masses of people are more likely to be poisoned than to be consciously and deliberately bad. In the primitive simplicity of their minds they are more easily victimized by a large lie than by a small lie.” The author of these chilling words: Adolf Hitler. President Biden, … Read more
When I decided to return to class at Catholic University of America in the spring, I knew things would be different. I was ready to face the challenge of the COVID-19 restrictions, as well as the political climate revolving around the election and BLM movement. What I was not ready for was to watch as … Read more
“To make us love our country, our country ought to be lovely.” So wrote Edmund Burke, the Anglo-Irish Protestant statesman whose Reflections on the Revolution in France is considered one of the finest political treatises of modern conservatism. Perhaps Burke’s sentiment seems overly simplistic—of course we will like things that are likeable. Yet it is … Read more
“I wanted to let you know about some of our ads that have recently been pulled on Facebook,” wrote my publicist at TAN Books in an email, “including all of our ads for The Devil and Karl Marx.” That would be my book: The Devil and Karl Marx. It has sold thousands of copies, is … Read more
Although many of us eagerly await the upcoming release of Crisis contributor Austin Ruse’s new book titled Under Siege: No Finer Time to be a Catholic (Crisis Publications, 2021), we cannot help but wonder which Catholics he is referring to in the subtitle. Certainly, it has been a fine time for the Catholic President Joseph … Read more