The recent controversy over the termination of a pregnancy at Phoenix’s St. Joseph’s Hospital, which Phoenix bishop Thomas Olmsted determined to have been a direct abortion and thus a grave moral evil, has generated a secondary controversy over the meaning of the Church’s traditional moral principle of “double effect.” Some have argued — mistakenly, in … Read more
Wendell Berry, novelist, essayist, poet, and farmer, is a central contributor to the growing renaissance of Christian culture. Although he does not, in his lean careful writing, broach religion directly, he writes as one completely at home with the Christian tradition. His readers are numerous and ever growing, drawn to his scriptural and Aristotelian-Thomistic view … Read more
First Lady Michele Obama has received some serious flack for eating short ribs on a ski vacation in Colorado with her daughters. Rush Limbaugh, the paragon of nutrition and fitness, called her a hypocrite and criticized her for not looking like a Sports Illustrated model: “The problem is, and dare I say this, it doesn’t look … Read more
Over at Ionarts, Charles Downey discusses an overlooked portion of last week’s Grammy Awards: the Classical Grammys. Recounting that “they handed out the Classical Grammys in the parking lot before the show,” Downey seems unsurprised at the lack of attention generated by the classical genre. I suppose that should come as no surprise: no one … Read more
Bernard Nathanson, an obstetrician who led the charge for abortion rights before having a change of heart and becoming a staunch pro-life activist, has passed away at 84 after a battle with cancer. The National Catholic Register remembers his life and dramatic conversion: He often admitted that he and other abortion advocates in the 1960s … Read more
The first thing to note about the perpetual virginity of Mary is that it’s the natural extension of the dogma of the virgin birth. Many modern people assume that, at its core, the virgin birth was basically a stunt. That is, the common modern assumption is that the meaning of Mary’s virginity is pretty much … Read more
“To assert no falsehood, and hide no truth,” was the motto of many journalists and papers when modern journalism was first setting up. The line is paraphrased from Cicero, though I am copying from the Mercurius Caledonius of Edinburgh, launched in 1661. Not untypically, this journal was conducted by a comic playwright — the errant … Read more
Simcha Fisher is popping up everywhere these days. In addition to her personal blog and her contributions here and at Faith & Family, she’ll now be blogging at the National Catholic Register as well — a lucky thing for those of us who think the world can always use more Simcha. And her first post … Read more
The Cathoic News Service (CNS) reports that the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, are expanding to California. As one of the fastest-growing religious orders in the country, it has outgrown its motherhouse in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Twenty-two women entered the religious order in August, and there have been between 10 and 20 … Read more
In 1939, Albert Einstein penned a letter to President Franklin Roosevelt. The letter was instigated, and largely written, by Hungarian immigrant and physicist Leo Szilard, who was concerned with the technological aims of the Nazi regime. After hearing the eminent British physicist Sir Ernest Rutherford dismiss the idea of obtaining useful energy from nuclear reactions, … Read more
Driving rain and wind pummeled the house all night, rattling the cistern boxes, bellowing down the chimneys, and pouring sheets of water against the windows. Although the wind died down the next morning, rain peppered steadily for three more days. With this sudden dumping of water on already saturated ground and into already full streams, … Read more
InsideCatholic columnist and friend Al Lagan of CAMC sent me a few observations about our current budget situation. I thought I’d share them here: Government deficit spending has accelerated dramatically in recent years. Both fiscal and monetary policy have used access to the debt markets as the main engine of efforts to revive economic growth. … Read more
I want you to hit me as hard as you can. That’s what Brad Pitt asked of Ed Norton on the silver screen back in 1999. Norton complied, and a cult phenomenon was born. Before David Fincher directed Social Network, a dark film about existentially desperate young men struggling to create meaning by way of … Read more
In the Wall Street Journal last week, Neil Strauss pondered why so many stars believe their success is part of a divine plan. He cites his interviews with musical superstars like Lady Gaga, Snoop Dog, Christina Aguilera, and sports heroes like Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, all of whom credit God with guiding their … Read more
It’s Friday morning, so it must be time for links: Mark Levin doesn’t understand the conservative support of Chris Christie for president. Citing Ann Coulter’s push to get Christie in the race for 2012, he writes: Does she support his positions on: gun control, amnesty, the appointment of an Islamist to the bench, the green … Read more
As a 30-year veteran fighting in the trenches of the abortion war, I found Abby Johnson’s book unPlanned — a story published only 18 months after she quit her job as head of a Bryan, Texas, Planned Parenthood abortion clinic — remarkable. The book is commendable on a number of levels. First, Johnson’s conversion from … Read more
Over at “The Deacon’s Bench,” Deacon Greg links to a brutally sad GQ interview with Billy Ray Cyrus, the former country music superstar now probably best known as “Miley Cyrus’ Dad.” Fame has not been kind to Mr. Cyrus, nor to his daughter, whose recent escapades have been well-documented and greatly lamented. Her rejection as an “appropriate … Read more
The vehement, sometimes acrimonious debates that accompanied the drafting of the Vatican II declaration on religious freedom, Dignitatis Humanae, yielded an exceptionally precise and carefully worded document. Noteworthy in the 5,700-word declaration is the absence of even a single reference to religious “tolerance” or “toleration.” The choice of religious “freedom” or “liberty” as the proper … Read more
I am an unabashed Jeopardy! fan. When I come across it on TV, I have to play, shouting at the TV like my grandmother. I think Alex Trebek should be president, if it weren’t for the whole Canadian thing. I understand that all of this makes me a huge dork. And so, as a huge … Read more
I have a fascination with America’s train system — maybe because it stinks, and I can’t figure out exactly why this country still has such an antiquated and ineffective passenger railway. Whether it’s the regional trains or Amtrak, they’re all bad. Amtrak’s Acela trains, which carry people up and down the northeast corridor — our … Read more