A tip-of-the-hat to The Anchoress, who linked to this piece in which various experts with Divinity-School letters appended to their names convey their opinions about whether demons exist. The expert consensus is that they don’t. (No reasons for thinking this are given, naturally, because reason is irrelevant to expert consensus.) In reading some of these … Read more
At a dads’ get-together a few days ago, one of the guys said that he was planning on having his kids pay for college themselves because he wanted them to stay Catholic. At this rather-bizarre-on-the-face-of-it statement, many of the guys had questions, and this fellow proceeded to say that from his experience, kids who had … Read more
All the decorations are up, folks are frantically shopping and preparing, and the anticipation is almost killing me as I await the brightest, best moment of the whole liturgical year: Halloween, of course. As far back as I can remember, this feast far outclassed Christmas on my personal calendar. No matter that Santa brought piles … Read more
With Pope Benedict XVI’s Anglicanorum Coetibus clearing away the obstacles for Anglicans to reunite with Rome, some Episcopal parishes are doing that very thing. This past Sunday, Baltimore’s Mount Calvary Episcopal Church voted to join the Catholic Church, making it the first congregation in Maryland to do so. The small Anglo Catholic parish at Madison … Read more
CNN ran a piece yesterday about research out of the University of Wisconsin showing that meditation permanently changes the brain by strengthening the circuits related to concentration and empathy. Richard Davidson, a psychologist at the university, says that strengthening neural systems is no different than training muscles of the body. “The original investigations by people … Read more
Yesterday, the pope released a statement on immigration for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, coming up in January 2011. Titled “One Human Family,” Benedict addresses the dignity of all immigrants while acknowledging nations’ rights to regulate their flow: “The World Day of Migrants and Refugees offers the whole Church an opportunity to reflect … Read more
Sometime back, I wrote a little piece about John Lennon’s hymn to original sin (aka “Imagine”), expressing my bafflement at the fact that people (including Catholics who ought to know better) regard this as a hope-filled anthem of the Coming Great Rosy Dawn and not as what it is: Music to Accompany the Machine Gunning … Read more
Reports have been circulating the last few days that Jody Bottum is no longer the editor of First Things. The changes on the masthead — listing an “interim editor” — corroborate the truth of those reports. First Things has yet to issue any kind of official comment on the change — until then, it would … Read more
With increasing regularity, I find myself wondering if the environment and its appropriate stewardship has become (fairly or not) the ultimate “Rev. 3:16” issue facing us today – Absolutely No Middle Ground Allowed. Now, I have never been particularly forceful (or definitive) in my opinions on most non-cinematic topics – “Gray, as far as the eye … Read more
I participated in a 30-minute media conference call regarding the proposal being put forward by the CCHD to reform their grant making apparatus. Leading the call were Bishop Roger Morin, chair of the USCCB subcommittee on CCHD; John Carr, head of Justice, Peace, and Human Development at the USCCB; and Ralph McCloud, head of the … Read more
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), despite coming under frequent attacks by pro-lifers, remains one of the most respected and well-funded organizations in the country. Add the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) to the equation, and you’ve got a billion-dollar industry in human fertility. One would expect that the aims and agenda of such … Read more
Well, this is charming: The ad is the brainchild of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, and Matthew Archbold at the National Catholic Register calls it “the most anti-Catholic political ad you’ll ever see.” Could be… but frankly I find it so confusing as a piece of advertising that I’m not sure it even rises to that … Read more
Trick-or-treaters might be coming around with UNICEF donation boxes. Don’t give ‘em a dime — UNICEF pushes for abortion and sterilization as part of its efforts to improve the lives of women and children. Beyond the immediate irony of that idea, it’s not even good policy. According to CatholicCulture.org (emphasis mine): Pro-family UN watchers are … Read more
Edward Larson, former Fellow at the Discovery Institute and current professor of history at Pepperdine, attended the recent Council for Secular Humanism’s annual meeting as a correspondent for Religion Dispatches. (If you’re unfamiliar with the publication, RD Magazine covers religion from the Left.) Richard Dawkins was the main draw of the evening, and was there … Read more
The world is full of talented failures — people who either didn’t live up to their abilities, or who did, but in a way that diminished their humanity and their character. God made us to be better than that. And our nation and our Church need His people to be better than that. Scripture tells … Read more
Earlier this evening, Mother Assumpta Long announced the intention of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, the Mother of the Eucharist to purchase the John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington, DC. The Dominican Sisters hope to make the John Paul II Center into a House of Studies for their order. I spoke with Mother Assumpta … Read more
Read the first few paragraphs of this AP story on Catholic bloggers, and see if anything in particular strikes you: Pressure is on to change the Roman Catholic Church in America, but it’s not coming from the usual liberal suspects. A new breed of theological conservatives has taken to blogs and YouTube to say the … Read more
I grow old (but shall not wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled), and my interest in Anton Bruckner’s music deepens with time because it speaks of the timeless. His Symphony No. 8 is one of the summits of music that endeavors to make the transcendent perceptible. In it you will hear the swirl and … Read more
Jeremy Warner, assistant editor of The Daily Telegraph and prominent British economics journalist, has a message for liberal economist Paul Krugman: Please shut up. The occasion for the remark — and come on, we’ve all been thinking it — was Krugman’s recent and wholly unsolicited criticism of Britain’s deficit reduction plan. Professor Krugman suggests that … Read more
Rachel Held Evans, a Christian writer and blogger in Tennessee, has taken on an interesting new project. For one year, she has committed to following all of the Bible’s instructions for women as literally as she can. Don’t worry, she’s not including polygamy (and a few other things) — but pretty much everything else is … Read more