The German philosopher G. W. F. Hegel (1770-1831) began his education as a Lutheran seminarian during the cultural ferment that we now refer to as the French Enlightenment. Later, as a philosophy professor at Jena, in a chapter in his 1807 Phenomenology of Spirit on “the struggle of the Enlightenment with Superstition,” he offered a … Read more
The debate over the application of the core teachings of the Christian faith began when Jesus was presented with a Roman coin containing Caesar’s image. In that moment, the Lord drew both a limitation to the legitimate power of the state and a distinction between it and the supreme authority of Almighty God. What would … Read more
Nicholas Kristof doesn’t appreciate the Bible being used to support conservative moral positions with which he disagrees, so it must have been an exciting moment when he unwrapped Jennifer Wright Knust’s new book, Unprotected Texts: The Bible’s Surprising Contradictions about Sex and Desire. Knust, an ordained Baptist minister and assistant professor of religion at … Read more
One of the classic texts written in defense of political and economic freedom is Frederic Bastiat’s The Law. I remember having the book pressed on me as a high school senior by a smart, nerdy-looking libertarian who worked at the Laissez-Faire Bookstore in New York, and I wish that I’d read it then. It would … Read more
The abortion laws in the United States, as a result of a series of Supreme Court decisions starting with Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton and continuing through the 1980s and 1990s, have become the most permissive in the Western world, allowing abortions even in the third trimester. Most Western European countries, with the … Read more
When a Roman general returned victorious from a war against an enemy of the Republic, he was typically granted a “triumph”: a lavish, bloodthirsty, pagan version of a ticker-tape parade, which centered on long lines of enslaved captive enemies marching in chains behind his chariot, and climaxed with the butchery of their general before throngs … Read more
Pat Archbold gets it. And, despite the remarks of a few remaining suckers in his comboxes, most of his readers get it, too. As many people were sickeningly sure would happen, the pro-life cause was betrayed yet again by the Stupid Evil Party, and pro-lifers were, once again, instructed by the Party to talk about the … Read more
It is about this time in Lent, around halfway through, that one begins to wonder what the point is. Of anything, really. One purpose of the season is just that: to bring us up against impossibilities. Today, I’m thinking particularly of impossibilities in the realm I am compelled to stare into in my daily life … Read more
Readers of InsideCatholic will be well aware of the repeated scandals in Catholic higher education, particularly at many of the large Jesuit universities. But even so, what leads a major university in the “Jesuit educational tradition” to crawl into bed with Planned Parenthood, which commits nearly one-third of the abortions in the United States? Yesterday … Read more
Following the Bart Stupak betrayal, several pundits declared the end of the pro-life Democrat. For months, Congressman Stupak and a small group of Catholic House members had held out against Obamacare, insisting it be stripped of funding for abortion. But when the bill returned from the Senate with abortion funding intact, Stupak revealed himself to … Read more
Long before I became a Catholic at age 34, I opposed abortion. I came to this position on the basis of reason alone — as an Evangelical I had not been schooled on this issue. Evangelicals, by the way, did not start their anti-abortion activism until the 80s, taking over leadership from Catholics like Dr. … Read more
AOL News ran a piece yesterday by Abby Johnson, the former Planned Parenthood director who wrote the recently released unPlanned. In the column, she outlined the ways Congress and the American public have been misled by Planned Parenthood over the years. Johnson would be in a position to know since she worked eight years for … Read more
Frances Kissling, former president of Catholics for a Free Choice, has been disowned for not being consistent in her pro-choice stand. According to LifeSite News: Ann Furedi, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), the largest abortion provider in the United Kingdom, has “excommunicated” U.S. abortion philosopher Frances Kissling from the abortion movement, … Read more
Reading Nietzsche taught me one thing: People can talk about values and really be interested only in getting their way. Case in point: All the talk about political “civility” is more about power than good manners. Specifically, it’s about marginalizing everyone who finds it necessary and appropriate to speak passionately on the subject of abortion. … Read more
I doubt there are many readers here who are pro-choice. Why, then, do I write an argument against abortion? Why preach to the choir? Preaching to the choir is a legitimate enterprise. Scripture calls it “edification,” or “building up.” It is what priests, ministers, rabbis, and mullahs try to do once every week. We … Read more
Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues (PNCI) reports that Ireland’s Fine Gael party has won the largest number of seats in the Irish National Parliament’s lower house, the Dáil Éireann: Prior to the election, Fine Gael had pledged to uphold the nation’s pro-life protections: “Fine Gael is opposed to the legalisation of abortion” and “Fine Gael … Read more
Eager not to miss any detail about the flaming ball of crazy that is Charlie Sheen, I recently spent a little time reading about his father, actor and TV-world president emeritus Martin Sheen. In some circles, you may know, Martin is recognized as one of Hollywood’s stalwart Catholics, having famously chosen his stage name after … Read more
Dr. Bernard Nathanson, once the foremost abortionist in the United States and then perhaps abortion’s most effective opponent, died on Tuesday at age 84. The Washington Post obituary mentioned that his 28-minute film, The Silent Scream, released in 1985, “became a sensation, widely distributed by antiabortion groups and screened at the White House by President … 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
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