When I was given the opportunity to live in Washington, D.C., one of the first considerations that came to mind was that I would be able to easily attend the March for Life. Prior to this year, I had attended twice — once as an infant, the second time as a toddler. This year, I … Read more
2007 saw a flurry of secular films that were unabashedly pro-life in their outlook, even when they were far from family fare. Movies such as Waitress; the raunchy, R-rated Knocked Up; Bella; and Juno all achieved measures of success with mainstream moviegoers, from the little independent surprise Bella (which was marketed to church-goers) to the … Read more
There was once a young American college student whose love for his faith led him to devote two years of his life as an overseas missionary, embracing loneliness and relative poverty in his zeal to convert unbelievers. He’d even left behind his high school sweetheart, to whom he was faithfully and chastely devoted. He didn’t … Read more
Mitt Romney, by his own admission, was a pro-abortion governor of Massachusetts. That changed on November 8, 2004 in his second term during a conversation with Dr. Douglas Melton from the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. According to Romney, Dr. Melton dismissed the “moral issue” of cloning embryos for stem cells “because we kill the embryos … Read more
There were two political Henry Hydes, and until the second lived his life’s span (1924 – 2007), no historian would have imagined the Clarendon Papers of the mercurial Jacobite (1638 – 1709) being eclipsed in social importance by a Hyde from Chicago. In his Irish Catholic family, Henry Hyde had virtually no political option: To … Read more
Two dramas are unfolding this political season. First, can Barak Obama defeat Hillary Clinton? Now that Oprah Winfrey is on his stage, evidently he can. Second, will the pro-life party nominate Rudy Giuliani and break its promise to the religious and social conservatives who came into the party over the last thirty years? The plotlines … Read more
Amy Sullivan, the “nation editor” for Time magazine, describes Hillary Clinton as a “moral conservative” on “value issues.” This remarkable feat of partisan editorializing was seen November 8th on MSNBC. The interviewer, Tucker Carlson, responded with disbelief. Carlson asked Sullivan, “Has she [Clinton] ever suggested placing any restriction of any kind on abortion, limiting for … Read more
On Tuesday, a group of Catholics in Washington, D.C. issued a statement calling for a greater “spirit of civility” as Americans approach the 2008 presidential elections. When I saw the title of the statement — “A Catholic Call to Civility in Public Debate” — I thought, what a great idea! Then I read it, and … Read more
A little-noticed Fox News Channel poll released last week revealed that nearly half of voters — 45 percent — need to know a candidate’s position on abortion before deciding their vote. The spin put on the poll numbers by the article was that the abortion issue “doesn’t seem to draw as much attention as many … Read more
Human life appears most precious when it is under the gun. At such times, we affirm the greatness of one soul by acting decisively to protect it. Or do we? Modern life produces a multitude of justifications for moral disengagement from our own dark choices and those of friends and strangers. In Bella, a … Read more
How did the Democratic Party lose the support of the working-class and Catholic voters who were once its stronghold? In his book Why the Democrats Are Blue: How Secular Liberals Hijacked the People’s Party, Mark Stricherz argues that the change from the “people’s party” to a party of secular-elite values can be traced to a … Read more
Amid the footage of protestors, zealots, and activists featured in Tony Kaye’s documentary Lake of Fire, it is linguist and political provocateur Noam Chomsky who best outlines Kaye’s approach to the subject matter of his abortion film: “Choice is legitimate,” he says. “Preserving life is legitimate. And sometimes they come into conflict.” Unrated, 152 minutes … Read more
“If Giuliani and Clinton are the nominees, then Hillary Clinton will certainly win the Catholic vote in 2008.” This is the opinion of a chief strategist behind George W. Bush’s success with Catholic voters in 2000 and 2004. Steve Wagner, president of QEV Analytics in Washington, D.C., isn’t happy in reaching this conclusion. “Hillary Clinton, … Read more
The New York Times yesterday ran a review of the documentary Lake of Fire — a film it called "an unblinking look at the violent fight over abortion in the United States" — by British director Tony Kaye. The New York Times yesterday ran a review of the documentary Lake of Fire — a film … Read more
Ramesh Ponnuru, an honoree at the Morley Institute’s 25th Anniversary Partnership Dinner, offered remarks at the event on his search for truth and the defense of life. * * * It is generous of you to recognize me since I have been a Catholic in public life for such a short period of time. My … Read more
As a practical matter, the argument that a pro-choice president will end abortion is far-fetched. Never in American history has a laissez-faire chief executive ended a great moral evil. Take slavery and de jure racial discrimination. Pro-slavery presidents did not end slavery; it was brought to its conclusion by Abraham Lincoln, who in his 1860 … Read more
There is a train of thought that careens down the tracks of a shaky syllogism, and it picks up speed every four years in the United States. Like the Little Engine that Could, it chugs along and says, “I am pro-life and were I president, I would end abortion. Therefore if I vote for a … Read more
Last Thursday, 16 of the 25 Catholics in the U. S. Senate voted to overturn the “Mexico City Policy” to allow funding to overseas health clinics providing abortions. One of the 16 was freshman Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-PA) who ran against, and defeated, Sen. Rick Santorum as a “pro-life” candidate. It’s doubtful whether Casey, … Read more
It’s not always easy these days to tell which of our two major political parties is the Stupid Party and which the Evil Party. But it remains true, as a conservative wag once said, that from time to time the parties collaborate on something that’s both stupid and evil and call it bipartisanship. Although I … Read more
These days of Inside Catholic’s nascence find us debating the merits of political parties and ideologies in light of both Catholic teaching and historical tradition. Which party, which corresponding set of philosophies, is the one to which good Catholics ought to hitch their wagon? Does such a party even exist? I don’t want to give … Read more