Nicole Neroulias of the Religion News Service has an interesting column this morning at Christian Century. She wonders if religious believers are more susceptible to cons and scams than are those without a faith tradition. While there’s no hard data on the phenomenon and her piece is based largely on anecdote, she makes some good … Read more
In the midst of this past weekend’s fire-storm of reading mis-comprehension — which is being addressed by much more qualified folks than I — I was surprised (and pleased) to stumble upon this little nugget towards the bottom of John Allen’s recent article: As part of that picture, the legendarily bookish pontiff reveals that when the “family” … Read more
Our son Chippy is a newly-arrived 7th grader here in Fairfax, VA. Considering the grades 7 to 9 the equivalent of earthly purgatory, I have held my breath as Chippy found his way around the hallways and classrooms of the local junior high. It started last Friday in the lunch room — some boys had … Read more
Pope Benedict XVI is in the news for comments he made about condoms in Peter Seewald’s forthcoming book, Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times. In the book, the Holy Father answers many direct questions about controversial issues, the Church’s problems, and his own life. Seewald asked the … Read more
A few interesting Catholic news stories from around the Web: First, the pope met behind closed doors with 100 cardinals to discuss both sexual abuse by priests and religious freedom around the world: The meeting is taking place on the eve of a ceremony known as a consistory at which the pope will create 24 new cardinals, … Read more
For years, Hollywood has struggled with the problem of integrating CGI into their productions. Third and Seventh’s Alex Roman, on the other hand, has no such problem — as evidenced by his “Above Everything Else” commercial for Silestone. [video:http://vimeo.com/15630517 635×355] Well, to be honest, I suppose the issue of “integration” is still present in Roman’s work, as … Read more
Time for a few Friday morning links: The TSA’s new regulations for air travel — including the introduction of full-body scans — have been getting plenty of negative press lately. In protest, one group has proposed a National Opt-Out Day where passengers would refuse the scans the day before Thanksgiving — potentially creating huge delays … Read more
Is marriage obsolete? According to a new TIME/ Pew Research Center poll, 40% of Americans believe it is. What we found is that marriage, whatever its social, spiritual or symbolic appeal, is in purely practical terms just not as necessary as it used to be. Neither men nor women need to be married to have … Read more
Yesterday, Newser highlighted a number of press reports about S 510, a major food safety bill making progress in the Senate. While it contains some important protections, a number of people are justly concerned about the bill’s impact on family farms. The problem is that it will will require small scale operations to adhere to … Read more
Insofar as it touches on questions of ethnic origin and national identity, archaeology can be a contentious field. Nowhere is this more true than in present day Israel/Palestine, where every new discovery or theory must travel through a political filter that often does more to shape a scholar’s opinion than do the cold facts of … Read more
I never would have called myself a Democrat, but if this study from the Hollywood Reporter about Americans’ TV preferences is to believed, I should be a Prius-driving, arugula-munching, Pelosi-loving liberal: According to months of data from leading media-research company Experian Simmons, viewers who vote Republican and identify themselves as conservative are more likely than … Read more
The surprise results of this morning’s elections for USCCB president have had the blogging community in uproar. Most Catholics are already familiar with the new president, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York City; but his vice president — Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville — hasn’t had quite as high a profile (though surely that’s about … Read more
Daniel Stone’s weekend article from Newsweek on the sheer scope and impossibility of the modern-day presidency is fascinating reading: Obama has looked to many models of leadership, including FDR and Abraham Lincoln, two transformative presidents who governed during times of upheaval. But what’s lost in those historical comparisons is that both men ran slim bureaucracies … Read more
In what can only be described as a sea change, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York has just been elected president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He won in a runoff, beating out controversial frontrunner Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas. It’s the first time since the 1960s that the sitting vice president didn’t … Read more
Bullying is all over the news these days — particularly as it relates to suicide and depression in children and young adults. This kind of behavior has always been around, but appears to have reached new heights — and is happening at younger ages. Marjorie Campbell wrote about bullying in a recent article right here … Read more
Over at the American Papist, Thomas Peters points out this story about a Pittsburgh parish that’s raising eyebrows with its new Mass time: Old-time Pittsburghers remember when a church in the city offered services in the early morning hours for employees who worked odd hours. One church is now bringing that tradition back with a … Read more
A new indigenous tribe has been identified in Peru. The Yines are a nomadic people who have never had contact with the outside world. They were discovered living in a national reserve of the country’s Amazonian rainforest. The government has promised the tribe protection, but that’s increasingly difficult to do. Drug traffickers continue to push … Read more
If you thought Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke hated testifying in front of Congress before, it’s about to get a lot worse. Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) — author most recently of the best-selling End the Fed — is about to become chairman of the House Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy. That means he’ll have oversight … Read more
Time for a few Friday morning links: Yesterday the pope released Verbum Domini, an apostolic exhortation on Sacred Scripture. It’s a door-stop of a text — the 208-page PDF can be read here, or you can read excerpts via Zenit here. A Christian woman has been sentenced to death in Pakistan for “blasphemy.” Next week … Read more
In honor of today’s commemoration, a few words from Joyce Kilmer, the Catholic poet who lost his life in the very war whose conclusion became the historical basis for Veteran’s Day: The Peacemaker Upon his will he binds a radiant chain, For Freedom’s sake he is no longer free. It is his task, the slave … Read more