The Boy Who Cried AI
A people who are constantly lied to by their leaders will lose the ability to distinguish truth from falsehoods.
The CDC, Interstellar, and the Blight in Our Souls
Many trendy social causes are steering our sentiments away from individual people and toward vague, universal concepts like “humanity.” This shift positions abstract ideals over tangible human needs.
Were Planned Parenthood Videos Produced Unethically?
Planned Parenthood has had a very bad summer. This is the consequence of videos produced by David Daleiden of the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) in an under-cover sting operation that provide convincing evidence that Planned Parenthood clinics sell body parts of aborted babies for profit. Daleiden and members of CMP passed themselves off as … Read more
Why Political Corruption Matters
Most people, I find, have some potent memory from early childhood, in which they lied and then felt the blistering sting of remorse. For me, that memory takes me back to age five, when the two (much older) girls next door persuaded me to sneak ginger cookies and candy canes off of our Christmas tree … Read more
Down the Ladder of Depravity
Shall we allow sharp dealing, or not? That’s one of the questions that Cicero takes up in his wise and noble work, De officiis (On Moral Duties). One side, represented by the philosopher Antipater, holds that you are in the clear so long as you don’t actually tell a lie about what you are selling. … Read more
Is Lying Ever Justified?
“The problem is not that we are sinners: the problem is not repenting of sin, not being ashamed of what we have done.” In his homily at his daily Mass at Domus Sanctae Marthae on May 17, 2013, Pope Francis was discussing, and commending, the example of Saint Peter, who, having denied Christ, was now … Read more
…But do Bad Dogs go to Hell?
It was somewhat of a surprise when George died despite his old age, for he had seemed to live through everything—much pestering from our younger dog, Wolfie; consuming way too much chocolate, candy, and paper towels; chewing on a poisonous tick collar; jumping out of a moving (quite fast) pickup truck after another dog; surviving … Read more
Liar’s Paradox
Logicians have an exercise called “The Liar’s Paradox” which is used to illustrate a number of things. The basic scenario is this: Your ship goes down, and eventually you drift ashore, where you are greeted by a native who informs you that everyone on this island always lies. Can you believe him? If what he … Read more
The famous bullying incident
By now, you all have probably seen the video of Casey Heynes, the bullied Australian boy who put the smackdown on his tormentor. If not, here it is: [video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KakZkh9Iu7U&sns=fb 635×355] I still get a thrill watching Casey defend himself and body-slam the twerp. Justice is so sweet! Both boys have since been on news shows, talking … Read more
Up from Literalism
The past few weeks have seen a contentious, sometimes enlightening debate over how committed Catholics must be to truth-telling, in what circumstances, and at what price. The issue arose when bloggers responded acerbically to the pro-life sting operations of the heroic Live Action operatives who exposed Planned Parenthood’s use of our tax money in violation … Read more
But not in the living room.
It’s Friday, which means you may need a good laugh at the end of a long week — or maybe I should speak for myself. Anyway, here’s a piece, resurrected from the archives of the Atlantic, that you may appreciate. It’s called “Laws Concerning Food and Drink; Household Principles; Lamentations of the Father,” by Ian … Read more
May we use deception to fight abortion?
Over the past week, there has been a lot of disagreement in the Catholic blogosphere about the tactics pro-life group Live Action used to obtain sting videos of Planned Parenthood. The organization, run by student activist Lila Rose, released its first video showing a Planned Parenthood staffer who appears to give aide and advice to a sex … Read more
Cancel My Mental Reservations
I was recently delighted by the sting operation performed against Planned Parenthood by Live Action, whose members posed as a pimp and a prostitute, intending to test the organization’s willingness to enable the exploitation of underaged girls and expose its cynical disregard of the human dignity of women. None of this should surprise those of … Read more
Do You Renounce Kennedy and All His Works?
Two weeks ago I ventured into enemy territory: the Harvard Club in Boston. In all the time I’ve lived in New England, I’ve turned down every chance to visit Harvard’s prim, Georgian campus, though I’ve window-shopped in swanky Harvard Square. Out of loyalty to its rival, my alma mater, I’ve steered clear of Harvard, displaying … Read more
Hands off that fake Gucci bag
Have you ever purchased a fake Gucci bag, Rolex, or pair of Ray-Bans? New research suggests that wearing knockoffs makes you less honest and more cynical. Sound far-fetched? I thought so, too, until I read more details. Three psychological scientists have been studying the way fake adornment affects attitudes and behavior — Francesca Gino of … Read more
Baltimore archdiocese fights ruling against crisis pregnancy centers
You’ll recall the law recently passed in Baltimore requiring crisis pregnancy centers to advertise that they don’t provide birth control or abortions (thanks to some prodding of the city council by Planned Parenthood). The archdiocese, however, isn’t taking the ruling lying down: Archbishop Edwin O’Brien announced yesterday that they are suing the city of Baltimore, … Read more
I Love Homeschooling… I Hate Homeschooling
Through the years, my experience as a writing, blogging, publicly homeschooling mom has made one thing clear to me — in Catholic parenting circles, homeschooling is a hot topic. Probably second only to the infamous “spank or don’t-spank” debates. On a daily basis, inquiring minds fill up my e-mail inbox: What is your homeschool philosophy? … Read more
The Eighth Commandment
It is a curious fact that the same book of Exodus that informs us of the command, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (20:16) begins with the story of a good solid practical lie: Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and … Read more
This Old World’s Tawdry Voices
“That means they’re anorexic,”said a young woman I know when asked why the great majority of the girls at her elite college had declared themselves vegetarians or vegans. I thought she was being sarcastic, but she wasn’t. She was being witty. The ideological self-description has become a code word for an illness the girls … Read more