It is not an overstatement to say that the time of the Trump presidency has been one of protracted struggle between the national administration and most of the media. To be sure, the press and the electronic media have faced off with presidential administrations for a long time. Actually, the press has had their political … Read more
A little more than a week after the March for Life once again drew so many people to our nation’s capital in support of a culture of life that the mainstream media had no choice but to largely ignore it, the Senate considered a bill to ban abortions after 20 weeks, the point at which … Read more
One thing I have learned interrogating, in Socratic fashion, the so-called atheists, agnostics, and skeptics who are thick on the ground and on-line these days is that the Christianity they reject is not any Christianity I would claim as my own, but a false Christianity fashioned for them by bigots. Rarely, it soon becomes clear, … Read more
Ryan Anderson has published a nuanced, reasoned, and thoughtful book-length argument against the transgender moment and ideology. Within this reasoned and thoughtful argument, he has also written a blistering condemnation of complicit doctors and therapists that reads somewhat like a legal brief. There is a great deal to commend in the book When Harry Became … Read more
Liberation theology, which was out of favor under John Paul II and Benedict XVI, seems to have made a comeback under Pope Francis. Francis has rehabilitated several liberation theologians and even appointed some to advisory positions. Meanwhile, high ranking prelates in the Middle East support Palestinian efforts to liberate themselves from the supposedly oppressive rule … Read more
Catholics and pro-lifers who were shocked at the “knighthood” of Dutch politician and abortion activist Lilianne Ploumen into the Vatican’s Order of St. Gregory the Great by Pope Francis, shouldn’t have been. True, Ploumen’s militant support of abortion and homosexual rights (which includes raising $400 million for a “reproductive health” NGO she helped launch) is … Read more
Among the three branches of American government, there is supposed to be a system of checks and balances to curb any abuse of power. That is at least the theory. In practice, the judicial branch is now engaged in a campaign of checks without balances or precedent. Judges are becoming tyrants without restraint. It is … Read more
Early on the morning of January 21, 1793, King Louis XVI heard his last Mass. Following Mass, the king was taken from his prison to the Palace Louis XV, where he would suffer the same fate on the same date as Agnes of Rome, the ancient martyr commemorated in the Mass of the day. This … Read more
Most people today “absolutely” maintain that they do not hold or live by “absolutes.” They live by their desires and choices, which are readily changeable. No one is much bothered by the “logic” of his own views. The proposition that “No absolutes exist” is itself an absolute. If it is true, an absolute exists. If … Read more
In the face of increasing Muslim violence in Europe, Pope Francis has remained firm in his defense of mass migration. In his Urbi et Orbi Christmas message, he compared migrants to the Holy Family forced to journey to Bethlehem and unable to find a room in the inn. And in his January 1st message for … Read more
The problem with the “dreamer” debate is that it has little to do with children or their dreams. Most of the “dreamer children” are now adults. On average, the 800,000 recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program who entered America illegally as minors—alone, or brought by parents or relatives—are about 24-years-old today. … Read more
As the Congress begins to address the DACA issue in earnest, a review of the Catholic Church’s teachings on, and their application to, the issues involved should contribute to an informed national debate. In addressing political realities the Church has always been guided by two principles—recognizing and protecting the dignity of the person and advancing … Read more
People today say they want a truly inclusive society. But what would that be like? Evidently, it would not tolerate disadvantages associated with race, sex, religion, or cultural background. So all identity groups would be equally represented and valued in all significant social settings. That’s why people today find it so important for transgenders to … Read more
Most people know that the Quran (Qur’an, Koran) is the holy book of the Muslim religion, hence of about a fifth of the world’s population. But knowing this much, we still must grasp the peculiar nature of this famous book, if, indeed, because of its origins, it can be called precisely a “book.” If we … Read more
Professor Benjamin Wiker’s new book, Saints versus Scoundrels, introduces readers to some of the “greatest questions” in life and philosophy by imagining what two historical figures might say to each other if they happened to meet up in the professor’s study. Wiker pairs up two such figures—a saint and a scoundrel—in St. Thomas More and … Read more
My wife and I decided long ago that we would live in a double-wide down by the river rather than send our kids to government schools. We are constantly reminded of the rightness of that decision, most recently by a talk given to a room full of kids at George Mason High School in Falls … Read more
The truth doesn’t have a side. That thought came to me while re-watching To Kill a Mockingbird. To view this 1962 movie is to be taken back to a time and place that was black and white in many senses of that term. The story takes place in the South in the mid-1930s, when movies … Read more
Secularists like to advise Christians that, for the sake of social harmony, they ought to keep their religion to themselves. Religion, they argue, is a private affair between an individual and his designated deity, and ought not to be dragged into the public square. Moreover, they helpfully add, it’s an imposition on others to confront … Read more
A century on, the Russian Revolution still looms like a shadow from the past. Rather surprisingly, in a way, since the Cold War has been over for nearly three decades. Yet there is something enduringly fascinating and even romantic about the Russian Revolution: the collapse of tsarism, the mass uprising of the Russian people against … Read more
A few weeks ago, I outed the anti-Christian Human Rights Campaign as a “font of evil.” I asserted they are in the business of persecuting Christian believers who may disagree with the homosexual agenda. I explained how they are rich and powerful and want to force their agenda on school children. I also said they … Read more