It’s a simple-sounding proposition: "You shall not kill" (Ex 20:13). And some people, such as pacifists, are absolutists in understanding it to mean that all killing is forbidden. But, in fact, that is not what the commandment means. In Hebrew, the Fifth Commandment forbids the taking of innocent human life. Both war and the … Read more
Science may be a refined form of common sense, but at times all-too refined. Some basic laws of science can, of course, be fully rendered in commonsense terms. One gives the full truth of the three laws of thermodynamics by saying that, first, you cannot win; second, you cannot break even; third, you cannot even … Read more
Tiny hands cupped my face. “Mama, Mama,” I heard a voice whisper. “I need you.” “Gah!” I responded. To explain my somewhat inelegant response, I should tell you that it was about 2 a.m. when the tiny hands cupped my face and the small voice awakened me from a sound sleep. The little person needed … Read more
If I were asked to summarize the typical cultural narrative of Christianity to which the average Westerner holds, it would be something like this: “Jesus was a good man who taught us to love each other, but tragically he was killed (nobody really knows why, but it probably had something to do with “religious conservatives” … Read more
A great and growing difficulty for the Catholic Church, and all her faithful, is the disintegration of modern languages. Words used through centuries to connote deep meanings — not incomprehensible, but superficially complex — come to mean less and less. The glib use of a word such as “prophecy,” to mean only a prediction of … Read more
Several years ago, I picked a fight with some Darwinist or other. This was in print, as part of my day job as a newspaper pundit, I hasten to add: No humans were injured in the making of this controversy. I must have had a lot of time on my hands, for the time … Read more
In response to Vice-President elect Joe Biden’s erroneous public comments on the Catholic Church’s teachings on abortion, USCCB Chairman Justin Cardinal Rigali released a statement asking: When does a new human life begin? When is there a new living organism of the human species, distinct from mother and father and ready to develop and mature … Read more
A thoughtful exploration of Catholicism and the problem of evil — in a sci-fi flick? Matthew Lickona looks at the unlikely X-Files. There was nothing else playing. Well, almost nothing. We’d seen Dark Knight already — my brother, my father, and I — and the theater in my hometown, where we were gathered, wasn’t carrying … Read more
Until the end, I held out hope that Sen. John McCain would somehow pull off the upset. Alas, the election came down to the economy, and as is usually the case, the voters pinned the blame on the party whose man is in the Oval Office. For those of us Catholics not motivated solely by … Read more
“Well, there goes my Catholic hipster cred,” I said to The Wife the morning after seeing Fireproof, the new film from the Christian filmmaking team behind Facing the Giants. “Now I have to go on record saying I didn’t hate a film where accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior plays an integral … Read more
As we saw last week, antique atheists like Bill Maher still imagine that people who take the Bible seriously must read it literalistically, as he does. However, there is a difference between literalistic interpretation — which is the habit of all fundamentalists, whether atheist or Christian — and the literal sense of Scripture. The Catechism … Read more
Two weeks ago, I promised to lay out for you, one week at a time, the "seven key areas of life where Jesus ruins our fun." By this I mean the categories of normal human experience that make up the bulk of our lives — where our instincts, habits, and egos have patched together perfectly … Read more
The verb “to lead” means to be out in front. But it also has the implication of knowing where the group that one leads is to go. The image of the lead mountain climber mistakenly guiding the troupe over a cliff comes to mind. The leader is supposed to know the way and to know … Read more
I recently watched a strange movie recommended on InsideCatholic. Ushpizin, or The Holy Guests, is about a middle-aged Chasidic couple whose faith is tested by longstanding infertility. The plot is archetypally Jewish, a charming spin on the story of Abraham and Sarah. There’s nothing strange there. What’s really odd is that it turns out that … Read more
Over the next few days, three of our writers will offer lighter reflections on why they prefer a given genre of music — Rock, Broadway, and Classical. We begin today with Rock and Roll. ♦ ♦ ♦ My childhood was marinated in the thunder of Beethoven, the depth of Mozart, and … Read more
It was only a few years ago that I began exploring Christianity after a life of atheism. I’ll never forget the time I was up late at night, feeling lost and slightly depressed as I searched around the Internet for arguments in favor of God’s existence, and I stumbled across a series of heated … Read more
Some time ago, a friend of mine introduced me to a wonderful bit of parody that begins: Awake from your slumber! Arise from your sleep! The homily’s over! It wasn’t too deep! It brings to mind the old joke that the difference between a liturgist and a terrorist is that you can reason with a … Read more
Taken into Custody: The War against Fatherhood, Marriage, and the Family Stephen Baskerville, Cumberland House, 352 pages, $24.95 For whatever reason, social conservatives focus considerable political effort on abortion, gay rights, and obscenity, but pay scant attention to divorce. Perhaps they think that ship has sailed for good, whereas other battles still offer winnable stakes. … Read more
I know a woman – and, in fairness, I must say that she’s a truly good Catholic woman — who’s slightly bonkers on the subject of birth control. I suppose there are people like that on both sides of this argument, but this woman happens to be bonkers on the pro-contraception side. You can’t … Read more
“No human law,” writes the great Pope Leo XIII, can abolish the natural and original right of marriage, nor in any way limit the chief and principal purpose of marriage, ordained by God’s authority from the beginning. Increase and multiply. Hence we have the family; the society of a man’s house — a society limited … Read more