In this Crisis Magazine classic, Benjamin Wiker almost gets lynched arguing for a return to sexual modesty in dress. Â Â I have a suggestion for those in academia who are concerned that women be treated as intellectual equals: Try sexual modesty. Before the lynching party arrives, I hope I will have time to explain. … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Benjamin Wiker revisits the strange history of belief in extraterrestrials and considers what impact their existence might have on Christianity. Â Â We tend to consider speculation about extraterrestrials to be a recent phenomenon, a task forced on us by the scientific knowledge we’ve gained during the last century. It’s … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Raymond Matthew Wray travels to a lonely corner of Ethiopia, where the Orthodox Church claims to have the “lost” Ark of the Covenant. Â Â “He says you must go now,” my translator told me. I looked from him to the official standing across from the old church ruins. “I … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Benjamin Wiker says that the single greatest moral crisis we’ve ever faced is upon us now. Â Â It is difficult to gain attention in an era that uses superlatives to describe dishwashing liquid and mayonnaise. Perhaps speaking simply and directly might prove such an oddity that words may again … Read more
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this.” That’s how divorce starts for the Catholic couples I talked to: hard-core, confession-going, Humanae Vitae-believing Catholic couples. Couples who know exactly what marriage is supposed to be. One man I spoke with, now divorced, took Scott Hahn’s Christian marriage class with his theology-major fiancée. Another couple, now divorced, … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Todd M. Aglialoro says that golf isn’t just a game… it’s also a crash course in virtue. “Yes!” cried the young man fiercely, “Footling game! Blanked infernal fat-headed silly ass of a game! Nothing but a waste of time.” The Sage winced. “Don’t say that, my boy.”  P.G. Wodehouse … Read more
What do you get in this Crisis Magazine classic when you combine Peter Kreeft with a computer? A very entertaining meltdown. Â Â Make no mistake: I do not merely hate computers. I loathe, fear, despise, curse, and have constant torture and dismemberment fantasies about them. I know there are others out there like me, … Read more
Don’t tell me about the world. Not today. It’s springtime and they’re knocking baseballs around fields where the grass is damp and green in the morning and the kids are trying to hit the curve ball. — Pete Hamill I once knew a woman who, when preparing the first fruit salad of summer, would lop … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Ronald J. Rychlak says that while Pius XII was no Nazi collaborator, Hitler did have a strong religious ally… the grand mufti of Jerusalem. Â Â The Jewish Holocaust of World War II is a story of human tragedy, with real victims, real villains, and real heroes. Important questions often … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Todd Aglialoro explains the controversy without resorting to scientific jargon. This is the perfect introduction to the debate. Â Embryonic stem-cell research (ESCR) has taken a place next to abortion and same-sex marriage as a preeminent polarizing moral issue. Celebrities marshaled by the late Christopher Reeve agitated in favor of … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, George Sim Johnston makes the case that ancient Christianity was unmistakably Catholic.   In his famous review of Leopold von Ranke’s History of the Popes, Thomas Babington Macaulay, the great Victorian essayist, launches into a purple passage that Catholic students once knew by heart. It is one of the great … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Thomas E. Woods, Jr. cuts through secular nonsense about religion’s alleged threat to civilization and progress. Â Â It’s the same argument we’ve heard so many times before, except now with increasing frequency and intensity: The world’s troubles are caused by religion. If only people would at last abandon these … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Mark P. Shea shows why honoring Mary is the most natural thing for a Christian to do.  It has to be one of the strangest things in the world: So many Christians who love Jesus with all their hearts recoil in fear at the mention of His mother’s name, … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, painter and art critic Maureen Mullarkey argues that there’s no such thing as uniquely “Catholic art.” Is there a uniquely Catholic approach to art? What is legitimate Catholic art? How can a Catholic make a significant difference in the artistic community? How should Catholics approach secular art? What might … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Benjamin Wiker argues that not only does evil fail to disprove the existence of God, but without God, we would be unable to recognize evil. As an advocate of the Intelligent Design movement, I’m very often confronted with the following rather pointed criticism: “Well, if the world is designed, then … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Francis Maier reveals the way lawyers and anti-Catholic politicians are exploiting the sex abuse scandal to rob the Church. We got a new law passed in California that opens up the statute of limitations for all victims of sexual abuse. It’s something we’ve been trying to do in several states for … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Mark Shea lays out the case for the bodily resurrection of Jesus. You may be surprised how strong it is. “Jesus came to give us moral guidance, and to prove he meant business, he let himself be killed and seen after death, so we would listen and be good.” Not … Read more
Communism was never popular in America, and no American group was more fervently anti-Communist than the Catholics. The American bishops, like the Vatican, had condemned Marxism before 1900 for its atheism, its violation of natural law principles, and its theory of inevitable class conflict. They condemned the Russian Revolution of 1917 that brought Lenin and … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, veteran journalist Sandra Miesel looks into the curious death of Pope John Paul I… including the conspiratorial claims that he was murdered. He barely made it to the bathroom… it was hard to stand up. He clutched the sink and squinted painfully against the bright lights. Fumbling with … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Tom Hoopes outlines four strategies for beating proponents of the Culture of Death at their own game. Â Â From the perspective of the Catholic Church, the culture war can look more like a culture siege — a one-sided contest pitting the attacking villains against a peace-loving Church. Or worse, … Read more
