The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a news release in support of the Gang of Eight’s immigration proposal. The problem is that the Gang of Eight proposal fails by the standards enunciated by the bishops and for other reasons too. At a press conference, Archbishop Gomez said: “Each day in our parishes, social service programs, hospitals, and schools we witness the human consequences of a broken immigration system… . Continue Reading»
After twenty-five years Richard Land has retired as president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). Representing the public policy voice of America’s largest Protestant body, he was a consistently faithful voice on matters of Christian moral witness such as abortion, marriage, and religious liberty… . Continue Reading»
Is moral argument, particularly morality flowing from religious beliefs, taboo in criminal justice? A recent controversy highlights how some lawyers shun the moral reasoning at the foundation of the American legal system. In February, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Edith Jones gave a controversial speech defending and endorsing the American system of capital punishment… . Continue Reading»
A few weeks ago I came upon the odd fact that, before and during World War II, the Royal Navy built battleships with fourteen-inch main battery guns, whereas Britain’s principal naval rivals, Germany and Japan, were building ships with fifteen- and eighteen-inch main batteries; moreover, the RN’s chief ally, the United States, had been building battleships mounting sixteen-inch guns for decades… . Continue Reading»
I recently received the following message from a stranger: “So basically, the ‘orthodox Catholic’ game you all play is just that … a game?” It was in reference to a Catholic man with whom I am friendly, and like very much. She had apparently read on social media that this man was planning to marry another man… . Continue Reading»
When considering the pastoral language the Church should use in speaking about homosexuality, the guiding principle must be what then Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger wrote about the subject in 1986, writing as the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: “Only what is true can ultimately be pastoral.” … Continue Reading»
Father’s Day is the perfect American invention: equal parts moralism and money-making. Early in the twentieth century the dominant forms of Protestantism urged temperance and campaigned, successfully, for Prohibition. This famous episode in American history was part of a larger moral project, one very concerned with reinforcing what we now call family values… . Continue Reading»
Will Davis Campbell, who died earlier this month at age 88, was one of the last surviving icons of the civil rights movement. Born on a cotton farm in southern Mississippi, Campbell served as an army medic in the South Pacific during World War II. He frequently referred to himself as a bootleg preacher with neither parish nor pulpit… . Continue Reading»
Pro-lifers continually pray for the reversal of Roe v. Wade. And with many on both sides of the abortion divide now agreeing that the decision is badly flawed, that could happen one day. But what if the overturn comes from the other direction? The potent possibility of a “reverse reversal” (if you will) hit me while listening to pro-life lawyers discuss the current status of abortion litigation … Continue Reading»
Romney’s infamous 47 percent comment did not come from nowhere, but neither did it come from Romney’s personal idiosyncrasies. There was the Wall Street Journal’s “lucky duckies” editorial about lower middle-class families who had little or no income tax liability. There was Ari Fleischer’s column complaining that workers just below the median did not pay enough in taxes… . Continue Reading»
