Abortion and Public Policy
Voters will decide the fate of the nearly total ban on abortions that was recently passed overwhelmingly by the South Dakota Legislature and signed by that state’s governor, Mike Rounds. On June 19, 2006, South Dakota’s secretary of state, Chris Nelson, confirmed that the legislation, wh
Alarm Bells in the East
I have been anguishing over the fate of Christians in the Middle East. Only three months ago America published a survey by Michael Hirst of the dire problems facing Christians across the Middle East and South Asia (6/19). Last week’s news included two items that deepened my fears. The first, i
Where Have We Been?
When I left the World Trade Center in October 2001, after working there for several weeks alongside fellow Jesuits and other volunteers, I wondered what would become not only of the physical site but of the people we had met. One ironworker, who spent long days at Ground Zero cutting apart the steel
The Ethical Legacy of Dirty Harry
Pundits have been busy since mid-summer speculating about “where we are” five years after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. But analysis of whether we are safer now, or if we are winning the global war on terror must be balanced by some reflection on the ethical climate of the hal
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
On this fifth anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, I have many memories of Sept. 11, 2001. Images flicker in the back of my mind when I am on the way to the airport or gazing up at a skyscraper on a blue-sky day. I expect the news stations…
Letters
Letters
Agenda of Manipulation
FIRE, FIRE, HOUSE ON FIRE would have been a better title for your Current Comment Al Gore’s New Mission (7/17). You state that this documentary (I use the term loosely) An Inconvenient Truth, which deals with Gore’s version of global warming, is sobering stuff.
More sobering to me is your illustrious Jesuit magazine buying…
Editorials
Politics and Terror
As the nation prepares to observe the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, national security is poised to become once again the central issue in the electoral season. The question is hardly academic, given the revelation in August of a foiled terrorist plot to blow up Americ
Faith in Focus
Life After Death Is Not a Red Herring
Karen Armstrong, the author of The Great Transformation (2005), A Short History of Myth (2005) and Spiral Staircase (2004), The Battle for God (2000) and A History of God (1994), among other books, has referred to the issue of an afterlife as a red herringsomething that distracts attention from more
Books
War? Crime? Emergency?
In his new book Before the Next Attack Yale law professor Bruce Ackerman takes a complex constitutional proposal directly to the American public and he does a terrific job explaining the what and why of his proposals as well as the history of emergency power in the United States I am sure my le
En-Gulfed in Disaster
Years ago my husband and I spent a grim rainy day at the former Dachau Concentration Camp in southern Germany The museum rsquo s last exhibit in white letters against a black background was a single line from American philosopher George Santayana Those who forget the past are condemned to repea
Beyond the Self
I owe a great deal to Henri J M Nouwen His writing which I first discovered in the 1970 rsquo s helped clarify the spiritual life for me I continue to read and profit from his books and recommend them to others Oddly I felt a certain trepidation about this posthumous work on spiritual direct
Film
There Is No Plan: World Trade Center
One scene in Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center encapsulated the entire film for me. A distraught wife of a missing police officer runs out into the street in front of her home after waiting all day for some news of her husband. The September evening sparkles with lights glowing through the win
Poetry
Enclosures of Violence
The guard dog
The Word
Accepting Suffering
In approaching the mystery of suffering, the Christian Bible puts forward Jesus as an example of fidelity, a compassionate companion and a model of hope.
Columns
The Ethics of Risk
Three years ago, on a sunny September Tuesday at 9 in the morning, in Washington, D.C., our first child was born. We had not planned for a natural childbirth without medical attendance until the final moments, but that’s how it turned out, as the medical staff and anesthesiologist were diverte
Touching the Tears
Lisa and Louise had never met until the morning of July 7, 2005, when they found themselves sitting next to each other on the top deck of a No. 30 bus in London’s commuter traffic. They would probably never have spoken to each other even then, given that legendary British reserve, but events w
Current Comment
Current Comment
Defying the Rules of WarIn this issue, George A. Lopez argues that the war on terror has led us into a no man’s land of Dirty Harry ethics. The argument for a no-holds-barred approach to terrorism runs: We are in a dirty war, so we have to fight dirty. If they are nasty, we have…
Faith
Accepting Suffering
In approaching the mystery of suffering, the Christian Bible puts forward Jesus as an example of fidelity, a compassionate companion and a model of hope.
News
Signs of the Times
Catholic Common Ground Marks 10th AnniversaryListening has to be an essential ingredient in relationships within the church, just as it must be in all healthy relationships, said the keynote speaker at an event at Loyola University in Chicago on Aug. 11 marking the 10th anniversary of the Catholic C
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts