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Books
The First Anti-hero?
Peter Heinegg
The insufferable anonymous narrator of Notes From Underground 1864 is the first great example of Dostoyevsky rsquo s genius for creating paradoxical witnesses to Christianitytwisted truth-telling unbelievers like Svidrigaylov in Crime and Punishment Ippolit in The Idiot Shatov in The Possessed
FaithFaith in Focus
Into the High Country
Drew Christiansen
The days were lengthening. Daylight itself seemed brighter. The sap was rising in the trees, and with it I felt the wanderlust rising in me.
The Word
Decisions, Decisions
Dianne Bergant
When I was much younger I used to think that obedience was hard Now I realize that it may be unpleasant but I don rsquo t think it is really hard At least I knew then what was expected of me Knowing which decisions to make that is hard This is particularly true when there are so many options
News
Signs of the Times
From AP, CNS, RNS, Staff and other sources
Austrian Seminary Closed Where Porn Was FoundIn consultation with the Vatican and the local bishop, a Vatican-appointed investigator has announced the closing of the seminary in the Diocese of Sankt Pölten effective immediately.Bishop Klaus Küng of Feldkirch, Austria, whom Pope John Paul II appoin
Books
Whose Reform'?
Lawrence S. Cunningham
Invariably reviewers of writings by the Rev Andrew Greeley feel obliged to mention how much he writes which is a lot Few bother to note how certain basic themes run like threads through his work particularly when Greeley reflects on the mountain of data he has produced over a very long career a
The International AIDS Conference in Bangkok: Two Views
Jon D. FullerJames F. Keenan

I. A Scientific Perspective

Letters
Letters
Our readers

Political Choice

Your editorial The Political Season (8/2) distresses me. It is not so much a call for debate on the Iraq war as an opinion that the war was wrong and that the weight of evidence proves this. I must admit that I do not have an informed opinion on this. But I trusted Bush and his advisers, although I can admit that they may have been wrong. I do not believe all the facts are in yet, so I do not have as strong an opinion as you do.

In any case, assuming Bush was wrong on this most important of issues, one would conclude that he should be turned out. To turn him out, a vote must be cast for Kerry. For Catholics, is this wise? Not only Kerry but the entire Democratic party seems encamped on the side of the culture of death, as Catholics define the issues.

So we are left in a quandary. Vote for Bush or vote for Kerry. Which is worse?

Howard J. White

The Word
We Don't Get What We Deserve
Dianne Bergatn
At first glance ancient Israel rsquo s insistence on being the chosen people of God may appear to be somewhat arrogant A closer look however reveals that again and again the people admitted that they did not merit this distinction Far from it They were not slow to own up to their own inconstan
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
Patricia A. Kossmann
A hundred years ago, on the afternoon of Thursday, October 27, 1904, New Yorkers walked into various entrance kiosks of the city’s new Interborough Rapid Transit Company, headed down a flight or two of stairs, and took their very first rides under the sidewalks of New York, the transportation
Arms of the Law
John F. Kavanaugh
For most of us, the legal system seems something far away. We know of lawyers and lawsuits, crime and punishment. The law keeps things going smoothly, maintains order and apparently insures that justice is served. At least apparently. I’ve had the usual contact: parking tickets, traffic violat
Books
Irresponsible Hyperpower
William J. Byron
This book takes its title from an observation made by Thomas Jefferson in 1816 ldquo Old Europe will have to lean on our shoulders and to hobble along by our side under the monkish trammels of priests and kings as she can What a colossus shall we be rdquo Niall Ferguson professor of financia
Catholic Politicians and Abortion Funding
Germain Grisez
Members of the United States Congress never are in a position to support the legalization of abortion, because in 1973 the U.S. Supreme Court legalized it by raw judicial power. The Supreme Court’s imposition does not, however, require those measures conducive to abortion that many members of
Editorials
Refugees: Darfur and Beyond
The Editors
The disaster unfolding in the Darfur region of Sudan shines a spotlight once again on the plight of refugees and internally displaced persons. The Sudanese government has stood by as Arab Janjaweed militias engaged in the systematic destruction of Darfurian villages and water sources. Thirty thousan
FaithOpinion
My Conscience, My Vote
David R. Obey
I was raised a Catholic. I know in my bones that I would not hold the views I hold today if it were not for the values I learned in Catholic school. I am, I think it is fair to say, a Midwestern, populist progressive in the tradition of Robert LaFollette, George Norris and Theodore Roosevelt. Their
Poetry
Resistance Fantasies
Diane Thiel
We like to think we would have been
Books
Amorous Concerns
James S. Torrens, S.J.
With these two books of translated sonnets one under its own label and one through a subsidiary Farrar Straus and Giroux tightens its claim to a place on the top rung of literary publishers The sonnet is about as much in vogue these days as the gavotte but we have to admire the great practition
FaithFaith in Focus
Lourdes Diary: Seven days at Massabieille: Part Two
James Martin, S.J.
‘Even before dawn, there is a Mass being celebrated, and pilgrims are already here, kneeling before the space, running their hands over the rock, praying the Rosary and hoping for healing, as they have been doing since 1858.’
News
Signs of the Times
From AP, CNS, RNS, Staff and other sources
Battle of Sexes Not Part of God’s DesignThe battle of the sexes and, particularly, the subjugation of women are the result of original sin and not of God’s original design for creation, said a document released by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Attempts to advance the ca
Diet for a Small Planet? Fat Chance
Stephen F. Gambescia
As I was hurrying through a popular bookstore during the winter holiday rush, my attention was caught by the cover of a prominently displayed book, Hope’s Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet. The work is a sequel to Frances Moore Lappe’s appeal to Americans in the early 1970’s t
Letters
Letters
Our readers

Stark Reality

Thank you for printing the picture with the caption Mother feeds malnourished child in Signs of the Times on July 5. I simply stopped and stared, disturbed and saddened. Having breast-fed all three of my children, I want to cry with and for the mother in the picture, knowing she is not providing the milk that every ounce of her mind, body and soul wants to produce for her child. I was disappointed in myself for daily agonizing over what food to make for dinner, rather than simply being grateful that I even have food available. As disturbing as the picture is, I’ll put it on our fridge, next to our kids’ artwork, made in their secure little world. It will call me to gratefulness and humility.

Thanks, America, for showing and reminding me of the stark reality hungry breast-feeding mothers and their children face daily.

Amy Giorgio