John DiIulio jr s excellent and quite laudatory review of Robert Putnam and David Campbell s recent book American Grace How Religion Divides and Unites Us which appeared in the Nov 22nd issue of America summed up his judgment American Grace is an instant classic as academically authoritativ
John A. Coleman
John A. Coleman S.J., is an associate pastor at St. Ignatius Church in San Francisco. For many years he was the Casassa Professor of Social Values at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. His books and other writing have focused largely on areas connected to sociology of religion and also to social ethics. His most recent work has concentrated on issues of globalization.
Posted inIn All Things
A Listening, Learning Church
I attended in mid-October in Rome at the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace a quite spirited three-day symposium on the topic of Caritas ihn Veritate and the American Church and Society Besides the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace the meeting was co-sponsored by the Institute for
Posted inIn All Things
9 Circles
Jesuit playwright Bill Cain S J has penned a new and searingly powerful play Just a year after his earlier successful play about the gun powder plot Equivocation see my review Cain portrays in his new play 9 Circles a character Daniel Reeves as a disturbed 19-year old snarled in the web o
Posted inFrom Our Archives
The Call of the Catholic Citizen: Theologians and other scholars respond to Cathleen Kaveny
In her article “Catholics as Citizens” (11/1), M. Cathleen Kaveny calls for new moral thinking to address the complex ethical dilemmas facing Catholics today. Kaveny argues that the moral theological category of “cooperation with evil” is insufficient to address questions such as whether Catholics can vote for a pro-choice politician or shop in a big-box store if some of the products are made in sweatshops. In such an environment it is necessary to “develop new ways of analyzing the involvement of individuals in systemic structures of complicity.” America asked Lisa Sowle Cahill, John A. Coleman, S.J., and Lisa Fullam to address these and other issues raised by Professor Kaveny’s article.
The Power of One
“Theoretical principles and ideal or absolute values are not enough to set the moral rules.”
Posted inTelevision
Faith of a Nation: PBS looks at ‘God in America’
While much of importance is included in PBS’ ‘God in America,’ much is left out.
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How High the Seas?
Living as I do in San Francisco along the coast I remain deeply curious how high the sea rise is likely to be between now and 2100 I have a cousin who recently bought a house in our Marina district I kid that he may have to move to higher ground before too many years pass Reading a new book by
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Galleons and Globalization
This year world-wide celebrations commemorate the 400th anniversary of the death of Matteo Ricci the remarkable Italian Jesuit pioneer of cross-cultural understanding who opened China to the west and vice versa Ricci and the early Jesuit missionaries fostered a notion of salvific globalization
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The World’s Oldest Oppression
The trafficking of women and children for purposes of sex has grown exponentially to become a major criminal activity mdash generating funds of around 12 billion a year just behind the criminal funds generated by illegal drug and arms sales The United Nations Protocol to Prevent Suppress and Pun
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An Almost Perfect Film
It is quite rare that a film haunts me for several days after seeing it making me imagine again its mesmerizing scenery and characters and wonder at its elegant if fierce intensity yet gentle and decent humanity Watching Winter rsquo s Bone which won the Grand Jury Prize at this year rsquo s S
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Merchants of Doubt
Pundits have mused that Al Gore needs to produce an imperative sequel to his documentary An Inconvenient Truth In this second version he would explain why mdash given the great even overwhelming convergence among scientists on the primarily human caused global warming–so few people seem to r