A Moral Vote?
Four months ago I wrote in this column that I needed some reasons to vote for one of the two big shots in this election. I had voted for a menagerie of candidates in the past 20 years, none of whom won, Ralph Nader being the last. Sensing my implicit request, many readers of America…
Observations on Abortion and Politics
For the last generation, no issue has generated more sustained controversy, and none has produced more anguished appeals to conscience than has abortion. In churches, courts and political conventions, as well as in families, professional associations and universities, it is a reliable “sign of
A Catholic Family Story
Excommunication is much in the news these days. A few American bishops have declared that any politician who supports the so-called “right” to legalized abortion may not take Communion in their particular dioceses. Such a ban from Communion is the visible part of what excommunication mea
Transhumanism
If science and technology are left totally free, mankind can achieve an enhanced, transhuman future, rid of all pain and even free of death except by choice. At least that was the view of some 150 scientists, philosophers and engineers at the recent TransVision 2004 conference at the University of T
Letters
Letters
Lincoln’s Virtues
One of the most enlightening and inspiring books I have read recently is William Lee Miller’s Lincoln’s Virtues: An Ethical Biography (Vintage, 2002). It is scholarly but very readable and of great relevance to the current political scene, especially for citizens who are deeply committed to moving their moral values into public policy and…
Editorials
Exit From Hell
How long, O Lord, how long? As blood continues to flow, this prayer must be daily on the lips of both Israelis and Palestinians. After two weeks of the latest Israeli military invasion of northern Gaza, more than 90 Palestinians lay dead, hundreds maimed or wounded, most of them civilians. Every day
Faith in Focus
Taste of Faith
Raised Catholic, I went to church on Sundays and served as an altar boy. I was spiritual, but I sought an intensity of experience I did not find in the Catholic tradition. Communion was my main problem. If this wafer truly were the body and blood of God’s Son (so I reasoned), I would receive…
Books
Brutal Realist
In 1999 the Modern Library joined the frenzy for Best of lists naming the top 100 English-language novels of the 20th century James T Farrell came in at number 29 with his Studs Lonigan trilogy Young Lonigan The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan and Judgment Day Amid the subsequent sound and fur
Mass Killer
The influenza pandemic that erupted in 1918 was unlike any other disaster in history Estimates set the number as high as 100 million deaths around the world as influenza killed more people in a single year than the Black Death did over a century in the Middle Ages Granted the plague of the 1300
Throw Away the Key?
For those interested in the world of incarceration in the United States Criminal Justice Retribution vs Restoration serves as an excellent overview Punishment now predominates and we are reaping the whirlwind in the form of the highest incarceration rate in the world Over two million human bei
The Word
Make Yourself at Home
Genuine hospitality is a social art It might also be characterized as an intricate dance Both partners have to know the steps but they also have to be able to feel the rhythm of the other They have to know when to move forward and how far they have to know when to step back…
I Long to Be in That Number
Too often saints are depicted as people who are so extraordinary that we could never identify with them Their commitment to God and virtue is unwavering their trust in divine providence unshakable and their unselfish service of others puts everything that we do to shame Such a depiction is unfor
News
Signs of the Times
Pope Asks for Greater Unity in U.S. ConferencePope John Paul II asked U.S. bishops to engage in frank dialogue and informed discussion to build greater unity and consensus within the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. In a message to New York bishops, the pope praised the bishops’ conference
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