Articles on Culture and Politics
“A good Catholic meddles in politics, offering the best of himself, so that those who govern can govern. But what is the best that we can offer to those who govern? Prayer!” Pope Francis
Is Mercy Always Mushy?
When I was a boy and all us kids were watching TV, we could tell when a love scene was about to start. The couple drew closer, the violins started to play and when [...]
The Tyranny of Tenderness
Walker Percy and Flannery O’Connor agreed that “tenderness leads to the gas chambers”, and what they were trying to get through our thick heads is that tenderness without truth is tyranny. As Rodney Stark [...]
Contraception and Gender Confusion
On the contemporary scene there are few subjects more apt to confuse than gender confusion. The subject itself is confusing because, by its very nature it is literally amorphous—shifting and impossible to define. Various [...]
‘Nones’ or Nuns?
They’re called ‘nones’ by the pollsters. This is the name for Americans who do not affiliate themselves with any particular denomination--and the number of ‘nones’ is growing. A poll conducted by the Pew Forum [...]
Was Thatcherism Catholic?
Afflicted with a severe case of undergraduate Anglophilia, I went to study at Oxford the year Margaret Thatcher was elected Prime Minister. I continued to live in England for the next twenty five years. [...]
The American Alpha Achievement Culture
When I was chaplain of the local Catholic high school I happened to be walking down the corridor and saw a sign pasted on one of the boys’ lockers which said, “Crunch Them. Crush [...]