Politics

nanny state

May 21, 2012

We Hold These Truths

by Robert Yates

Whenever the topic of personal liberty is debated, it is unfortunate that the liberty to do evil is often what is at stake. On one side there are libertines, or those who are at best morally indifferent, arguing that morally…

May 14, 2012

Obama Devolves

by Robert R. Reilly

Both Vice-President Joseph Biden and President Barack Obama have said that their positions regarding same-sex marriage have evolved. When you are “evolving,” you should really watch your grammar. Otherwise, people might suspect you are devolving instead. Take for instance, the…

May 10, 2012

Is the Answer Really Blowing in the Wind? Obama’s Green Scandals

By now, almost everybody realizes that President Obama’s “stimulus” billions to so-called “green energy” projects were a textbook example of why crony capitalism and central planning don’t work. Over a dozen taxpayer-backed companies have already failed. Think Solyndra. And incredibly,…

May 8, 2012

The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith

by Rev. Michael P. Orsi

With Mitt Romney the presumptive Republican nominee for President it is important to know something about his religion. As a practicing Mormon─ or the Church’s preferred name, “Church of Latter Day Saints” (LDS), Romney’s faith has shaped who he is…

May 7, 2012

When Push Comes to Shove: Catholics in the USA

by James Stoner

This article appears courtesy of Law and Liberty Those who have learned about the Catholic position on church and state only from the study of European history or from Enlightenment commentaries upon it may surprised to read—and wary to accept—the…

May 7, 2012

The Kids are Alright

by Nicholas G. Hahn III

Rick Santorum was on to something when he infamously called President Obama a “snob” for wanting everyone to go to college. Of course, that was only the sound bite version of what he said. Santorum fleshed out his point like…

May 3, 2012

Evolution, Human Dignity, and Crafting Public Policy

by W. Ross Blackburn

“A man who has no assured and ever present belief in the existence of a personal God or of a future existence with retribution and reward, can have for his rule of life, as far as I can see, only…

May 2, 2012

Who’s Killing Grandma?

by Pete Jermann

Last summer Republican proposals to reform Medicare inspired the Democratic public relations machine to new heights of hyperbole, the most hyperbolic showing a look-alike of congressman Paul Ryan unceremoniously dumping grandma off a cliff. The clear implication is that the…

May 1, 2012

Time to Change Pro-Life Tactics?

by Dustin Siggins

Over the last forty years, the pro-life movement has had its ups and downs. Since the Supreme Court made abortion a so-called “right” in 1973, the number of legal abortions skyrocketed from around 700,000 at that time to 1.6 million in 1990. Recent statistics however show…

April 30, 2012

The Declaration of Religious Independence

by Charlie Spiering

If a decree like the HHS contraception mandate was issued during the Medieval era, Archbishop Dolan would probably have declared Secretary Kathleen Sebelius “anathema” and excommunicated her from the Church (see this famous scene from the movie Becket for an…

April 27, 2012

The Oppressed Lives of Stay-at-Home Moms

by Dale O'Leary

When Hilary Rosen said that Ann Romney had “actually never worked a day in her life,” she probably didn’t expect the reaction her comment would generate. Defenders of Ms. Rosen have tried to convince us that she misspoke or we…

April 24, 2012

Personally Opposed, But…Some Important Distinctions

by Howard Kainz

Recent decades are rife with “opposed, but…” statements from Catholic politicians who maintain that they do not wish to “force” their own personal opposition to abortion on their constituencies. Must they then stand aside, with their hands folded, while pro-abortion…

April 18, 2012

Politics, Virtue, and the Intellect: When Rulers Fail to Rule Themselves

by Rev. James V. Schall, S.J.

In contemporary political systems, every citizen can vote no matter what his level of intelligence or relation to virtue. Some of the worst political systems have high turnouts on elections days. The worst rulers also want to be popular.

April 17, 2012

Stopping the State: Why Conservatives and Libertarians Need Each Other

by Robert Yates

One of the consequences of the GOP primaries and particularly Ron Paul’s candidacy has been to reignite the debate between self-styled conservatives and libertarians. Recently the Witherspoon Institute’s “Public Discourse” forum invited a conservative to critique libertarianism (Nathan Schleuter) and…

April 16, 2012

Killing the Geniuses

by Kevin Roeten

Cafeteria Catholics currently believe a myriad of items. Many believe differently from what the Catechism, the Pope, the Bible, or any known Catholic authoritative source tells them. They believe in items that are convenient to believe in and yet are…

April 12, 2012

Time to Gauck Washington

by David W. Wise

Calling for the protection of the Constitution and the vision that guided the Founding Fathers is a common theme in speeches in this year’s presidential campaign. In practice, however, these campaigns have little resemblance to that original vision. The Framers…

April 11, 2012

Romney’s Good Enough

by Cord Hamrick

So it looks like it’s Romney. Now what? Now we do our best to help him defeat Obama, for various reasons. One oft-overlooked reason is that there’s a very good chance of the Republicans taking over the Senate, and that’s quite…

April 10, 2012

Our National Pride

by Fr. Rob Johansen

“I’m proud to be an American.” Those words are more than the refrain of a country-western song. This sentiment encompasses both reflection on our past and national aspiration. We look back on our history and see things we can be…

April 9, 2012

Juan Cole and Ivory Tower Anti-Catholicism

by Robert Spencer

Hand-in-hand with the Hollywood portrayals of Catholic priests and devout believers as evil, stupid, cruel, or unhinged is the academic Left’s long-established hostility to the Church. But the academic setting of its critiques doesn’t make them any less false and…

April 3, 2012

Because She’s a Kennedy

by Christian Tappe

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend—yes, one of the Kennedys—recently wrote an inspired piece of moral theology in The Atlantic. And we should all take note. Fresh off a rally with New Ways Ministry, the Maryland-based group of Catholics who promote a “gay…

April 2, 2012

Authority and Its Discontents

by Christopher Manion

The Church’s response to the ObamaCare Mandate calls to mind this journal’s original name, Catholicism in Crisis. Today the Church confronts a crisis – “an invasion of our religious freedom,” Donald Cardinal Wuerl calls it — and the outcome is…

← Previous Entries

© Copyright 1982-2012 Crisis Magazine. All rights reserved.
Website design by Perceptions Studio.

Loading