The New Homophiles were largely silent post-Obergefell and the few published responses were disappointing for anyone who believes the same-sex “marriage” decision was anything more than ho-hum. The New Homophiles are a school of writers who identify as same-sex attracted but still remain faithful to Church teaching on sexual ethics and are otherwise known as … Read more
In a prior essay in Crisis I offered an explanation concerning how the exchange of conjugal rights, understood in natural, canon, and civil law traditions as mutual moral rights for actions naturally ordered to the procreation of children, can be recognized as a necessary condition for a valid marriage. Hence, if a person is certainly … Read more
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on gay “marriage,” the culture of atomic eros, claims to reign triumphant and looks forward to forming our culture in the decades ahead. But, all persons of good will have a moral obligation to resist its march, and so I want to remind us of four … Read more
The cultural left is intoxicated with the heady fumes of the June 26 Obergefell decision. There are veritable war whoops coming out of the secular newspapers, and the pundits are huffily declaring that the debate is over and that their side has won. George Takei has even seen fit to call Justice Clarence Thomas a … Read more
Same-sex “marriage” advocates will heartily celebrate July 4 this year, thrilled with the possibilities in the New America they’re creating in their own image. They will be especially grateful to Anthony Kennedy and the four liberal justices who gave them gay “marriage” by assuming unto themselves what Thomas Jefferson two-and-a-half centuries ago called “the Laws … Read more
“At the heart of liberty,” wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy, poetaster supreme, versifying for the majority in Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), is “the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.” That included the mysterious business of taking other lives, inconvenient lives brought … Read more
We have seen all this before. The Supreme Court takes on an important and controversial case. One side aims clearly at an end-result based on personal and ideological predilections. It knows that it has the votes to win a majority of the court and to impose its decision on the nation. Yet, it is not … Read more
The U.S. Supreme Court has just engaged in its latest unconstitutional exercise of raw judicial power and surely its most extravagant attempt to forcibly remake American culture since the 1973 Roe v. Wade/Doe v. Bolton abortion cases. The Obergefell v. Hodges decision on same-sex “marriage” was based on the notion of “substantive due process”—which essentially … Read more
The long-awaited US Supreme Court ruling on the definition of marriage is as bad as we had feared. The Obergefell ruling will have harmful long-term effects on the family, the church, self-government and society. Each one of the four dissenters wrote his own opinion, to distance himself from a decision that will surely rank as … Read more
The only thing surprising about the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5–4 decision requiring all 50 states and the District of Columbia to perform gay “marriages,” and to recognize such unions contracted in other states, is that it took so long. The writing was on the wall 11 years ago, when the Republicans controlled both houses of … Read more
A colleague of mine at Breitbart News said recently in response to some social conservative tactic that disappointed him, “This is why you [social conservatives] are losing.” He really believes that. He believes we are losing. Like many conservatives, my colleague cares about the social conservative issues, but cares more deeply about the other two … Read more
Many Catholics, especially conservative ones, obviously aren’t thrilled with the pope’s new encyclical. I find myself once again spending a lot of time explaining to non-Catholics why the current pope is either not a Marxist or is being yet again misunderstood for the 999th time. Frankly, I’ve lost most of my credibility with these folks, who … Read more
Often in discussions on whether the term “marriage” should be reserved for relationships between persons of opposite sex, advocates for same-sex “marriage” claim that there is no distinguishing characteristic in male/female commitments that would make only those commitments truly marital. The obvious response that children come only from opposite sex relationships is quickly dismissed since … Read more
Pope Francis continues to elicit much strong reaction among orthodox Catholics and liberal Catholics, Protestants and Jews, agnostics and atheists, progressives and conservatives, collectivists and free marketers, tree huggers and polluters, cats and dogs, fish and birds, and everything in between. But one thing is increasingly certain: When it comes to the Church’s position on … Read more
The Conservative Media brilliantly covered my presentation of the inaugural event of the Anscombe Society at the University of California Santa Barbara. The College Fix broke the story, with an on-the-ground reporter posting within hours of the event, including a video of obnoxious protesters. We got coverage on The Blaze, on the Truth Revolt, and … Read more
The social science world is reeling as it becomes clear that one of their newest rising stars, Michael LaCour, is a fraud. As a graduate student at UCLA, LaCour co-published an electrifying paper claiming to show that, contrary to conventional wisdom, people’s long-established views can be changed quite easily through a brief encounter with a … Read more
Canada legalized same-sex “marriage” in 2005, the fourth country in the world to do so. During the rushed public debate that preceded legalization, the Christian and traditional understanding of marriage as the union of a man and a woman had strong support. Polls showed a deep split among Canadians, and the majority (52 percent) were … Read more
Do you remember the joke about the Irish brewery worker who drowned in a vat of suds? “Poor Sean,” the new widow said upon learning her husband’s fate, “He didn’t stand a chance.” “Oh, I wouldn’t say that, Mrs. Reilly,” replies the foreman. “He did crawl out three times to use the bathroom.” The Republic of Ireland … Read more
If marriage were simply a form of sexual-romantic companionship or domestic partnership, then the equal protection clause of the Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment would require the Supreme Court to strike down state laws limiting marriage licenses to male-female partners. There would be no principled basis for distinguishing opposite- from same-sex relationships—or, for that matter, from multiple-party … Read more
Lester Feder is a reporter for left-wing BuzzFeed. A pretty fair reporter, Feder is nonetheless a partisan for LGBT causes; still he gives our side a fair and accurate shake. He called me recently wanting to know about American influences in the current Irish debate over faux vs. true marriage. His narrative is that Americans … Read more