The Offering of Children to False Gods
Protecting the innocence of children is the most minimal function of a society that calls itself civilized.
Imagining More Than a Career
I’d like my children to identify vocations (and perhaps professions) that will provide for their needs and give them some degree of personal fulfillment. But I would never tell them that their careers are the most important thing.
Raising Children in an Anti-Child World
There is a growing childfree movement comprised of people who intentionally choose never to welcome children. Often people mistakenly see their own laziness and selfishness as very important aspects of their person that are worthy of protection and cultivation.Â
The Supreme Court’s Misuse of Children to Justify Same-Sex Marriage
Of all the misconceived nonsense in the recent Windsor v. United States ruling, perhaps the most egregious was Justice Anthony Kennedy’s insinuation that “the children made me do it.” Windsor declared the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional because it defined marriage as being between one man and one woman. Why was DOMA a problem for … Read more
On the Dangers of Reading the Bible as a Kid
Other than regular Sunday readings and occasional rumblings heard as an altar boy, I first began to read the Scriptures at age 12 in the spring of 1963. It was Lent. Our teacher, a formidable Dominican nun in full white regalia, laid it down as a project for 7th grade religion that all students should … Read more
Chastity and the Child
Jesus said, “Suffer the little children to come unto me…for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.” I’ve suggested in an earlier essay that chastity is but the giving of due reverence to the goodness and the holiness of sexual being, male and female. A land where chastity—not mere abstinence, and not prideful scorn of … Read more
Children of Same Sex Couples
Kids thrive in families with same-sex parents. This is beyond serious debate. The science says so. Get over it. Denying this self-evident truth has become tantamount to homophobia. In 2010 a Florida court, the Third District Court of Appeal, was certain enough to state complacently that: “based on the robust nature of the evidence available … Read more
The Unborn Child
The nine months of waiting for a baby can deepen a couple’s relationship and bring them closer to each other than any other time in their marriage. Especially for a young couple looking forward to their first child, there is a sense of excitement and the thrill of the unknown – a strange mixture of … Read more
Should the Government be Involved in Marriage?
Some libertarians, notably Ron Paul, say it should not. Another says that is foolish and irresponsible.
Hollywood’s Soda-Pop Statism
The Hollywood elite’s concern for the children stops at the water’s edge of physical fitness. They simply do not touch the subject of moral fitness. On The Huffington Post, former entertainment executive Laurie David offered this pre-holiday piece of encouragement: “Thanksgiving Conversation Starter: Is It Time to Ban Soda Ads on Prime Time Television?” … Read more
NFP: The Myth of the “Contraceptive Mentality”
A recent Sunday was designated by the bishops of the United States as “Respect Life Sunday.” As we pray and work for an end to abortion, it is well to remember that there is a profound connection between the prominent use of birth control in a nation and the legalization of abortion: As Pope Paul … Read more
Did Bishop Finn Deserve Indictment?
Two weeks have passed since the indictment of Kansas City’s Bishop Robert Finn. The bishop’s critics are demanding his resignation, while his defenders protest his innocence. Let’s step back a pace, and put the matter in perspective. The indictment of an American bishop is a big story—a huge story, an unprecedented story. Yet oddly enough, … Read more
A Girl’s Lament: Sex, Love, and America’s Teens
Forty years ago, the sexual revolution broke through the last barricades of Victorian propriety. A whole generation drifted toward moral anarchy in its fitful pursuit of sexual liberation. At the end of the day, the casualties of this revolution surround us—AIDS patients, aborted children, and single mothers. But only recently have the intellectual elite come … Read more
The Devotion of Aaron Neville
New Orleans. Wet bodies press close in the pit. Their faces red from the daylong parades, the tourists have come to usher in Mardi Gras with New Orleans musical royalty. Like the mosquitoes outside thirsting for a fresh taste of life, the drunk, the sober, and the merely tipsy crowd the House of Blues stage. … Read more
Mother of the Bride
My daughter first entered our parish church in my arms, to receive the sacrament of baptism. This August, again in a long white gown, she walked on the arm of her Dad to the sacrament of matrimony. There had been sacraments in between. As she came down the aisle a bride, I saw momentarily a … Read more
In the Dough
I was going through some old pictures on the computer the other day. Organizing family photos is a project I assign myself on occasion in order to avoid doing real work. Nothing makes sorting through decades’ worth of jumbled digital images seem like quite so enticing a task as having real work with a real … Read more
More of You
A mom recently emailed me a complaint. “You never share stories anymore! I always loved your stories.” It’s true that I regularly used to share stories from my real-life experience as a Catholic mom of many children. It turns out that misery really does love company, and the woes of nighttime teething and tantruming toddlers … Read more
The Family’s Not-So-Secret Strength
Coming in the wake of last month’s looting and burning riots in British cities, a UN report pinpointing materialism as a particularly British blight was bound to make the country sit up and take notice. The youths who rampaged through the streets of London and Birmingham seemed to both covet material goods and despise them … Read more
Loads to Do: True Tales from the Laundry Room
Of all the crosses that have come my way since joining the ranks of motherhood, one of the most maddening has got to be the fake laundry. For the blissfully uninitiated, I should explain: Fake laundry consists of perfectly clean clothing that somehow manages to tumble out of children’s closets or dresser drawers and onto … Read more