“It wasn’t supposed to be like this.” That’s how divorce starts for the Catholic couples I talked to: hard-core, confession-going, Humanae Vitae-believing Catholic couples. Couples who know exactly what marriage is supposed to be. One man I spoke with, now divorced, took Scott Hahn’s Christian marriage class with his theology-major fiancée. Another couple, now divorced, … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Todd M. Aglialoro says that golf isn’t just a game… it’s also a crash course in virtue. “Yes!” cried the young man fiercely, “Footling game! Blanked infernal fat-headed silly ass of a game! Nothing but a waste of time.” The Sage winced. “Don’t say that, my boy.”  P.G. Wodehouse … Read more
What do you get in this Crisis Magazine classic when you combine Peter Kreeft with a computer? A very entertaining meltdown. Â Â Make no mistake: I do not merely hate computers. I loathe, fear, despise, curse, and have constant torture and dismemberment fantasies about them. I know there are others out there like me, … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Todd Aglialoro explains the controversy without resorting to scientific jargon. This is the perfect introduction to the debate. Â Embryonic stem-cell research (ESCR) has taken a place next to abortion and same-sex marriage as a preeminent polarizing moral issue. Celebrities marshaled by the late Christopher Reeve agitated in favor of … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Mark P. Shea lays out the case against artificial contraception. It’s stronger than you might think.  If you had collared me before I was Catholic and asked my opinion of Rome’s teaching on artificial contraception, I would have said something like this:  I understand and applaud the Magisterium’s … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, George Sim Johnston makes the case that ancient Christianity was unmistakably Catholic.   In his famous review of Leopold von Ranke’s History of the Popes, Thomas Babington Macaulay, the great Victorian essayist, launches into a purple passage that Catholic students once knew by heart. It is one of the great … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Thomas E. Woods, Jr. cuts through secular nonsense about religion’s alleged threat to civilization and progress. Â Â It’s the same argument we’ve heard so many times before, except now with increasing frequency and intensity: The world’s troubles are caused by religion. If only people would at last abandon these … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Mary Jo Anderson looks at the qualities that make a great bishop… and points to those strengths in action. Â Â Notwithstanding the sex-abuse scandal that has buffeted the Catholic Church in the United States, Catholics genuinely admire bishops whose courage and dedication have made a difference in their dioceses. … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Mark P. Shea shows why honoring Mary is the most natural thing for a Christian to do.  It has to be one of the strangest things in the world: So many Christians who love Jesus with all their hearts recoil in fear at the mention of His mother’s name, … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Benjamin Wiker argues that not only does evil fail to disprove the existence of God, but without God, we would be unable to recognize evil. As an advocate of the Intelligent Design movement, I’m very often confronted with the following rather pointed criticism: “Well, if the world is designed, then … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Francis Maier reveals the way lawyers and anti-Catholic politicians are exploiting the sex abuse scandal to rob the Church. We got a new law passed in California that opens up the statute of limitations for all victims of sexual abuse. It’s something we’ve been trying to do in several states for … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Mark Shea lays out the case for the bodily resurrection of Jesus. You may be surprised how strong it is. “Jesus came to give us moral guidance, and to prove he meant business, he let himself be killed and seen after death, so we would listen and be good.” Not … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Rev. Michael Enright outlines the features of a truly Catholic church building… and no, churches-in-the-round don’t qualify. In about 10 A.D. the Roman writer Vitrivus wrote that there are three qualities for good building, “venustas, firmitas et utilitas” — delight, firmness, and utility. What happens when these criteria … Read more
In this much-debated Crisis Magazine classic, historian James Hitchcock explains why he doesn’t much care for Chesterton, Belloc or Lewis. At an ecumenical conference, a Greek Orthodox bishop went around the breakfast table asking half a dozen people their favorite work of C. S. Lewis. There was animated discussion until my turn came, … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Evelyn Birge Vitz says that denying theological gender differences actually undercuts male and female dignity. For Christianity, gender is both important and irrelevant. God creates, Christ redeems, and the Holy Spirit sanctifies men and women alike, along with Jews and Greeks, rich and poor, black and white. … Read more
Liberals believe that the American principle of religious liberty requires not only the separation of church and state, but also the separation of religion from politics. They argue that a prohibited “establishment of religion” exists whenever government promotes religion at all. Some conservatives agree that government should be neutral between religion and its opponents, but … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Peter Kreeft outlines a three step plan for winning the culture war, and it doesn’t require money, power, or the media. To win any war, the three most necessary things to know are (1) that you are at war, (2) who your enemy is, and (3) what weapons … Read more
“Cree-yate in meeeeee a cleeeen heart, Oh Gahhhhhd!” That’s the responsorial my parish sang every Sunday of Lent, until the events of Holy Week moved us to Passion. No “Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!” for us. Too drastic a proposition for our music minister, I guess. Whether it suited the … Read more
A witch helped me become a Christian. OK, the biographical blurbs on Tamora Pierce’s book jackets don’t actually call her a witch, but they do say that she’s taught witchcraft; close enough. Pierce is the author of several children’s fantasy series, of which the most famous is probably the Alanna series: Alanna: The First Adventure, … Read more
It’s 8 a.m. and the dingy apartment building is momentarily unguarded. A woman sweeping her doorway across the street cranes her neck to watch the American walking hurriedly toward the home of her infamous neighbor. I knock, keeping my back to the police camera hidden in the hallway. An elderly man — not the one … Read more