On December 4, Seamus Hasson, president of the Becket Fund, will argue on behalf of public school students who want to keep “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. Two years ago, the politically liberal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (San Francisco) struck down the recitation of the Pledge because it contains “under God.” Judge … Read more
Henry Hyde, former longtime Illinois Representative and stalwart defender of life, passed away early this morning. Hyde, 83, had recently brought a long political career to an end, retiring at the conclusion of the last session. In that time, he earned a reputation as the most committed and uncompromising opponent of abortion in national office. … Read more
Since 2002, Msgr. Alan Placa has worked for Rudy Giuliani as a consultant at Giuliani Partners. In 2003 a grand jury report of Suffolk County, NY, accused Placa of sexually abusing multiple victims. A spokeswoman for Giuliani Partners told Salon Magazine that the former New York City mayor believes Placa was “unjustly accused.” The grand … Read more
The three bishops of Maryland have just released a statement on immigration, saying the right of a nation to control its borders is secondary to an immigrant’s basic needs. These three bishops — Archbishop O’Brien, Archbishop Wuerl, and Bishop Saltarelli — reiterate the policy espoused by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in their … Read more
The Archdiocese of Boston has produced some of the most influential pro-abortion politicians in history — among them, the late Rev. Robert Drinan, S. J. (D-MA), formerly a four-term Congressman, and Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA). Yesterday, Boston’s Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley said that support of pro-abortion candidates from Catholic voters “borders on scandal as far … Read more
Amy Sullivan, the “nation editor” for Time magazine, describes Hillary Clinton as a “moral conservative” on “value issues.” This remarkable feat of partisan editorializing was seen November 8th on MSNBC. The interviewer, Tucker Carlson, responded with disbelief. Carlson asked Sullivan, “Has she [Clinton] ever suggested placing any restriction of any kind on abortion, limiting for … Read more
On Tuesday, a group of Catholics in Washington, D.C. issued a statement calling for a greater “spirit of civility” as Americans approach the 2008 presidential elections. When I saw the title of the statement — “A Catholic Call to Civility in Public Debate” — I thought, what a great idea! Then I read it, and … Read more
A little-noticed Fox News Channel poll released last week revealed that nearly half of voters — 45 percent — need to know a candidate’s position on abortion before deciding their vote. The spin put on the poll numbers by the article was that the abortion issue “doesn’t seem to draw as much attention as many … Read more
How did the Democratic Party lose the support of the working-class and Catholic voters who were once its stronghold? In his book Why the Democrats Are Blue: How Secular Liberals Hijacked the People’s Party, Mark Stricherz argues that the change from the “people’s party” to a party of secular-elite values can be traced to a … Read more
When Mike Huckabee was a young man, he was guided by three principles: Abortion is murder; save sex for marriage; and recognize our duty to help the weak and the poor. Now as a Republican candidate for president, Huckabee says that, if elected, he would govern the nation by the same values. It’s natural and … Read more
St. Paul tells us that it was Jesus who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, pastors, and teachers. So far as I can tell, however, there is no office in the Church of “Professional Bomb Thrower.” That’s just one of the reasons I don’t turn to Ann Coulter … Read more
“If Giuliani and Clinton are the nominees, then Hillary Clinton will certainly win the Catholic vote in 2008.” This is the opinion of a chief strategist behind George W. Bush’s success with Catholic voters in 2000 and 2004. Steve Wagner, president of QEV Analytics in Washington, D.C., isn’t happy in reaching this conclusion. “Hillary Clinton, … Read more
Back in the day, before the Republicans had made complete clowns of themselves, Rush Limbaugh was fond of observing that the Democrats had so prostituted FDR’s legacy that now their message was, “The only thing we have to offer is . . . fear itself!” That used to be funny. But now Rudy Giuliani has … Read more
Mitt Romney is seizing the opportunity created by Dr. James Dobson’s threat of a third party candidacy. The Massachusetts pol is positioning himself as the GOP candidate of choice for religious conservatives. How? In a Boston Globe story from October 5, Eric Fehrnstrom, a spokesman for the Romney campaign, said, “Dr. Dobson is keeping an … Read more
It is an old truism that there is Tradition and there are traditions. Catholic apologist types typically illustrate this by showing clear examples of Big-T Tradition (the Creed, or the canon of Scripture) vs. small-t traditions such as, say, birthday cakes, Thanksgiving turkeys, or Super Bowl beer. All of these are human traditions, and none … Read more
Dr. James Dobson is the founder of the largest, most influential, Evangelical organization in America, Focus on the Family. His radio show reaches two million listeners every day, and he’s easily the most important Evangelical leader in the country. As a result, Dobson’s political pronouncements carry a lot of weight among Christian voters. But these … Read more
As a practical matter, the argument that a pro-choice president will end abortion is far-fetched. Never in American history has a laissez-faire chief executive ended a great moral evil. Take slavery and de jure racial discrimination. Pro-slavery presidents did not end slavery; it was brought to its conclusion by Abraham Lincoln, who in his 1860 … Read more
There is a train of thought that careens down the tracks of a shaky syllogism, and it picks up speed every four years in the United States. Like the Little Engine that Could, it chugs along and says, “I am pro-life and were I president, I would end abortion. Therefore if I vote for a … Read more
This year marks the 60th anniversary of one of the most unfortunate and controversial Supreme Court decisions, Everson v. Board of Education. While the case had a good result, in that the Court ruled that Catholic parents could be reimbursed for their children using public buses to get to parochial school, the case has a … Read more
Last Thursday, 16 of the 25 Catholics in the U. S. Senate voted to overturn the “Mexico City Policy” to allow funding to overseas health clinics providing abortions. One of the 16 was freshman Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-PA) who ran against, and defeated, Sen. Rick Santorum as a “pro-life” candidate. It’s doubtful whether Casey, … Read more