July 25th, 2020
Women’s Rights Are Human Rights. Black Lives Matter. Believe Science. No Justice, No Peace. God Bless America. No more war, war never again. Symbols, too: the Rainbow, the Shamrock. Questions: Is it good for the Jews? Answers: This is what democracy looks like. I am thinking about gut reactions, that instinctive response based on deep…
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July 18th, 2020
Last week, I told Kate McElwee that I had more to say about working for the church, and I do. But first, I will draw your attention to other writers who address the issue. Jamie Manson is always pastoral. In her comments on the Supreme Court’s “ministerial exception” decision, she highlights the effects of allowing…
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July 11th, 2020
These words in Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dissent on Wednesday to the Supreme Court’s decision regarding birth control should be engraved on all our hearts. When debating deep moral and religious issues, we must understand ambiguity, which the majority decision does not do. The rights of these employers have suddenly become paramount; the rights of…
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July 4th, 2020
“All men are created equal.” Is there one among us who has not wished that this had been stated in another, more inclusive way? That the whole American project could have been based on a different premise? While we celebrate the progress we have made, we are conscious of how much more we want to…
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June 27th, 2020
Will the powers that be pay attention to Daniel Horan’s column this week in NCR? The sentences that make me most want to cheer are these: “it is demonstrably clear that those who invoke ‘gender ideology’ generally don’t know what they are talking about. Such folks would do well to listen to leading scholars on the subjects…
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June 20th, 2020
The Supreme Court decision affirming that sex discrimination includes discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation isn’t getting the notice it deserves. Think of this like the Brown vs. Board of Education decision in that it defines another fundamental right, one that many LGBTQ persons have been denied, often in Catholic institutions. However, the…
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June 13th, 2020
“A worthless statement” is how Franciscan theologian Daniel Horan characterizes the 2018 Bishops’ pastoral “against racism.” Immediately, a pang of guilt; in this blog I said it was “pretty good.” I also called on the bishops to defend it in the public sphere as vigorously as they defended some other pro-life issues, and on parishes…
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June 6th, 2020
Did you think about “chauvinism” when hearing about the murder of George Floyd by Derek Chauvin? One definition is “an irrational belief in the superiority or dominance of one’s own group or people.” We used that word for decades about men. Now we think of two men – one charged with murder, one who dishonored…
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May 30th, 2020
Step by step the longest march can be won, can be won Many stones can form an arch, singly none, singly none And by union what we will can be accomplished still Drops of water turn a mill, singly none singly none https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnRlNfpCt8o This labor song by Waldemar Hille and Pete Seeger uses lyrics from…
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May 23rd, 2020
Having just called my 95 year-old cousin with COVID-19 in a rehab facility in New Jersey, I am especially appalled by this comment from Cardinal Timothy Dolan to President Donald Trump, described in Crux: The New York cardinal said he was “honored to be the lead-off batter, and the feelings are mutual sir,” noting that…
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