Columns
Priesthood as Prison
By Mark Silk — November 18, 2009
Gibson reports on latest from the clergy sex abuse study by the folks at John Jay, presented to the USCCB yesterday: “What we are suggesting is that the idea of sexual identity be separated from the problem of sexual abuse,” said Margaret Smith, a researcher from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New […]
Marriage-olatry
By Mark Silk — November 18, 2009
Before he became Pope Innocent III in 1198, Lotario dei Conti of Segni wrote De quadripartita specie nuptiarum, a treatise defining marriage as a four-part thing according to the four ways that Parisian scholastics of the day interpreted Scripture: historical, allegorical, tropological, and anagogical. According to Lotario, the “historical” was the carnal marriage of man […]
Wallisite Common Ground
By Mark Silk — November 17, 2009
Jim Wallis’ endless apologia pro Stupakia sua on Huffpost is an awe-inspiring exercise in injured innocence. According to him, the collapse of a compromise on abortion in the House health care bill was all the fault of the House leadership (which disrespected pro-life moderates) and pro-choice activists (who just couldn’t see past their zealotry). Were […]
No faith-based hiring with public funds
By Mark Silk — November 16, 2009
Pew has a new study out on faith-based social service provision, and the striking news is that, although Americans continue to support (by wide margins) allowing faith-based groups to apply for government funding, they remain very separationist in how they want those groups to behave. Thus, by a 68-27 margin they believe “religious charities” should […]
Stupak lite
By Mark Silk — November 16, 2009
Sean Michael Winters, fighting the good fight at the USCCB. Good luck with that, SMW. I’ll believe it when I see it.
Hasan and the FBI
By Mark Silk — November 16, 2009
If the extraordinary interview-by-proxy of radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi in today’s WaPo is to be believed, accused Ford Hood murderer Nidal Malik Hasan made contact with him last December, and emails between the two followed from there–including “two or three” responses from al-Aulaqi. The Yemeni journalist who conducted the interview–a man with close ties […]
How about “Going Religious”?
By Mark Silk — November 14, 2009
A week ago, over at the Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg chastised his fellow Atlantians for the sin of political correctness in not identifying alleged Fort Hood murderer Major Nidal Hasan as the Muslim jihadi Goldberg takes him to be. A double standard, he claimed, is at work here: “elite makers of opinion in this country try […]
Rodriguez hearts Hagee
By Mark Silk — November 13, 2009
Yesterday, JTA reported that Samuel Rodriguez’s National Hispanic Christian Leadership NHCL) Conference is joining forces with John Hagee’s Christians United for Israel to express their common love for, well, Israel. Over at Talk to Action, the ever-vigilant Bruce Wilson rings the theo-political changes on the alliance, but misses the key link–which Hagee himself provides in […]
Rhode Island Smackdown
By Mark Silk — November 13, 2009
In one of those classic New England Irish Catholic manos-a-mano, Providence Bishop Thomas J. Tobin and U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy have been going at each other, with the congressman (son of the late Sen. Ted) criticizing the bishop for opposing health care reform that doesn’t deny abortion coverage, and the bishop criticizing the congressman for […]
Common Good Catholics
By Mark Silk — November 12, 2009
By way of a footnote to the last post, consider the following items. First, there’s today’s column by E.J. Dionne, foremost example of a Common Good Catholic in the pundit biz. Dionne makes the case for embracing pro-life Dems, contends that the Stupak Amendment is no biggie, and challenges his bishops to step up to […]
Gibson’s take on Stupak
By Mark Silk — November 11, 2009
For a very different take from my own on this, see David Gibson’s piece over on Politics Daily. David thinks that the pro-life folks did compromise by not standing in the way of contraceptive coverage and sex educution–which strikes me as de minimis. The key question, though, is whether the idea of segregating the funds […]
The abortion barricades
By Mark Silk — November 11, 2009
It was clever of Bart Stupak and his friends to claim that they were merely applying the Hyde Amendment to the health reform bill, as if all they wanted was to maintain the status quo with respect to federal abortion restrictions. In fact, they went a good deal further. With respect to Medicaid, what Hyde […]
Better believe it, South Carolina
By Mark Silk — November 10, 2009
Federal district judge Cameron McGowan Currie has administered a two-by-four to South Carolina’s “I BELIEVE” state license plate law, declaring it to be just incredibly unconstitutional. The judge’s central point is that, unlike the state’s “In Reason We Trust” plate, which was created at the behest of the Secular Humanists of the Low Country, “I […]
Civil Religion at Fort Hood
By Mark Silk — November 10, 2009
From the president’s remarks: It may be hard to comprehend the twisted logic that led to this tragedy. But this much we do know – no faith justifies these murderous and craven acts; no just and loving God looks upon them with favor. And for what he has done, we know that the killer will […]
Who Nidal Malik Hasan is
By Mark Silk — November 10, 2009
Amazing stuff out today. NYT reports on his emails with a bona fide radical Muslim cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, born in New Mexico of Yemeni parents, now in England praising Hasan as “a hero.” And Wapo has scored a Powerpoint presentation that Hasan gave at Walter Reed two years ago, the final slide of which is […]