Opinion
The Iowa Way
By Mark Silk — April 3, 2009
Today’s unanimous ruling in favor of same-sex marriage by the Iowa Supreme Court not only takes a two-by-four to the actual secular arguments advanced by appellant Polk County on behalf of the state statute limiting civil marriage to a union between a man and a woman. It also acknowledges the religious basis of opposition to […]
Marriage in Vermont, cont.
By Mark Silk — April 3, 2009
Last night, the Vermont House of Representatives passed its version of a bill permitting same-sex marriage by a vote of 95-52–a hefty margin but not hefty enough to withstand Gov. Jim Douglas’ promised veto. According to the Burlington Free Press, however, “some” of the 11 Democrats who voted against the bill have said they would […]
COMMENTARY: A surplus of disappointment
By Tracy Gordon — April 2, 2009
(UNDATED) Our daughter Molly is our horse girl; she’s been riding since she was 8 year old. Yesterday (she’s now 17) she came home quite discouraged from riding Cutter. He’s not making progress and she’s getting frustrated. For the first time in her life, she talked about giving up on riding. The timing could not […]
Palin’s Religious Ties
By Mark Silk — April 2, 2009
Over at Religion Dispatches, Bill Berkowitz has an interview with Talk To Action‘s Bruce Wilson, whose sleuthing into Sarah Palin’s religious associations helped make Pastor Muthee, well, if not a household name at least familiar to some of us. Actually, much of the interview is taken up with Wilson’s explanations for why the MSM didn’t […]
Left at the Altar
By Mark Silk — April 2, 2009
Dan Gilgoff has canonized the battle over commongroundism in a useful piece in U.S. News. On his account, it’s religious progressives v. religious lefties, with the latter (Schultz, Laarman & Co.) portrayed as ideological hardheads. I’m not sure I’d cast it quite the same way, however. Substantively, the commotion is mostly about abortion, with some […]
COMMENTARY: A small tale with a big message
By Cathleen Falsani — April 1, 2009
DURHAM, N.C. — Walking in the botanical gardens one recent, perfect early spring day, a quick burst of movement in the thicket of a yellow Carolina jasmine hedge caught my eye. It was a mouse. A Peromyscus leucopus to be precise — a white-footed mouse with big black eyes — staring back at me. Neither […]
Losing Catholics?
By Mark Silk — April 1, 2009
Maybe Gerson should have looked at that Gallup survey. It’s time to stop mistaking Catholic voters for Catholic prelates and assuming they are to be won or lost by a candidate’s position on abortion. According to the Pew survey Gerson cites, in mid-March the entire public approved of Obama’s job performance by a margin of […]
COMMENTARY: Something’s cooking in the kitchen
By Tom Ehrich — March 31, 2009
NEW YORK — Three years ago, when moving to Manhattan was still a dream, our oldest son led us to 84th and Amsterdam. “Best burgers in New York,” he promised. We found a tiny eatery called Harriet’s Kitchen: two tables, the owner at the counter, and a small kitchen tended by a solitary cook, plus […]
New from ARIS
By Mark Silk — March 31, 2009
There’s a new table up on the American Religious Identification Survey website showing changes in the proportion of Baptists, Methodists, and Lutherans in all states from 1990 to 2008. Although Baptists are down in 43 states, they’re up in the upper Mountain West (ID, WY, MT), Louisiana (Catholics in steep decline), Delaware (Methodists in free […]
VT House J.C. Hearts Gay Marriage
By Mark Silk — March 31, 2009
Today Vermont’s House Judiciary Committee voted 8-2 in favor of allowing same-sex marriage–with one additional supporter (a Republican) not voting. To get one GOP vote, an amendment was added strengthening protections for religious organizations that oppose gay marriage. I’d say passage with sufficient votes to override Gov. Jim Douglas’ promised veto is likely.
Bad News for Bishops
By Mark Silk — March 31, 2009
We’ve long known that Catholics have roughly the same views on social issues like abortion and homosexuality as the rest of the population. What is so striking about yesterday’s Gallup survey is the liberalism of observant Catholics–those who attend church regularly–compared to their non-Catholic counterparts. Indeed (look at the moral acceptability of homosexual relations), they’re […]
Fighting the Fighting Irish
By Mark Silk — March 30, 2009
In today’s WaPo, Ken Woodward makes the case for inviting President Obama to give the commencement address at his alma mater, Notre Dame. The president is the president, after all, and it’s a longstanding tradition for Notre Dame to invite presidents. Catholicism is no isolated sect that declines to engage the world. Offering the commencement […]
Commongroundniks
By Mark Silk — March 29, 2009
One hates to dump on people of good will, but it’s time to recognize that talking about common ground on abortion is creating more ill will than just going ahead and staking out some territory. A few days ago, progressive Catholics Simone Campbell and John Gehring contributed an op-ed piece to the Cleveland Plain Dealer […]
Burked Off
By Mark Silk — March 27, 2009
Last June, when Pope Benedict yanked Archbishop Raymond Burke out of St. Louis and put him in charge of the Vatican’s canon law office, there was some speculation that it was to make him a noncombatant in the wafer wars of the impending general election campaign. As the most consequential of the “no-communion-for-pro-choice-politicians” prelates, Burke […]
COMMENTARY: Let my people go
By Tracy Gordon — March 26, 2009
(UNDATED) My favorite holiday is the eight-day festival of Passover that begins this year on April 8 at sundown with one of the world’s oldest continuous religious rituals: the annual Seder meal. The celebratory Seder features holiday prayers and songs, the recounting the ancient Hebrews’ exodus from Egyptian servitude, and of course special foods like […]
