Amanda Shaw

As Ryan Anderson and Joseph Bottum discussed in the November issue (subscription required), embryonic stem cells have been flaunted, for the past decade, as the key to unlocking the miracle cure, the source of the fountain of youth. But with last year’s stem-cell breakthroughs, scientists (if . . . . Continue Reading »

City sidewalks, busy sidewalks, dressed in holiday style. It’s —and the purple candles intrude, to the somber tune of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” Not quite Christmastime in the city. Advent is about waiting, we are told. Waiting to bake gingerbread cookies and trim the tree . . . . Continue Reading »

Moral Issues and Political Choices: That is the title of a lecture Fr. Richard John Neuhaus gave at Roanoke College, shortly before the recent elections. Watch it online here . It takes a while to download, but, as you might imagine from your monthly doses of the Public Square, it is well worth . . . . Continue Reading »

“We made the decision together but I’ve never felt so alone.” That is just one testimony from a woman suffering post-abortive pains, on the new website www.AbortionChangesYou.com . The site is not designed to offer counseling, nor to compile pro-life or pro-choice arguments and . . . . Continue Reading »

Christmas with the Holy Fathers : It’s the title of a handsome little book just published by Paraclete Press. Edited by Peter Celano, it features a hundred pages of meditations for Advent, Christmas, the Solemnity of Mary, and the Epiphany, drawn from the writings of popes from Leo I through . . . . Continue Reading »

Don’t read this link . I say don’t read it. The culture of blogs and research databases has been promoted as a way of democratizing the business of ideas; everyone can have a voice, and the most minority of minority positions can gain leverage. As the Boston Globe writes, “For . . . . Continue Reading »

After reading our daily article by Fr. Neuhaus—a particularly pointed call to Christians “never [to] surrender to the cultural captivity that is the delusion of ‘Christ without culture’”—you might look at George Weigel’s reflection on ” The Two Americas . . . . Continue Reading »

He founded Family Theater Productions in Hollywood, which produced some 600 radio and T.V. shows, airing a total of 10,000 broadcasts. Such film elites as Loretta Young, Jimmy Stewart, Bing Crosby, and Lucille Ball appeared on his programs. The goal?—to promote prayer and fidelity. The . . . . Continue Reading »

California’s Proposition 8, which defines marriage as the union between one man and one woman, is under a barrage of protest and legal scrutiny. As I mentioned earlier this week, it will likely come before the state Supreme Court, who will rule on its constitutionality. But, you might object, . . . . Continue Reading »

I shouldn’t laugh, because these two prayer intentions are actually quite serious. But what an ironic combo. The following came to me via my daily dose of Vatican gossip: VATICAN CITY, 16 NOV 2008 - After praying the Angelus this morning, the Pope recalled the fact that 21 November, the . . . . Continue Reading »