Anna Sutherland

The principle of double effect affects Catholic (and arguably Protestant) moral teaching on subjects from war to abortion, meaning it’s highly relevant to our debates over the use of drone strikes and the tragic death of  Savita Halappanavar . In a nutshell, the principle is . . . . Continue Reading »

After a tiresome election season and an even longer season of slacking off spiritually, I thirst for Advent as ardently as the nation’s retail sector thirsted for the recent anti-holiday known as Black Friday. In addition to breaking out my favorite Advent music (like the beautiful new . . . . Continue Reading »

In the video above, Luke Smith and his colleagues at the U.K.-based Christian group Fusion reenact the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke, with lovely results. It’s a project particularly apt in light of our recent celebration of Thanksgiving here in the U.S. and our discussions . . . . Continue Reading »

The Chronicle of Higher Education last week published a rather odd article on the evolution of eugenics excerpted from Nathaniel Comfort’s new book The Science of Human Perfection: How Genes Became the Heart of American Medicine . It’s odd because, though it acknowledges the evils that . . . . Continue Reading »

. . . Well, not a bar: They actually walked into the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia for a discussion hosted by the Princeton Center of Theological Inquiry and broadcast on the radio show “On Being.” The novelist was Marilynne Robinson ( Gilead , Housekeeping , Home ); . . . . Continue Reading »

Though the  dropping crime rate in the U.S. over the last few decades has been something of a mystery to experts, most agree that key factors are tougher laws and harsher criminal sentences. As a result of such measures we now have the world’s highest incarceration rate , with a . . . . Continue Reading »

On his Discover magazine blog, Carl Zimmer defends the infamously tedious thirty-second chapter of Moby-Dick . That’s the chapter entitled “Cetology” in which Ishmael endeavors to define and classify the various types of whales. Or as he more grandiloquently describes his project: . . . . Continue Reading »

Cardinal Timothy Dolan opened his address to the USCCB yesterday with an observation relevant not only to his fellow bishops but also, in my view, to all Christians who are active in politics. He stated: It is very clear that we’ve got a lot on our plate as we commence our meeting this . . . . Continue Reading »

In a brief essay on Front Porch Republic, Mark T. Mitchell suggests that we “rethink the meaning of cultural engagement,” as “‘engaging’ culture in the idiom of warfare has not produced much in the way of results.” The post, originally from September, seems . . . . Continue Reading »

The USCCB today released a letter of congratulations to the newly re-elected president of the United States, as is their tradition on the day following presidential elections. New York’s Timothy Cardinal Dolan Dolan wrote on behalf of all the bishops : Dear President Obama, In my capacity as . . . . Continue Reading »