Matthew Cantirino

In Defense of Obscure Words Will Self,  BBC Increasing the Value of a Liberal Education William G. Bowen,  The Atlantic What Distinguishes ‘Evangelical’ from ‘Fundamentalist’? Roger E. Olson,  Patheos The Persistence of Superstition in an Irreligious Culture . . . . Continue Reading »

It’s verging on gratuitous indulgence at this point, but here goes. The New York Times  yesterday distinguished itself with not one, but two, op-eds on the Vatican-LCWR issue, penned by Maureen Dowd and Nicholas Kristof. Rod Dreher engages in some level-headed deconstruction on his blog: . . . . Continue Reading »

Lori G. Beaman has posted an interesting short essay over at the Immanent Frame in which she explores possibilities for moving “beyond separation” as a dogma for church-state relations.  Writing in light of James Beckford’s claims in The Return of Religion , Beaman ponders . . . . Continue Reading »

How to Think About Inequality Peter Wehner and Robert P. Beschel, National Affairs With Prison Ministry, Colson Linked Religion and Reform Mark Oppenheimer, New York Times The Vatican’s Corrective Elizabeth Scalia, Wall Street Journal The Effects of Anti-Humanism Michelle Bauman, Catholic . . . . Continue Reading »

Over at Mirror of Justice , Fr. Robert John Araujo, SJ continues to develop his thoughts on John Courtney Murray’s relevance to today’s political scene: The fact that the Church and State are different and distinct does not necessarily imply that they cannot have a relationship. . . . . Continue Reading »

On Christian Rock & Nietzsche’s Error Anthony DiStefano,  Catholic Phoenix Why Universities Can’t Grant Religious Liberty David French,  Minding the Campus Priests in Ireland Vow to Defend Seal of Confession Michael Brennan,  The Independent Contraception and Signs of . . . . Continue Reading »

Exhibit A for Explaining the LCWR Report Thomas L. McDonald,  God and the Machine Marco Rubio: Neocon? James Kitfield,  National Journal Prosperity Need Not Kill Religion Edward Hadas,  Reuters Revitalizing Culture and Economy Mike Scaperlanda,  Mirror of Justice What Makes a . . . . Continue Reading »

From the cultural avant-garde, the latest trend : parties convened by expectant couples for the sole purpose of unveiling the gender of their child-to-be to a room full of friends and family: In the case of gender-reveal parties, couples take a private moment made possible by science and oblige . . . . Continue Reading »

Simplify, Simplify Br. Gregory Maria Pine, O.P., Dominicana Karl Barth Knew His Limits Michael L. Lindvall, Christian Century Writing Disasters David Roberts, Oxford University Press Blog In Ireland, Belonging Without Believing Michael Kelly, Catholic World Report Joel Osteen: Romney a . . . . Continue Reading »

Michael Dirda of the New Criterion takes a fresh look at mid-century British poet Philip Larkin. Dirda finds much to admire in Larkin’s writing and personality, including his awareness of the growth of secularism and hedonism in the culture at large, his daring rejection of literary modernism . . . . Continue Reading »