On the Square Today

Wesley J. Smith on our dangerous obsession with ‘health’ :

This Tuesday, Massachusetts voters will decide whether to legalize assisted suicide, an agenda against which I have advocated energetically since 1993. During much of that time, I often asked myself the “why now?” question: Two hundred years ago, when far more people died in agony, few argued on behalf of mercy killing. Yet today—a time in which medical science can substantially alleviate most pain and end-of-life care works miracles of palliation—the notion that a “good death” comes from committing suicide resonates with large swaths of the public.

Also today, Jeffrey A. Smith on wisdom in the wake of liberté :

A familiar charge by critics of today’s Church is the accusation that John Paul II and Benedict XVI have reacted against or “betrayed” the balance Vatican II struck between individual liberty and Christian tradition. A counter-revolution is even said to be afoot, with not only theological progressivism as its target but, even more darkly, democracy, liberty, and modernity.