Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
-Emma Lazarus
Finally, let’s discuss poverty. Everyone’s against it, but hardly anyone admits that most of the increase in the past 15 years reflects immigration — new immigrants or children of recent immigrants. Unless we stop poor people from coming across our Southern border, legally and illegally, we won’t reduce poverty. Period.
From 1990 to 2006, the number of poor Hispanics increased 3.2 million, from 6 million to 9.2 million. Meanwhile, the number of non-Hispanic whites in poverty fell from 16.6 million (poverty rate: 8.8 percent) in 1990 to 16 million (8.2 percent) in 2006. Among blacks, there was a decline from 9.8 million in 1990 (poverty rate: 31.9 percent) to 9 million (24.3 percent) in 2006.
The curious thing is that Samuelson seems to treat this as an argument against immigration (and he’s not the onlyone). Read the rest of this entry »
We are saved in hope - a key message of Pope Benedict to the Catholic Church - is the theme of Prince Caspian. Hope, even when everything else looks bleak, provides the foundation for salvation. And, as C.S. Lewis knows so well, often the greatest hope is found in the heart of a child.
Well, it was one year ago today that a small group of bloggers, unsatisfied and discouraged by the lack of balance in cultural and political analysis among Catholic blogs, launched Vox Nova. Our ambition was large, our expectations were small. We’ve received a great deal of praise and a whole lot of criticism for our efforts since, and I think I speak for all when I thank our readers–and I do mean every one of them–for their time, thought and passion. I’ve learned a great deal from my fellow bloggers and from our commentators.
To commemorate the occasion, we’ve selected our favorite post by each Vox Nova contributor from the past twelve months. Enjoy!
I’ve long suspected that a significant chunk of the support for things like campaign finance reform derives simply from annoyance with negative political ads. To a certain extent I think this annoyance is overblown. Negative ads tend to be fairly substantive, whereas their “positive” counter-parts are often nearly content-free (”I care about the environment; that’s why I’m standing in front of this river”). But even I have to admit that they can often be grating (whether the proper response is to scrap the First Amendment rather than, say, pressing the mute button, is another issue).
What I find curious, though, is the fact that while negative advertisements play a role in just about every close political campaign, they are almost totally absent from commercial advertising. Occasionally a company will mention a competitor in its ads in a less than favorable way (see here), but even this tends to be rare and relatively mild compared to standard political ads. The grainy black and white ads with the distorted photos and ominous sounding announcers, so common in politics, are just unheard of. What explains the difference? Here are some possibilities: Read the rest of this entry »
I am beginning to think that the State needs to get out of the marriage business and let the Churches decide what marriage is about. Our country is going in that direction anyway.
In violation of Canon 912, a chaplain refused professor Kmiec communion for his advocacy of Barack Obama for President. While I have found Professor’s Kmiec’s initial justifications particularly weak even if I share them in finality now, I think his arguments have improved. I don’t think his arguments ever came to the point of direct support for abortion.
** I’m reopening the comments here. I request that comments positive and negative attempt to stick as closely to the topic at hand as possible. Volumes have been written about variations on this topic. This topic is relatively straight forward. A man with a long and distinguished career in the pro-life movement was refused communion at an event by a chaplain. As best I can surmise, there was no existing pastoral relationship between the two men. He was denied communion putatively because he endorse Barack Obama and has articles questioning whether the abortion issue should be the preeminent issue in this particular election. Feel free to reference Cardinal Ratzinger’s letter on this topic, USCCB documents and other resources. **
Update 2:CatholicDemocrats.org and a number of other outlets are using this incident to also criticize the denial of communion for Governor Sebelius of Kansas. I spoke to the matter of Governor Sebelius here. While those with only bare familiarity of these issues may think they are similar, they are not for reasons I will not offer a comprehensive proof for here. For those who should be knowledgable in these areas, I consider it an act of bad faith to compare them for the circumstances are night and day different. Conflation does not serve the interests of truth, be it conflating Professor Kmiec’s endorsement of Obama to obstinate and manifest support of abortion or conflating the action taken against Governor Sebelius as a brazen, partisan act, as if it lacked any choices on her part after numerous warnings over a period of numerous months by her proper pastor, the Archbishop of Kansas City.
I stumbled upon the following passage by Irving Kristol, so-called father of the neoconservative movement, in his 1978 speech “The Spiritual Roots of Capitalism.” I’m posting it here in the hope of generating some discussion.
Christianity and Judaism in the United States today face many of the same problems, though they do not share all the same problems. When I talk about religion, I talk as an insider, but when I talk about Christianity, I think it will be very clear that I talk as an outsider. When I say I am not a Christian, I do not say it polemically, of course. But whether one is Jewish or Christian does, it seems to me, affect one’s attitude toward capitalism. Read the rest of this entry »
“Today, NARAL Pro-Choice America PAC is proud to endorse Sen. Barack Obama for president. Sen. Obama has been a strong advocate for a woman’s right to choose throughout his career in public office. He steadfastly supports and defends a woman’s right to make the most personal, private decisions regarding her reproductive health without interference from government or politicians.
“Sen. Obama has been a leader on this issue in the United States Senate. Since joining the Senate in 2005, he has worked to unite Americans on both side of this debate behind commonsense, common-ground ways to prevent unintended pregnancy. Sen. Obama supports legislation to provide our teens with comprehensive sex education, prevent pharmacies from denying women access to their legal birth-control prescriptions, and increase access to family-planning services.
We all know that Jermiah Wright is the chief political adviser of the Obama campaign. After all, what else can account for the obsession with this man’s words in the media?OK, let’s get back to reality: Wright is not part of Obama’s campaign. But John McCain’s political adviser is a man named Charlie Black, a man who made money lobbying for some of the world’s nastiest thugs and dictators. Consider Jonas Savimbi, the Angolan rebel who plunged his country into perpetual civil war, fostered the blood diamond trade, engaged in widespread torture, personally beat to death an opponent’s wife and children, shelled civilians, sowed countless land mines, and then bombed a Red Cross-run factory making artificial legs for the victims. And he did all this with the funding from the US, in no small part due to Charlie Black, the man who is now chief political adviser to John McCain. Will there be outrage? Hardly. After all, lobbying is a respectable business while preaching a prophetic message in a black church about the sins of the US (in which Charlie Black has a hand) clearly is not.
The desire for the United States to abandon its nuclear weapons is one that is most often associated with the far left. Yet lately a number of fairly prominent conservatives appear to be reaching the same conclusion. Last year, for example, Henry Kissinger, George Schultz, William Perry, and Sam Nunn penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal entitled “A World Free of Nuclear Weapons”:
The Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) envisioned the end of all nuclear weapons. It provides (a) that states that did not possess nuclear weapons as of 1967 agree not to obtain them, and (b) that states that do possess them agree to divest themselves of these weapons over time. Every president of both parties since Richard Nixon has reaffirmed these treaty obligations, but non-nuclear weapon states have grown increasingly skeptical of the sincerity of the nuclear powers. Read the rest of this entry »
On May 7th, a group of influential Evangelical leaders and teachers published a remarkable document, An Evangelical Manifesto: A Declaration Identity and Public Commitment, that deserves a nod, I think, from all Christians concerned about the living of their faith in public life. The Manifesto is divided into three parts:
1. We Must Reform Our Identity
2. We Must Reform Our Own Behavior
3. We Must Rethink Our Place in Public Life
While Parts 1 and 2 are interesting and helpful for gaining an understanding of how some influential Evangelicals view their movement and internal relations, Part 3 is a section well worth your time to read. I found this part helpful in articulating my own understanding of how faith ought to be infused into public life.
Yesterday, some people on the Catholic blogosphere commented on a statement given by Rev Jose Gabriel Funes saying that alien life could exist. The one thing I didn’t see in the news report, and the one thing which should have been reported, is that this is a long-standing tradition and viewpoint (not doctrinal nor dogmatic, but a valid theological opinion) which existed in the Church even before the Reformation. One can find this view, for example, in the works of Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa (1401 - 1464). We can see this in the following quote which pre-supposes their existence: Read the rest of this entry »
Thursday is finally back, and he is considering supernaturalism, tradition, and the law. He raises an interesting point: why do the religious tend to fall back on religious arguments? There is nothing wrong with this, of course, but the point of argument is to inform and persuade. This often means adapting to audience, even as there is refusal to compromise on principle. How often do we fail to consider how our interactions appear? How little do we attempt empathy outside of ourselves?
I found this exchange between Jonathan Alter and Mickey Kaus fascinating. According to Alter, unions have largely been venal, short-sided, and generally bad for society. Yet he thinks we ought to expand their power and influence in the hope that they will behave in a more enlightened manner. Alter’s concern (in his words, “unskilled workers are getting the shaft”) is of course legitimate, but so far as I can tell his line of reasoning is pretty much the “politician’s logic” from Yes, Prime Minister: Something must be done. This is something. Therefore, we must do it.
But perhaps even Alter is insufficiently appreciative of the value of unions. I know that for a lot of people (including a lot of Catholics), that unions are beneficial to workers and to society as a whole is less a question of fact than an article of faith. My apartment is across the street from the headquarters of a union local, and in front of the building they have erected a giant digital billboard, across which constantly scroll slogans about how if it wasn’t for unions we would all be living in conditions of squalor and near slavery. The actual evidence on the point, however, is not nearly so stark. Read the rest of this entry »
I live in earthquake territory. So when I read the news about a major earthquake and that cities the size of my city are reduced to rubble in China, I feel like their city could so easily be my city.
Right now, China needs our prayers for:
*Roadways to be cleared of debris so help can reach those currently cut off.
*Help for those buried and still alive under rubble.
Dear Mary, we ask for your powerful intercessory prayers in this terrible situation. Amen.
The truth of Christian life is like manna: it is not possible to hoard it for it is fresh today and spoiled tomorrow. A truth that is merely handed on, without being thought anew from its very foundations, has lost its vital power. The vessel that holds it — for example, the language, the world of images and concepts –becomes dusty, rusts, crumbles away; that which is old remains young only when it is drawn, with all the strength of youth, into relation with that which is still older, with that in time which is perpetual: the present-day revelation of God. No Holy Communion is like another, although it is the same Christ who gives himself. In the same way, no sermon and no word of doctrine, indeed no Christian word at all and no Christian thought can be the same as any other, although each is a vessel and a form of the one, eternal Word among us. To honor the tradition does not excuse one from the beginning each time, not with Augustine or Thomas or Newman, but with Christ. And the greatest figures of Christian salvation history are honored only by the one who does today what they did then, or what they would have done if they had lived today. The cross-check is quickly done, and it is shows the tremendous impoverishment, not only in spirit and life, but also quite existentially: in thoughts and points of view, themes and ideas, where people are content to understand tradition as the handing-on of ready-made results. Boredom manifests itself at once, and the neatest systematics fails to convince, remains of little consequence. The little groups of those who have come to an understanding with one another and cultivate what they take to be the tradition become more and more esoteric, foreign to the world, and more and more misunderstood, although they do not condescend to take notice of their alienation. And one day the storm that blows the dried-up branch away can no longer be delayed, and this collapse will not be great, because what collapses had been a hollow shell for a very long time.
–Hans Urs von Balthasar, Razing the Bastions. trans. Brian McNeil (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1993), 33 - 35.
“The facts of global warming demand our urgent attention, especially in Washington,” McCain said in remarks he planned to give at the Vestas Wind Technology plant.
“Good stewardship, prudence, and simple common sense demand that we act to meet the challenge, and act quickly,” he added.
“I will not shirk the mantle of leadership that the United States bears. I will not permit eight long years to pass without serious action on serious challenges,” he added.
Heck, if I thought it seriously within the power of the Democratic Party to reduce abortion by 50% in ten years, I’d pretty seriously consider voting for them.
While the Dem’s 95-10 plan has been DOA for years (here is Obama supporter Doug Kmiec arguing that his candidate should support the plan, though he currently does not), let me offer a counter-proposal: “The Trillion Dollar Plan“
The plan devotes one trillion dollars over ten years to the reduction of “lawful” abortion (100 billion a year). Five hundred billion could be devoted to educating youngsters about the sacredness of sexuality, the profanity of promiscuity, and the horror of abortion (that’s about $2500 per child per year). The other half of The Trillion Dollar Plan could support maternity homes (i.e., free housing, free food, free counseling), adoption centers, and subsidized health care (that’s about $25,000 per crisis pregnancy per year).
Why support the The Trillion Dollar Plan?
For Republicans: How much do you want to stop the slaughter of our unborn? Badly enough to risk our nation’s wealth? Put your money where your mouth is.
For Democrats: Do you want the Catholic vote? Do you want to win the White House? Then listen carefully: end your party of death.
It has been my hope that through this dialogue the Governor would come to understand her obligation: 1) to take the difficult political step, but necessary moral step of repudiating her past actions in support of legalized abortion and 2) in the future would use her exceptional leadership abilities to develop public policies extending the maximum legal protection possible to the unborn children of Kansas.
Having made every effort to inform and to persuade Governor Sebelius and after consultation with Bishop Ron Gilmore (Dodge City), Bishop Paul Coakley (Salina) and Bishop Michael Jackels (Wichita), Read the rest of this entry »
Fr. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, Director of Education at The National Catholic Bioethics Center, tells us that it is an open question. While it is always and in every case immoral to directly kill a human zygote or embryo, the moral status of this action is not based upon the certainty that a human zygote is a person or has a soul. The moment of “ensoulment” has been a debate in Catholic theology for a millennium and a half, and even occupied St. Thomas Aquinas (who held that ensoulment occurred at time after conception). Fr. Pacholczyk attempts to maneuver the moral landscape in his essay, arguing from teleological and eschatological standpoints with respect to the human embryo’s development. His main points are:
Sometimes is seems like every day the line between parody and reality gets a little harder to draw. To wit.:
A few years ago the Swiss added to their national constitution a provision requiring “account to be taken of the dignity of creation when handling animals, plants and other organisms.” No one knew exactly what it meant, so they asked the Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology to figure it out. The resulting report, “The Dignity of Living Beings with Regard to Plants,” is enough to short circuit the brain.
A “clear majority” of the panel adopted what it called a “biocentric” moral view, meaning that “living organisms should be considered morally for their own sake because they are alive.” Thus, the panel determined that we cannot claim “absolute ownership” over plants and, moreover, that “individual plants have an inherent worth.” This means that “we may not use them just as we please, even if the plant community is not in danger, or if our actions do not endanger the species, or if we are not acting arbitrarily.” Read the rest of this entry »
“We say that it is time for civilization to draw inspiration from a concept other than that of strife, of violence, of war, of oppression, to set the world on the way to true justice for all. We say that Peace is not cowardice, is not faint-hearted weakness. Peace must gradually, immediately if possible, substitute moral strength for brute force; it must substitute reason, speech and moral greatness for the fatal, and too often fallacious efficacy of arms, of violent means, and of material and economic power. Peace is Man, who has ceased to be a wolf to his fellow man, Man in his invincible moral power. This it is that must today prevail in the world.”
If you’re a married woman living in the New York City area, there’s a better than 50 percent chance that you don’t work, according to a recent analysis of Census data by economists affiliated with the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank.
More specifically, only 49 percent of white high school-educated married women in their prime working ages were holding down jobs in the New York area as of the 2000 Census. To put that in perspective, there are roughly 2 million woman over 15-years-old who are married in the New York area.
The national average for this particular demographic is 67 percent. At the other end of the spectrum is Minneapolis where almost 80 percent of these married women are employed — that’s larger than the percentage of working men aged 25 and older in the U.S.
What better way to celebrate Mother’s Day than to donate money to Planned Parenthood and drastically shorten the time someone spends as a mother! That’s what actresses Gwyneth Paltrow and Blythe Danner say by their actions. Nothing prevents an infant from getting to Meet the Parents like A Perfect Murder.
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, “If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, `Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive; for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (John 7:37 - 39).
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Act 2: 1 - 4)
Pentecost is one of those great events which we Christians know and experience, and yet we cannot quite understand or explain it. The glory of Pentecost is the giving of the Holy Spirit to the Church. The history of the Church is the history of Pentecost, the history of the Spirit in the world. But that is the problem - we receive the Spirit because of the glorification of Christ; we experience the eschaton in all of its glory, and yet find ourselves still of the world, living in and through world history. The end of all things is fulfilled in Christ and experienced by us in our participation in Christ, and yet the world has not ended. The glory of God is over all the earth and yet that glory appears as if it is hidden. What are we to make of this?
One of the most common criticisms of Wal-Mart is that it drives small “Mom and Pop” businesses out of business, because they can’t afford to compete with the larger store’s prices and selection. If true, this would be a mark against the company (though whether this downside would be more than compensated by, say, the store’s lower prices and wider selection is a different matter). But is it true?
According to a recent article in Regulation by West Virginia University profs Andrea Dean and Russell Sobel, the answer is: not really. Dean and Sobel compared the number of small businesses in operation to the number of Wal-Marts both by state and over time. What they found was that while the presence of Wal-Mart in a community did affect the types of small businesses likely to be present in that community, it didn’t reduce the number of small businesses in the community overall. In other words, communities with a Wal-Mart tended to have fewer small businesses that were direct competitors with Wal-Mart (for obvious reasons), but they also tended to have more small businesses that weren’t direct competitors.
This isn’t terribly surprising. If people can buy there food and clothing at Wal-Mart using a smaller percentage of their income than they could buying from other stores, doing so will free up money that can be spent on other things, creating business opportunities that wouldn’t be there otherwise. Read the rest of this entry »
The citizens of Bolivia will vote by referendum on whether their president, Evo Morales, should stay in office. The confidence vote, which is actually Morales’ idea, has recently been embraced by the Bolivian Senate, which has long resisted his moves for reform. According to the BBC, the confidence vote will take place within 90 days.
Michael Iafrate previously blogged about Bolivia’s choice to end its association with the School of the Americas.
As I have noted, the politics of Latin America have been leaning left in recent years, a trend perhaps aptly illustrated by the recent election of Fernando Lugo Méndez to Paraguay’s presidency. Nevertheless, I get the sense that we may be witnesses the end of Morales’ brief tenure of leadership. If roughly 54% of the Bolivian population votes against Morales, a new general election will be held. This is just the sort of scenario that motivates the opposition. Stay tuned.
That is the central theme behind David Mamet’s intriguing new movie, Redbelt. Don’t let the fact that the central character, Mike Terry (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor), is a fight instructor make you think that this is your typical martial arts film. Yes, martial arts, specifically Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, are central to the story. But it’s helps form the basis by which the drama can be played. The movie is about Mike Terry and his desire to be true to himself and his ideals, even when it pushes him, his friends, and his family to the breaking point. He is used and abused by many around him; indeed, one could say his life is in shambles, and yet… there is an escape. There is a way out.
Thank you to myCatholic.com for including Vox Nova in their “Commentary and Opinion” section! I just recently adapted my own myCatholic page to my home and work computer. I am very impressed with the concept and execution, and I recommend it to all our readers as a nice internet touchstone for Catholicism and news on the web.
As a product of, and a dean at, a Catholic school, I laud and appreciate President Bush’s praise of religious-affiliated schools. Bush hosted the White House Summit on Inner-City Children and Faith-Based Schools at the end of last month, where he described religious schools as a glorious part of the history of the United States. The National Catholic Education Associate website has some candid photos of the event.
As Katerina noted last week, Senators Clinton and McCain favor a temporary suspension of the federal gasoline tax, as a means of lowering voters pain at the pump. Senator Obama, by contrast, is opposed to such a measure, favoring instead a “windfall profits” tax for oil companies (Clinton favors a windfall profits tax in addition to the gas tax holiday, while McCain is opposed).
To say that economists aren’t supportive of Clinton and McCain’s gas tax holiday idea would be an understatement. Indeed, there wasn’t a single economist who appeared ready to defend the idea. Until now, that is. Yesterday’s New York Times contains an op-ed by Bryan Caplan, an econ professor at George Mason, arguing that considering the alternatives, the gas tax holiday is a pretty good deal:
[T]he tax holiday is a relatively cheap symbolic gesture that makes truly bad policies less likely. The main causes of high gas prices are probably factors beyond our control, like rapid growth in China and India and low real interest rates. But voters don’t want to hear this; they want politicians to “do something!”
During our last big energy crisis, in the 1970s, “something” turned out to be a salad of populist nonsense: price controls, rationing, windfall profits taxes, arcane loopholes and lots of lawsuits. That political response turned an inconvenience into a disaster. Read the rest of this entry »
68% of Brazilians agree with their nation’s laws that restrict abortion only to cases of rape or the endangered life of the mother. Only 11% of Brazilians think abortion should be decriminalized. Well, a health committee in Brazilian parliament hearkened unto their call on Wednesday, rejecting a proposal that would legalize abortion. Thank God for the moral clarity of our brethren in Brazil!
Fellow Vox Nova contributor, Soutenus, wrote a post on her blog about her experience with Adoration and her son.
I have been feeling the urge lately to add adoration into my life. Something about just having silence and quiet and being in Christ’s presence that pulls me.
I am interested to know, do you have Adoration stories to tell? How has Adoration changed your life? Your family’s life?
"In their patriotism and in their fidelity to their civic duties Catholics will feel themselves bound to promote the true common good; they will make the weight of their convictions so influential that as a result civil authority will be justly exercised and laws will accord with moral precepts and the common good."
Second Vatican Council, Apostolicam actuositatem 14
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in the hope of generating some discussion.
The plan devotes one trillion dollars over ten years to the reduction of “
ics Center
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, “If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, `Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive; for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
tay in office. The confidence vote, which is actually Morales’ idea, has recently been embraced by the Bolivian Senate, which has long resisted his moves for reform. According to 
Bush’s praise of religious-affiliated schools. Bush hosted the White House Summit on Inner-City Children and Faith-Based Schools at the end of last month, where he described religious schools as a glorious part of the history of the United States. The 
ses of rape or the endangered life of the mother. Only 11% of Brazilians think abortion should be decriminalized. Well, a health committee in Brazilian parliament hearkened unto their call on Wednesday,