Religion
Back in May, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D, CA) had this to say at a Catholic Community Conference: They ask me all the time, ‘What is your favorite this? What is your favorite that? What is your favorite that?’ And one time, ‘What is your favorite word?’ And I said, ‘My favorite word?…
Robert George relates an anecdote about some literature at an American Constitution Society for Law and Policy conference. A pamphlet provided visitors with the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Gettysburg Address as reading material,.. only, the included version the Gettysburg Address omitted the phrase “under God.” At the time, staring at the text,…
Commenter Brassband notes, in the comment section of my post on the University of Illinois’ firing of a professor of Catholic thought for teaching Catholic thought, has been offered his job back (via American Papist): The university released a statement today saying that Howell’s appointment as an adjunct instructor in the Religion Department — teaching…
There may be more to the story, but it appears that University of Illinois Adjunct Associate Professor of Religious Studies Kenneth Howell has lost his job for the offense of teaching Catholic thought as if it might be worth considering as something more than a curious human error. Kenneth Howell was told after the spring…
Alexis Madrigal at the Atlantic has written a piece that uses the latest Apple iPhone problems as a jumping off point to examine the “religious experience” of being an Apple “fanboy.” In short, there are 4 myths surrounding the Apple “mystique”, according to Texas A&M’s Heidi Campbell: 1. a creation myth highlighting the counter-cultural origin…
The controversy surrounding the banner displayed at Cranston High School West which uses the words “Heavenly Father” and “Amen” has unintentionally revealed another issue concerning the principle of “separation of church and state” in the City of Cranston. As was reported by Maria Armental in the Projo, Cranston’s School Committee maintains an official policy telling…
Today’s first reading for Roman Catholic Masses was the passage in which Abraham implores God to spare the city of Sodom for the sake of the innocents whom God might “sweep away… with the guilty.” The typical reading of this passage — and the point most often emphasized during homilies — is that Abraham is…
The banner has been on display at Cranston West High School since 1958. On it is a simple, innocuous prayer. Our Heavenly Father, Grant us each day the desire to do our best, To grow mentally and morally as well as physically, To be kind and helpful to our classmates and teachers, To be honest…
Scientist priest Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk explains that a recent scientific achievement in the news was not so much the creation of life as a rebuilding of a fundamental component, citing a Princeton microbiologist: “Every cell is a microcosm of life, and neither the Venter team nor anybody else has come close to recreating the cell…
In the context of addressing the prior activities and positions of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, Andrew McCarthy takes up the distinction between radical Islam and moderate Islam: To hear progressives tell it, we can do nice, clean, friendly sharia, just like we do nice, clean, friendly Islam. “Lapidations,” [or stonings,] they will tell you,…