Remember the Jesus Seminar? They were those scholars who voted away all of Jesus’ miracles and much of what He said because it didn’t seem plausible to them. You know, things like the resurrection and that kind of weird stuff. They voted on whether they thought Jesus REALLY said that or did that. Pretty much, miracles and all that oogedy-boogedy stuff were scorned.

One of the more well known books coming out of the seminar was the infamously color-coded “The Five Gospels,” which had its own translations of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John from the New Testament but they also threw in the Gospel of Thomas for good measure. Jesus’ sayings appeared in red ink if the seminar deemed them...READ MORE

I am befuddled.  Why would those who built a Catholic University and ostensibly a Catholic town to surround it, actively recruit and assist a business that performs work antithetical to Catholic teaching to the area?

That seems to be exactly what is happening.  Tom Monaghan and his development partners are actively recruiting Jackson Laboratory to the surrounding area and the University leadership is assisting.

I understand that luring a large bio-tech company into the area could be a boon to the town and to the university, but at what price?  Through facts dug up at AveWatch.com, I must say there is enough evidence of Jackson Laboratory’s involvement in contraceptive research and...READ MORE

Seeing the country becoming increasingly pro-life is proving distressing for many pro-choicers. Not distressing enough, mind you, to reassess their position on the humanity of the unborn but enough to consider changing tactics.

Los Angeles Times columnist Nancy Cohen hit the pro-choice panic button in a piece yesterday by suggesting that the cultural shift is the result of word wars. She frets that the term “pro-life” has gained the upper hand in the nomenclature war over “pro-choice” in the American mind.

On a side note, this perceived upper hand is a testament to the ascent of new media and the irrepressible pro-life movement that the term “pro-life” is known at all in that it has...READ MORE

My favorite show on television is about the manufacture and distribution of crystal meth in Albuquerque.  Yeah, go figure.

The show, Breaking Bad, centers around a high school chemistry teacher, Walter White (played by Bryan Cranston) who receives a diagnosis of lung cancer.  Walter, fearing financially for his family which includes a pregnant wife and a fifteen year old boy with cerebral palsy, decides to use his chemistry skills to cook crystal meth just for a little while.

I really enjoy this show for many reasons.  The acting is first rate and the story telling enthralling.  But mostly I enjoy it because it is a character study, it dives deep into the character and nature of sin.

I...READ MORE

No means no, except maybe when you’re talking to abortionist Abraham Hodari.

The abortionist in Michigan is being sued for allegedly forcing an abortion after the woman changed her mind and asked him to stop. The abortionist even reportedly instructed assistants to hold the woman down while he completed the abortion.

A news report offers details:

Dr. Hodari has a sordid past. That’s a nice way of saying his clinic is a horror show. He’s been sued 23 times, botched a 2004 abortion that resulted in the death of a 15 year old girl, his clinic was exposed on video disposing of human remains illegally, and he has said he sometimes doesn’t wash his hands between patients because he worries...READ MORE

Well, it was only a matter of time.  In a first, a UK television station will air an advertisement for abortion.

You can see the story in this youtube video.

My first impulse upon hearing this story was that abortion providers here might try the same thing, and they probably will.  Then it occurred to me that perhaps TV ads are the last thing they want.

Think about it.  Two-thirds of every drug commercial you see on television in the U.S. expounds a ludicrously long litany of any and all possible side effects.  I am no legal expert and most abortions being surgery rather than a drug, the same standards may not apply.  However, it is conceivable that abortion providers might very well...READ MORE

The new atheists are on the march. They’re in bookstores. They’re on television. They’re everywhere. But nowhere is their effect being felt more than on college campuses and by young people. So invasive is the new atheist movement that in many ways their outlook has become the default mainstream culture.

For too long Christians have been a punch line for militant secularists. It’s time somebody punched back. And Mary Eberstadt’s new book “The Loser Letters” is an unexpected roundhouse to the new atheist movement. I read it last week and urge you to pick it up. (You can click on Amazon.com.)

“Christians are always at a moral disadvantage because we’re told to turn the other cheek,” said...READ MORE

Have you ever had one of those experiences wherein you got sick after eating or drinking something and then, even though you know that the sickness was probably not related to that food item, you just cannot stand to look at it or even smell it without getting nauseous?

Well I have.  Nothing against Cracker Barrel, but I can’t go within 1000 yards without needing a barrel myself. Enough about that.

But I have also found that the same thing can happen with words.  When I find words that occur in frequent proximity to things that make me sick, I find that I can no longer stomach the word anymore, even if used appropriately.

Much to my chagrin, I find myself facing this very situation right...READ MORE