Jana Bennett and Ramon Luzarraga YouTube interview by the University of Dayton on Pope Francis
Jana Bennett and I was interviewed about Pope Francis. The views expressed are our opinions alone. Enjoy; and comments are welcome.
Pope Benedict XVI’s Resignation: Some Moral Lessons for the People of God
Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation from the office of pope took everyone in Rome by surprise. Perhaps we should not be surprised. Didn’t Pope Benedict state at the time of his installation that his papacy would be short? Perhaps Benedict’s actions such as his August 2009 personal visit to the tomb of Pope Celestine V, who also voluntarily stepped down from the papal Read more
The Kids on the Hill (or How Gerrymandering is the Single Largest Barrier to Citizens’ Right and Responsibility to Participation)
The debate about the fiscal cliff is the latest Federal political crisis which is a product of a deeper problem: a vicious circle of the American public’s failure to meaningfully participate in how we order our common life, which reinforces and is reinforced by the old political practice of gerrymandering. At base, Congress is debating whether there exists a direct corollary between Read more
Private Charity may be a Euphemism for Private Self-Investment
Americans, regardless of political viewpoint, have long had a significant preference for giving aid to others through private charities than through government agencies. The reason commonly given is Americans want to make sure their money goes to aid causes they agree with and not support causes they somehow find unworthy. A typical criticism of this approach is that private charity is limited Read more
The Fragility of Excellence
Sports fascinate many people because of what athletes put at risk: their ability to participate and develop through intense focus and work the achievement of excellence in a particular sport. Watching athletes compete at the highest level of physical prowess and intellectual strategizing and concentration proper to their particular sport places into sharp relief how, to use Thomistic language, a human being Read more
Memorial Day as a Day of Reconciliation
The origins of Memorial Day date to the years immediately following the American Civil War when Americans honored the war dead of the North and the South by placing flowers on their tombstones. (The original name of the holiday was Decoration Day.) Despite the fact that the northern and southern states commemorated their war dead on separate days until World War I, Read more
Symposium on Same-Sex Marriage: The Debate We Should Be Having
The debate the Catholic Church in particular and our society in general should be having concerning whether two persons in love with one another and who possess a homosexual orientation should marry was, for a brief, shining moment had in the pages of America Magazine eight years ago. (I reject the phrase “homosexual person” or “gay person” in favor of my admittedly inelegant description because those two Read more
A Cross Removed?
A New York Times article that appeared on Good Friday caught my attention because of the topic it covered and how it contrasted with the day on which it got published. If a Times editor wanted to quietly make a point with the timing of the article’s release, I would not be surprised. Given the intelligence of the Times staff and their Read more
Bankruptcy: just another tool for business?
Two weeks ago, AMR, the parent company of American Airlines filed for bankruptcy reorganization. With this move, American became the last of the legacy carriers (companies who helped pioneer American air travel and existed prior to the 1978 deregulation of the industry) to use the bankruptcy law to restructure its business to lower costs and become more competitive with its rival carriers, Read more
