Category: Politics
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Sed Contra: Funding Imagination
Deal W. Hudson May 1, 2004 Conservatives, by and large, don’t trust the arts. The suspicion goes back to four centuries before Christ when Plato famously argued that the passions awakened by artists were a threat to the state. In 1965 the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) was created, along with its sister, the…
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Sed Contra: The Bishops’ Conference in a Political Season
Deal W. Hudson July 1, 2004 Catholic pundit Kate O’Beirne famously called the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) the “Democratic Party at prayer.” In an ongoing series on the bishops in CRISIS, we only slightly amended that by noting the USCCB’s commitment to the defense of innocent life—a stance not shared with the…
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Will New Jersey Elect a Pro-Life Catholic Governor?
Deal W. Hudson April 27, 2009 As of a few days ago, a pro-life Catholic held the lead in the New Jersey governor’s race. Chris Christie has been steadily polling ahead of the current Democratic governor, Jon Corzine, and the other Republican candidate for the nomination. Christie’s eleven point lead over Corzine, and 25 point lead over…
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Notre Dame Fumbles Its Obama Offensive
Deal W. Hudson May 5, 2009 Bishop Thomas Wenski celebrated a Mass of Reparation this past Sunday in Orlando at the Cathedral of St. James. Although the Mass was offered in reparation for transgressions “against the dignity and sacredness of human life,” the one specific transgression prompting the liturgy was the decision by the University of Notre…
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Will Benedict XVI Challenge Palestinian and Israeli Extremism?
Deal W. Hudson May 7, 2009 An op-ed published in the New York Times on Tuesday by veteran Vatican reporter John L. Allen Jr. lists four ways Pope Benedict XVI can “move things forward in the Middle East.” He recommends the Holy Father endorse the two-state solution, call upon Palestinians to reject extremism, urge support for Holy Land Christians,…
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Catholics in Congress – The Ongoing Scandal
Deal W. Hudson May 17, 2009 The scandal of President Barack Obama receiving an honorary degree at Notre Dame yesterday pales in comparison with the ongoing scandal of Catholics in Congress. Of the 161 Catholics presently serving, only 26 have 100 percent pro-life voting records, while 28 have a zero percent rating. Sixty-five have less than a…
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Michael Sean Winters of America Magazine Implies that I’m an Anti-Semetic
Deal W. Hudson May 21, 2009 This morning I sent my column on the future of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process to Michael Sean Winters – a writer at America magazine – in the spirit of collegiality. What I got in return is the implication on the America blog that I am either anti-Semitic or am aiding the rise of anti-Semitism among…
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Will Rev. Federico Lombardi Resign from the Vatican Press Office?
Deal W. Hudson May 25, 2009 On July 11, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Rev. Federico Lombardi, S.J., to be the director of the Vatican Press Office. Father Lombardi took over a position held for 22 years by Dr. Joaquin Navarro-Valls, a numerary of Opus Dei. It is possible, however, that Father Lombardi may not…
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Vatican Newspaper Provides Obama’s 2012 Campaign Message
Deal W. Hudson May 28, 2009 The 2012 Obama campaign message to Catholics has already been written. Here it is, conveniently laid out by the official Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, and its editor, Giovanni Maria Vian: “[President Obama] is not a pro-abortion president.” – Giovanni Maria Vian, in an interview with a Vatican analyst from the Italian…
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Evil, In the Name of God
Deal W. Hudson May 31, 2009 On June 26, a powerful film about the stoning of an Iranian woman accused by her husband of adultery will open in ten cities around the country. When a friend called to invite me to see a preview of The Stoning of Soraya M., I was initially hesitant. “Is the…
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