I think that mindset was still common 25 years ago—it may even be espoused by some people today. I believe the Church has made some attempts to respond to feminism since the 1970's, but there will always be a patriarchal aspect to the Catholic Church. Even Pope Francis has rejected the idea of women priests, and he is…

Based on some brief research, the modern Catholic Church does not condone using force to obtain sex, even for married couples. In the past there was an idea that marriage implied consent—for the purposes of producing children (sex, in itself, wasn’t supposed to be ‘fun’). This may have led to an impression that men…

doctrine > empathy

True. However is it virtually impossible for a religious bureaucracy to change its position—especially on something so fundamental. How could contraception have been wrong for so long, and suddenly be right? What about all those passages in the Bible that were used to reinforce the anti-contraception position? They…

There is always a risk when filibustering—it can be viewed as obstructionist *if* the candidate is perceived as worthy by the public. For example, Cruz claims he will filibuster, but there is no way he would actually do it—way too much potential for negative press in an election year...

The New Donald Trump Mexican Wall Plan

It’s not necessary to defend Ted Cruz just because the Cruz campaign happened to run a truthful ad against Trump—realize that there is probably something hypocritical about that ad, so you are perfectly justified in despising them both...

O cowardly new world, That has such algorithms in’t

Yes, some GOP members of Congress seem to be severely afflicted by ODS. Remember Rep. Joe Wilson yelling out “Liar!” during Obama’s first State of the Union address? Victims of ODS appear to have lapses in their higher brain functions, episodes of speaking nonsense while believing they are making sense, and they may…

It’s all part of the political equation: (1) take the (probably moderate) nominee offered by Obama now, or delay and (2) a Republican president is elected in November and you get a more conservative justice, or (3) a Democrat is elected in November and you get a more liberal justice (how liberal depends on whether the…

If we all keep telling ourselves we are the greatest democracy in the world, then it has to be true...

Unfortunately, the GOP has been in a panic since 2008...

I spent $100 million on this campaign, and all I got were these contact lenses...

All it proves is that ! is as much of a fool as W. As if he could somehow skate by his W’s record—who would assume that? Then he complains about people attacking his family, when he’s bringing in W to campaign for him—hello, that makes W fair game (as if he wouldn’t be fair game anyway just for being a president).…

“He’s got character, backbone, philosophy, vision, ...”

There is intense tension between our binary metaphysics, which strives to resolve everything into black and white—and the real world, in which black and white are merely the endpoints of a continuum filled with gray...

CHARLES: Are you hinting, Mr. Butler, that the Yankees can lick us?

Check for polonium...

The mark of a great man is not only what he knows, but that he knows what he doesn’t know...

“We really are just the stupidest country...”