Links: Millennials are lagging, Biden's new social contract and misinformation

Links: Millennials are lagging, Biden's new social contract and misinformation 

The President's commitment to free community college should be extended to trade schools, including community colleges, ESL, remedial GED education and trade schools created as part of the Catholic educational system. Catholic education has the same class biases as the society at large. That this discussion should also include race is no surprise as well, including in inner city schools where parishes are closing. 

Students of working age, including documented and undocumented migrants, should receive compensation of at least the minimum wage for full-time participation in educational programs. Remedial programs should also be funded as a tax credit against employer-paid subtraction value added taxes. Child tax credits should also be paid, again, as an offset to employer collected income or subtraction value added taxes.

Catholic educational institutions must provide onsite daycare from high school through college to both its employees and students. This transition should also include an end to the demonization of sexually active teens. No class issue is more urgent than this.

I can see no downside in doubling down on education and child welfare, except for opposition from conservatives. That should be considered a badge of honor. It is about time to enlarge the social contract - and also to be in touch with its meaning - that is the trading of taxes and adherence to law in exchange for safety and social services.

The only way to mute the Manchin effect is to actually give aforementioned conservatives a stake in tax reform. I suggest that more faith based services and an end to the requirement that all but the most wealthy file taxes would be an incentive that would please the Republican base.

Suburban women are not put off by wokeness. Indeed, dealing with it in the proper way may attract more voters than it repels. Opposing equality (especially sexual equality and wokeness) is the major tool of conservatives in mobilizing the working class against reforms that would actually help them. This would even include explaining why the pro-life movement has no hope of accomplishing its ultimate objective. The alternative to decreasing abortion is to assure that women are socially and economically empowered.

Of course, wokeness should not be taken to the extremes of animal rights. While much can be done and said about the dangers and evils of factory farming, attributing moral agency to other land animals (I am not sure about cetaceans and dolphins) is a step too far. That being said, I am all for finding options to factory farming. Cloning meat would work out (and be easier in a closed loop system than keeping cattle), provided bone, blood and fat were also cloned and spun into a decent burger - or even some kind of fillet. 

Biden's speech: Government focused on the common good is back

Biden's speech: Government focused on the common good is back 

Trump speaking to Congress with the sound down looked every inch the fascist. Biden looked like an elder statesman. His proposals have been coordinated with both Congress (especially the revenue committees) and the permanent government. 

Once and for all, this speech shows the difference between moral leadership an CEO management, which is both amoral and self-seeking. Any CEO president would have the same flaws. Trump's were blatant enough to reject. Heaven help us if we ever elect a CEO president who is not offensive. 

As to the specifics, Biden's commitment to free community college undercuts any objection to loan forgiveness on class grounds.

Confusion and canons at Villanova University law school conference

 Confusion and canons at Villanova University law school conference

The Canon Law question is whether the President or any legislator, indeed any judge, has the ability to reverse legalized abortion. The answer is no. Their personal opinion matters not. The opinion of the citizenry or the bishops also has no impact, nor can it. There is simply no way to grant the unborn in the first trimester a legal claim against his mother without savaging the entire idea of natural rights. 

Natural law theory, especially the relativism that comes from Rome, can have no voice in American law. The Establishment clause prohibits such seditious nonsense. End of story.

Aside from that, the Conference was fringe that should be ignored.The bishops who want Biden to not receive cite his disobedience, not his support of abortion per se. Obedience must be earned and they have not earned it, especially when the obedience they desire is voting Republican.

Links: Peter Steinfels' clarification; flippable Senate seats; Cupich on antisemitism

Links: Peter Steinfels' clarification; flippable Senate seats; Cupich on antisemitism 

Until comfortably asexual priests come out and uncomfortable ones come out to themselves, abuse by the latter will continue.

I hope the U.S. can catch up to Denmark. At least we are now making an effort.

Senate Democrats have only themselves to blame for bringing up ending the filibuster in 2009. The GOP ran with it on judges. A compromise at 55 or 56 would have been better. It still would be. As for the Court, Justices Thomas and Breyer will likely be replaced this term. Maybe Alito too.

The Democratic majority has more to do with the GOP self-destructing by electing Trumpists.

The Federalist is fish wrap. Also, Cupich is smart enough to close the Churches when he did not have to. His actions toward the Holocaust bespeak a Cardinal in union with the Pope. Thank you to the NCR art department for not using a picture of him with the Blessed Sacrament.

While charity is lovely, the teacher should have started a 501(c)(3). The real lesson of the story is that those of us on Social Security need a cost of living increase now, not at the end of the year. This is the government's job, not kind individuals.

What Biden got right in his approach to climate change

What Biden got right in his approach to climate change 

While White House staff members, probably working with House and Senate majority staff, helped vet options for Biden's decisions and communicate his priorities to the EPA and Department of Energy, most of the plan likely came from the permanent government. It is a nice change from the last four years. If the Republicans don't quit arguing against reality, it won't last much longer. No one will give them big money - not even big energy. The regulated are not anti-regulation - since regulation levels the playing field so that doing the right thing does not hurt market share.

Parishes cannot obstruct sex abuse investigations

Parishes cannot obstruct sex abuse investigations 

I hope that the allegations against Father Pfleger are false. This is certainly not a case where something is buried. Cardinal George would have jumped on them long ago, or at least I suspect he would. Any investigation should have started with the diocesan archive.

Abuse is endemic to the culture of the priesthood - not any gay culture but asexuals in the clergy who, rather than being comfortable with their calling, feel a sense of grievance for loss of a lifestyle that was never their destiny in the first place. Others simply act out, either from being abused themselves or from not being comfortable in their own skins or with their own urges.

As for the parish, it should be in charge of its priests, not the bishop. Further, administration should be in the hands of the permanent deaconate, preferably one that is not required to promise celibacy should they become widowed or divorced. Any allegations would go to the Deacon for investigation (and the pastor if allegations go the other way. 

A clergy that is outed to itself will be less dangerous to minors. While abuse will always be with us, we should not invite it by equating asexuality with holiness. It is simply another letter on the LGBTQIA. Q can also mean questioning. More priests should do that.

Links: the Catholic left, Amy Coney Barrett and the importance of distinctions

Links: the Catholic left, Amy Coney Barrett and the importance of distinctions 

The religious left is not just about the Democratic Party (which is now more firmly reliant on the AME Church than the Church of Rome). It is about bringing change TO the Church. It is the only way to ready the Church for something to the left of the Democrats. It must be part of the vanguard of social reform - from cooperation to service for those who are sick or troubled. It can no longer be seated in Rome. It must be one with the people of God. This is the only way to gather the lost sheep.

The Union Movement has the same issues. It needs to serve the workers and encourage cooperation, not conflict. It can be an agent of change, both in society and in the enterprise itself. It is the only way to gather the lost workers.

The wealth tax has all the liquidity issues of property taxes and all of the reporting issues of the capital gains tax. It would serve to legitimate wealth and do nothing to move ownership from the plutocrats to the workers. The most efficient way to collect such a tax is for the owned firms to pay it for the owners. While it is possible that workers could be spared the brunt of actually paying the tax, it is not likely.

Justice Barrett will do the responsible thing on recusal. Indeed, there are many cases where this will be necessary, including the upcoming case on the Ohio Downs Syndrome Law, which was affirmed by the Sixth District. The Justice pushed for en blanc consideration of the Indiana law. The law is an attempt to take another run at Roe, seeking state power as much as protecting Down's children. It cannot succeed without upending all of civil rights law. I predict a Per Curiam ruling reversing the Circuit.

Most Nones did not walk away from the Church. Their parents did. Many had good reasons, which is why the Catholic Left is essential. Even atheists have something to add to the discussion. Let the Spirit of Prophesy blow where She will.

Since Alexander the Great, African civilization in Egypt has been dominated by Hellenism, including under Rome. Without Latin and Greek, much of what is left since Alexandria burned will be lost forever.

From the grave: Noonan on gun manufacturers' moral cooperation in evil

From the grave: Noonan on gun manufacturers' moral cooperation in evil 

The current gun culture may or may not be a moral evil. It depends on the intent of the firearm's possession. There is no evil in hunting. There is evil in expecting to use it in a race war - either impending or immediate. Gun manufacturers who are invincibly ignorant of purchaser motives or who believe in their hearts that their products are used to repel invasion and insurrection (rather than participate in one) may or may not be engaged in even moral evil - especially if this is how the weapons are intended to be used. They are guilty of personal (or corporate) evil or cooperation with evil if they consciously support, or even promote, purchase and use of firearms in insurrection or a race war. Such a question used to be academic. It no longer is in the Trump and post-Trump world.

Doing good or evil, including on capital punishment, is secondary to their responsibilities to the Constitution within the political theory it embodies. Natural law, especially the Catholic point of view on it, is not toheguiding principle here. Natural rights are, including the contractual nature of government. The three essential rights are not being executed by the government without due process, and not having liberty and property infringed upon without representation, aka the right to be left alone and protected from the biases of one's fellows. 

Gun ownership, unless for bad intent, is a protected liberty. In the social contract, we exchange some measure of liberty (not killing fellow citizens) and property (through taxation) to be kept safe by the government, so long as this does not interfere with basic rights. If gun ownership represents a specific public danger, it can be infringed upon. I suggest either enacting regulations to Federal Acquisition Regulations to prevent manufacturers from getting government contracts if they sell arms and ammunition to civilians. This can be done without an Act of Congress.

Links: Denying Communion to same-sex couples, and Bush talks immigration reform

Links: Denying Communion to same-sex couples, and Bush talks immigration reform 

Note to NCR graphics department. Quit using photos of the Blessed Sacrament in news stories. It is profane to do so.

You cannot have it both ways on Catholic sexual ethics. It is either perfectly fine, which means that gays should Church shop, or horribly anachronistic and sexist, based in Hellenism and the glorification of asexuality. Catholic natural law is either correct or dependent on the fallacy of reference to authority. Homosexuals are either intrinsically flawed or wonderfully made. Here is the test: are non-gay priests heroic heterosexuals or a mix of well integrated asexuals, with other asexuals closeted to themselves (and dangerous to children). Michael Sean needs to quit trying to have it both ways.

George W. Bush is the voice of sanity in the Republican Party. It would be viable, and would have had no room for Trump, if James Sensenbrenner had not blocked Bush's immigration reforms. His endorsement for a non-Trumpian is the only thing that will keep the Party alive (and keep the Democrats from splitting into Wall Street and Sanders camps. I should send him my book.

The first two years of college or tech school should be absolutely free (including Catholic college or "gasp" Catholic tech school). Indeed, students should be paid to go. After that, students should find a job for either full-time work or as full-time students with a service requirement. Student loans need only be used if the work arrangement does not work out. Should student loans be forgiven? There should be no set amount. Simply cancel all capitalized interest and apply payments to date to outstanding principal. 

For some, that will wipe out debt. For others, payments should be made on a schedule that will pay off the loan (with any principal balance for the first two years forgiven as well. This part will be a huge relief for those who started school without the capacity to finish it. Using students as cash cows to pay for Affordable Care Act baseline costs when they cannot afford the premiums is unjust (and even cruel).

Judges and Justices are allowed to write books. Any law that says otherwise would be ruled, justifiably, unconstitutional.  Being on the Court is actually less work than serving as an appellate judge (or a law school professor).

Puerto Rico shares the same issues that ever Central American and Caribbean nation face. They need to unite and face down the United States together. The radical elites will cancel each other out.

In Nevada, the line between the state and the Mormon Church is fuzzy enough to make covering religion essential. On a national basis, the biggest offender in filling landfills is paper, especially newsprint. It is time to move on (and incinerate).

Secularism is not the problem with the Democratic Party. Just the opposite. The President needs to expand the narrative on why Roe can never be overturned nor abortion outlawed, while at the same time calling out the Office of Pro-Life Activities as a Republican Fifth Column in the Church. 

There are plenty of ethnic conservatives who will never leave the Democratic Party - both Black and Hispanic. 43% of the Catholic vote still votes for the Dems, no matter what. If the Sanders wing of the Democratic Party does split off without making peace with people of faith, it will not last long.

My guess is that the robbery victim in Pittsburgh is not a Democrat.

When I was four years old in San Antonio, I once steered an airplane for my father while he took a picture of the Hemisfair Tower, then under construction. Space needles never go out of style.

From frontier to the present: New history traces US church and its people

From frontier to the present: New history traces US church and its people 

It is interesting to consider the relationship between the Council of Trent and the American colonial period. Doing so is a major contribution to American history. Trent is seen as anti-Protestant. Seeing it as anti-enlightenment adds legitimacy to civil opposition to Catholicism in America. Catholics in 19th Century American pews likely did not see it that way. They were too busy trying to eat. In Iowa during that period, a mixed marriage was considered a German Catholic marrying an Irish Catholic. Only the bishops cared about such things, as they were considered a mission Church. 

I have not read the book nor seen the table of contents. It will be interesting to how the Americanist heresy is dealt with, including its anti-Enlightenment bias. Trent and Vatican II can be seen as bookends in the war on the Enlightenment. At Vatican II, the Enlightenment won. If it had not, I wonder how (or if) the union between White Evangelicals and Catholic Trads over abortion would have occurred. Regardless, my book on the Papal Anachronists may need a prequel to address the period between Trent and Garibaldi.

Considering Benedict XVI's theology and papacy on his 94th birthday

Considering Benedict XVI's theology and papacy on his 94th birthday 

Ethics must be linked to Christology, especially the sacrifice of the cross. Did Christ bring us to God or did he bring God to us? Was he satisfying a cosmic debt or sharing, with the Father, our apartness?Are we to focus on our sins or in how we respond to sin as God would? This is the most profound question in Christianity and religion as a whole. Ratzinger's theology absolutely reflects this. God is for us in his revelation to us. 

The problem of Benedict's papacy was his fealty to the organization, which he and his generation equate with fealty to God. He missed the implication of his theology, which is that God does not need our fealty. The true Majesty of God is Humility. Benedict's moral theology upholds the authority of the Church over the truth. He was correct that the tyranny of relativism is the scourge of our age, but did not realize that he was the Tyrant.

Links: The women of NPR, 'Atlantic Crossing' and post-modern architecture

Links: The women of NPR, 'Atlantic Crossing' and post-modern architecture 

The police officer was only fired when a reporter posted the pepper spray  story on the federal civil rights case. Tasers, billy clubs and pepper spray are all methods to punish citizens who do not comply with law enforcement. At least most no longer cheer for the police, like Republicans did during the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. Before you defund the police, disarm them. In cases of drunk driving and mental illness, send one officer to control the situation (not the subject) and dispatch an ambulance to deal with the patient. The best argument for police reform is that some officers will either resign or not join the force, to which I say "good riddance."

I sometimes wonder if it is the business community that is supporting the status quo in Puerto Rico. They like to have their cake and eat it too. Central American and Caribbean possessions and countries need nationhood on the American model. Their current status serves the interests of capitalism and colonialism (actually the same thing). It will take a discussion by the middle class of this region to bring it forward. There is no such thing as a peasant revolution. I would be interested in knowing who the 47 academics are. They may be Puerto Rican. My guess is that no one else cares.

If the 10 moderate Senators wish to work with Biden they need to support a motion to proceed in exchange for the ability to offer amendments to the package and promise to vote for the final product. Anything else is a publicity stunt.

Lessons from the Amazon unionizing defeat

Lessons from the Amazon unionizing defeat 

The current union model is no longer sustainable, especially in companies that already pay $15 per hour. If working conditions are bad, OSHA needs to be funded adequately (with increased fines) and less oversight for unionized firms. People respond to penalties. The best life for unions would be as proxy holders in employee-owned firms. Going this way would take a culture shift within the labor movement - including supporting a shift of a portion of the employer contribution to Social Security to employer shares. This may involve, gasp, working with Republicans.

Links: Latino women for Trump, and the Olympics as a super-spreader event

Links: Latino women for Trump, and the Olympics as a super-spreader event 

1. American Hispanic conservative women fell for the lies that Trump was a successful businessman and that he would do something to ban abortion as any other conservative voter. Only the imminent ruin of Trump will pop the first bubble. Only strong action to improve the lives of families sold as a pro-life issue will pop the second (especially if the Republicans oppose it).

5. Survey research is generally valid. It is the analysis which is slanted. For example, any analysis that assumes that Roe could be overturned or that popular opinion matters on this issue is delusional (or worse, fraud).

2. Until judgements come out of police department pension funds, black men driving will have targets on their uniforms.

3. Tokyo will be a super-spreader because there will be so many available vectors for transmission - and because young people are now getting sick when they were not before. 

9. The Arab Spring shows why Google Billionaires are undertaxed. Revolutions must be organic and come from a competing faction of the middle class, not public relations events designed to stir up the peasants. The same logic applies to China and the Winter Games.

4A. Words have meanings. Bipartisanship is about legislators, not voters. Republican voting reform is Jim Crow 2.0. Infrastructure really is just physical capital - and it should be funded by gas taxes. Human capital investment should be funded by taxes on employers. What you call it affects how you fund it. Aid to state and local governments should have been sold as disaster relief - and disaster relief should be funded with no-year appropriations. 

4B. No one cares about the terms fake news and cancel culture - they will always be considered propaganda (a term originally coined by the Roman Inquisition, who thought it was a good thing). If the Supreme Court calls money political speech then that is what it is. Until the Democrats adopt reforms for their primary process - putting incumbents at risk - there will be no change. The word extremists simply links White racism to Goldwater - who would have shot at the insurrectionists. 

6. For every discussion on transgender rights shut down by the left there are five that are shut down by the Catholic Church. Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones. Again, rights are not subject to opinion - even and especially the opinions of asexual clergy who are closeted to themselves. Being asexual is even less common than being trans, but both are on the LGBTQIA spectrum. 

8. A mega-church rectory should be called a chancery. The politics in each are not that different.

10. The theology on Saint Joseph is horribly flawed. Any narrative that holds him up as an asexual icon is not worth the bandwidth.

7. The AP guide already deals with how the Roman Catholic Church is capitalized. Animals are they/thems, not its. Dogs are guardian angels in disguise. Not so sure about cats.

Manchin's mistaken prophetic stance on the filibuster

Manchin's mistaken prophetic stance on the filibuster 

Bipartisanship is lacking in both houses. It was worse by the Hastert rule and the McConnell era. In history, personalities matter, which is why we use the term Jeremiad. Until social justice is seen as a winning political issue on both (or even one) side, the debate will nibble around the edges. Both sides are capitalist. 

Social justice, like morality, need to be argued from humanistic points of view. This implies that doing so is interest of the self and the nation rather than God. Israel did not fall because it sinned. It fell because of where it is. Neighborhoods that stand in the way of a major road tend to be bulldozed.  If God is seen as all humble, meaning that they/them have no personal interest in our actions, then there is no conflict between a humanistic and theistic menu of solutions. I have written a few (dozen) books about such solutions.

The Senate was meant to be an assembly of state assemblies. This led to sectionalism and the preservation of slavery, followed by corruption. Making Senators gubernatorial appointees would have been more effective for the institution to function as designed. It was an improved Congress of the Confederation - which required super-majority action to get anything done.

The Civil Rights debates changed cloture from 2/3rds to sixty votes. Sixty is too much because it gives factions in the majority too much power. 51 is too small, unless you like what happened regarding the Amy Comey-Barrett nomination. 55 or 56 are good numbers. The need to get six Republican votes would end Manchin's ability to act as gatekeeper.

In the fight against racism, reparations are not the answer

In the fight against racism, reparations are not the answer 

Racism, and its ugly brother sexism, are the principal tools of authoritarianism. They deliberately exploit the automatic reaction to Otherness to divide and conquer. Inadequate funding of education (or its outright ban) is used to fuel racial stereotypes, including among White and male useful idiots who do not have the skills to overcome biased thinking. 

That the better educated middle class fights over wokeness makes them the gift that keeps on giving. When official racism became untenable, abortion became the new wedge issue. Abortion gave bigots a new target and created a feminist backlash. 

The reality is that the only ways to reduce abortion are contraception (the opposition to which is fueled by misogyny) and the adequate distribution of economic benefits to families. Add the stink of welfare to such programs and they can be resisted as a form of socialism. That the Soviet other no longer exists testifies to the irrationality of these sentiments.

Reparations have always been political. Sherman used the promise of forty acres and a mule to gain allies in the Black community. He had to know that Washington would not back his play. White Bernie Bros and the Green Party supporting reparations are also seen as baldly political. That the Black voters went solidly for Biden is proof of this.

Reparations and civil enforcement are poor substitutes to criminal sanctions against actual bigots. The latter is seen as a bridge too far - probably because they would work and because those who would enact them would be soundly defeated at the ballot box. Unless the entire beloved community pushed for criminal enforcement (Gays, Hispanics, Blacks, the Disabled and families with children), no such sanctions will pass.

Limiting reparations in Evanston to an older population makes them largely symbolic. Most people denied fair housing before 1969 are dead. Punishing current racism with such payments invites White grievance. The assumption will be that any Black neighbor had an unfair economic advantage.  

Encouraging solidarity among the working class, both in work and consumption, is the only way out. This kind of solidarity is exactly the kind of thing the authoritarians want to avoid. Any system that provides it must offer good enough cash and prizes to overcome the prejudices against the Other.

Links: Catholic social teaching origins, voting laws, corporate taxes

Links: Catholic social teaching origins, voting laws, corporate taxes 

The America Magazine essay certainly attacks the economics of consumerism.  This is a huge theme for MSW, which he ignores. Fr.  Strynkowski misses the dispossession of workers in capitalism. Consumption is the Band-Aid that makes capitalism possible. This type of dispossession was well known to Jesus in his life. Father misses the fact that family members and their friends were the core of the Twelve, while Matthew joined as an act of repentance from being on the other side. 

No one leaves the Church over Christ as dispossessed. They leave because the Church hierarchy ignores the issue in its actions - not its words. The hypocrisy is what drives people out.The underlying message that the sacrifice of the Cross is God sharing our dispossession on earth rather than as an atonement from dispossessing God is spot on. The bulk of the Church misses that one too, with even more heading for the exits because of it. 

These issues are not new, nor is the fact that the hierarchy would rather not talk about them. That theologians are leading the way on this discussion is a blessing and shows that they are finally becoming useful. The relation between the cross and the manger - as well as all points in between - comes from a holistic view of Christ as God-Man. God comes to us - not the other way around.

Gasp, Republicans are using false equivalencing again! Bravo, MLB! Cato will go with the wishes of its donors on corporate minimum tax. Gasp again and Bravo, Yellen! Of course, the better option would be a global asset value added tax. Business taxes should pay for services to employees and their families - either directly or indirectly.

Partisan affiliation has had nothing to do with this progression of cases on religion, nor has the religion of the Justice (with the exception of Scalia). The Court struck down Blaine Amendments banning Catholic school funding. Not a bad thing. So far, in areas where religious people have demanded the right to control the behavior of others - from birth control, to abortion, to sodomy to marriage equality, the Courts have rejected Catholic (and other) Church demands on all occasions. 

I am not particularly happy about Hosanna-Tabor, but it makes sense if the glasring loophole allowing the firing of teachers in gay marriages is removed.  The Court has not considered the rights of employees in the context of religious liberty v. religious power. This is because no one has asked them to yet. Be assured that next time Lambda takes up such a case, I will make sure that this is how the question is framed. Hosanna-Tabor and Title VII definitions of sex are soon. On the Little Sisters case, the Court did a good job threading the needle. They split the baby and the Nuns did not like it. The Court responds to cases and arguments. It does not invent them, regardless of the tropes that MSW wants to believe.

I will hold my comments on the new Word on Fire book until I see or hear about the annotations. If I don't like them, I will come up with some of my own.

Joe Biden teaches 'Fratelli Tutti' Economics 101

Joe Biden teaches 'Fratelli Tutti' Economics 101 $2 Trillion over 8 years is sizeable, but not earth shattering. The American Rescue Plan Act was way more in the spirit of Fratelli because of its child tax credit and health care provisions. The small adjustment in corporate taxes is less than what was lost in the Ryan-Brady reforms. To really increase brotherhood, we need a bill with higher minimum wages and retirement and disability payments. Too many of us still need to visit food pantries and $250 billion of infrastructure spending a year won't change that. Biden needs to go bigger.

Links: Pope Francis on the cross; corporations respond to Georgia voting law

Links: Pope Francis on the cross; corporations respond to Georgia voting law 

Jesus being bit on the cross is not in scripture. Such sentiments harken back to the scandal of St. Anselm's Christology. Francis misses the point of the story, that Jesus was on a divine vision quest into our forsaken hearts. It is a unitive sacrifice, not because God needs it, but because we do. We respond by our unity with others.

Finally, a real NLRB. Now if only OSHA and Wage & Hour were adequately funded,.

Capitalism feeds on image and myth. The myth of King Donald's wrath has been broken. The myth of Trump spiked his support. His fall will leave his voters adrift. They need a new CEO to worship.

The power of prayer is discernment, not bribery. It is the Sisters in Catholic Health that have the greater part in this case. Mask shaming, on the other hand, does nothing to stop a virus spread by heavy sneezes in private, or the belief among the suffering that the second round of symptoms will simply go away like the first. Doctors need to pray more.

Cruise ships will dock nearby Venice, so now it will be impossible to get a water taxi.

Msgr. John Tracy Ellis on selecting bishops in the US

Msgr. John Tracy Ellis on selecting bishops in the US 

Acknowledging the rights of the Supreme Pontiff is Catholic political correctness. It's an irony warning that I never bother with because I don't have to. Ellis makes clear that there is no eternal way to create bishops, it exists in a culture context and that nepotism has been replaced by seminary ties. Same stuff, different day and not a justification for status quo Medievalism. Note, Pontiffs do not have rights, they have powers - and only the power we give them.

Good Friday: All you who pass this way, look and see

Good Friday: All you who pass this way, look and see 

The crucified Christ reaches into our hearts, not so we can find God but because God finds us. Jesus and the Father are One in our suffering and the Spirit comforts us, all in that moment. Jesus is not the other on our behalf. Instead, our otherness is gone in His cry of foresakeness. In the crucified Christ, we see ourselves. The challenge of the Christ is to also see others as Christ sees them, in love.

Links: Catholic identity at universities, meritocracy and the 'working class'

Links: Catholic identity at universities, meritocracy and the 'working class' 

Unless Catholic identity is moved from the chair to the pews, the Church will become irrelevant. Catholic universities and theologians need to be the yeast for this. It is the only way to avoid a generation of Nones.

The Sanders generation will change the discussion in the left toward a more radical direction. Whether anyone in the main stream press pays attention to what is being said - especially when topics challenge the Wall Street status quo will determine whether meritocracy holds on. 

Start with demonstrating that high executive salaries lead to wage theft, that running debt is making the rich richer as long as we roll interest into new debt and stressing that Wall Street speculation is not investment in the way that it is described as an element of Gross Domestic Product. Plant and Equipment is a function of expected purchases by government, retirees and other households. The Catholic Press needs to join the discussion - and not by asking theologians.

COVID deaths have more to do with bad medicine than bad politics. If people do not recognize that, while the first symptoms go away, the second set do not - especially the respiratory ones. That is the real scandal and few talk about it - especially in the media and medical hierarchy.

LGBTQIA and hetero students need to get out of court and quietly educate universities and bishops about the unreality of Catholic sexual teaching. They need to out the asexuals in the clergy to themselves. 

There are better lawsuits - ones on behalf of employees asserting that the bishops' desire for religious liberty is to seek legitimacy behind reasserting religious power. Saying employees and students should go elsewhere is to continue to cede ground to the hierarchy it never deserved in the first place.

There are four classes, the lucky retired, the poor and the working class - who receive the bottom 30% of adjusted gross income and make up the bottom 75% of households, the middle class - who receive the next 30% and who make up from the 75th to the 95th percentiles and the upper class, which receive about 40% of adjusted gross income. The key is to count the money, not the people. 

As for student loans, government held student loan interest and capitalized principle paid for a significant portion of Affordable Care Act baseline counts. Before the Rescue Act, the same people could not afford to pay both the interest and their Obamacare premiums. They are in the working class too.