A Great Epiphany Moment | National Catholic Reporter

A Great Epiphany Moment | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Sadly, I missed Epiphany Mass, not being able to wake up until the afternoon before working at night.  I always revel in the singing of We Three Kings - but have been peeved of late to note that the use of the word astrologers has been removed from the Gospel text (as if it were better for all concerned if instead the Magi were sorcerers).

MSW's HHS Update At the Tablet | National Catholic Reporter

MSW's HHS Update At the Tablet | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB:  Michael still refuses to acknowledge that birth control has been an essential preventative care services since December 2000 and that Bush did nothing to stop the EEOC from going forward once he became president.  He would never admit that the Church is simply wrong on contraception (except as a poor substitute for economic justice for families in the form of a living wage - which the Church does not even pay to its employees - asking them to use Natural Family Planning instead).

NCR suspends comments on website | National Catholic Reporter

NCR suspends comments on website | National Catholic Reporter Thanks for nothing to the wingnuts who ruined things for the rest of us.

Contra William McGurn | National Catholic Reporter

Contra William McGurn | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The papacy of Pope Francis is an excellent oppoturnity for what is called Type II Learning for Conservative Catholics who simply don't want to face the social doctrine of the Church - which is both ancient and specially promulgated over the last century and a half (hard not to notice, but remember the reaction to Mater et Magerteria by his ilk - Mater, si, Magisteria no).  This is not a case of reducing religion to ethics - but of reducting it to politics.  The difference is that the Church has muffed sex so much so that while Catholics are welcome in the GOP, they are not equally welcomed by the Demorcrats.

Morlino vs. Pope Francis | National Catholic Reporter

Morlino vs. Pope Francis | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: We don't need the papal (or any other) Magisterium to define what is right or wrong on economic life - we have the Gospel and the Prophets who are quite clear on these issues.  Still, I love the fact that Francis is paring back the overuse of the Magisterium - which John Paul II and Benedict XVI used as a club to fight the culture wars.

Becket's Big Lie on Mandate | National Catholic Reporter

Becket's Big Lie on Mandate | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: I will continue to say that assuming the government should not have the power to draw lines on how it distinguishes what is a religious body and what is not is woefully naive.  The line has to be drawn somewhere or Chik-Fil-Let could call itself a Church to avoid complying with the law.  The most egregious lie on this issue is the sin of ommission of the neglect to mention that all insurance that covers preventative care has been required to provide contraception since December 2000.  The only changes are an attempt to placate self-insured (or not self-insurend) churches and to expand the coverage offered to eliminate co-pays by patients.  As far as Beckett wanting to relitigate Griswold -  of course they do.  That is why they support law suits against this provision.  As far as Arroyo, he could not be more wrong about Francis.  Indeed, Francis may eventually get him kicked off the air.

Gerson Rescues Constitution From Tea Party | National Catholic Reporter

Gerson Rescues Constitution From Tea Party | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The Tea Party is not constitutionalist, it is ant-federalist - including not only the founders but also the drafters and ratifiers of the Civil War and Progressive Amendments - which give the government much of the power that the Tea Party does not like (equal protection enforced from Washington) and the expansion inherent in a bicameral legislature where both houses are accountable to the electorate - where the only constitutional limitation is, in fact, majority rule rather than the rule of property.  Of course, it is not accident that very rich men - especially David and Charles Koch, fund the Tea Party.  Using the founding fathers to baptize their ideology is a Big Lie (very fascist) and pure propoganda.  As Lincoln said, however, you can't fool all of the people some of the time (although they can fool all the Tea Party all of the time).