Hans Urs von Balthasar, in his essay, “Casta Meretrix,” shows that Catholic writers through the ages identified the Catholic church with the whore of Babylon; I summarized his argument here. Hugo Mendez wanted to counter Adventist prophetic interpretation here, but as I mentioned to him in a comment, he’s going to have to read von…
It would be good for George Bush to confess that he was wrong about a link between Iraq and Al-Qaeda–and I think he should do it in a prime time news conference where he could also apologize to those affected. Instead, he’s tried to bury the Pentagon’s report which acknowledges, after having years to sift…
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America released a Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality today. It’s the latest round of discussions that have taken place throughout the twenty years of the ELCA’s existence. Lutheran CORE responds. “There is a lot in the statement that can be affirmed, but there are some glaring theological errors here,”…
David Cole, “The Torture Veto,” The Nation. Bush says “hardened terrorists” merit different treatment from captured soldiers. But in this conflict that distinction quickly dissolves. What exactly is the basis for treating suspected terrorists differently from other human beings? The Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment does not have…
Jared Massey was stopped for speeding in Utah; when he tried to point out a sign to the cop, the cop pulled out his taser. Massey was cleared of wrong-doing, and the state of Utah has settled his civil suit for $40,000. Of course, the state of Utah refuses to admit the cop did anything…
In Boca Raton, FL, housing officials call out riot police on crowd of mothers with children. Bureaucrats had said they would hand out 600 applications at 9:00 a.m.–but decided to hand out most of those before the designated time. Police are proud of their actions.
The body of Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, kidnapped on February 29, has been found outside Mosul.
Essay by a Reform Jew about her fear of a Chasidic rabbi–on the Busted Halo webpage for Catholic young adults.
Article about the struggles faced by religious groups in Turkey. Synopsis: Turkey has passed the long-promised new Foundations Law. However, it does not allow Muslim or non-Muslim religious communities to legally exist as themselves, Otmar Oehring of the German Catholic charity Missio notes in a commentary for Forum 18 News Service http://www.forum18.org. Bizarrely, religious communities…
Terry Mattingly on the lack of an awareness of sin.
Ghosts of the Partition–Terry Mattingly on religion in India.
The Codex Judas Congress begins this afternoon at Rice University.
Please continue to keep Doug Kilcher and his family in your prayers. He’s our conference Secretary (equivalent to chancellor, for my Catholic friends), and has been battling multiple myeloma. I don’t recall having heard of the disease, a cancer of the blood, before Doug became ill. Yet Roy Scheider recently died from it; a little…
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