Catholics in the U.S. may soon know North Dakota as the cutting edge of Catholic higher education reform.
Guest Columnists
A Call to Action: Grow in Character
Research based on a survey of 3,000 young people by Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton shows that most youth believe in a moral and benevolent God who wants us to be good, watches over us and solves our problems in our quest for personal happiness… as the authors termed, a “Divine Butler.”
Regensburg Vindicated
On the evening of Sept. 12, 2006, my wife and I were dining in Krakow with Polish friends when an agitated Italian Vaticanista (pardon the redundancy in adjectives) called and demanded to know what I thought of “Zees crazee speech of zee pope about zee Muslims.” That was my first hint that the herd of independent minds in the world press was about to go ballistic on the subject of Benedict XVI’s Regensburg Lecture: a “gaffe”-bone on which the media continued to gnaw until the end of Benedict’s pontificate.
Going Offline to Connect in Real Life
Yesterday, I left my cellphone on the kitchen table when I left the house. It felt as if the apocalypse happened! The first hour wasn’t so bad. It was bright and early in the morning, and I had coffee to drink and work to do.
Autumn Brings Spiritual Renewal
September has always been one of my favorite times. Instead of going in big for New Year’s resolutions, something in me cries out for renewal in autumn.
Understanding Proxies and POLSTs in End of Life Planning
Planning for end-of-life situations is important. We should put in place an advance directive before our health takes a serious turn for the worse and we are no longer able to indicate our own wishes or make our own decisions.
The Best and Worst of The Human Condition
It has been a summer filled with the troubles of our time. In Iraq and Syria, barbaric fanatics have slaughtered thousands in the name of religion. In West Africa, hundreds have died from Ebola, a particularly virulent virus. Within those horrors, however, there were acts – heinous and heroic – that gave pause to think.
Networks of Dialogue Needed for Peace
In recent months, people of goodwill throughout the world have been horrified by the violence perpetrated by the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS). Thousands of Christians and other religious minorities have been forced to leave their homes. Women have been raped.
Remembering the Great Fouad Ajami
In a year replete with devastating news, the June 22 death of Middle East scholar Fouad Ajami hit especially hard. For decades, Ajami – a man of genius, whom I was honored to call a friend – was an invaluable mentor in matters involving the Arab world and its often lethal discontents.
Celebrating the Covenant of Marriage
My son Stephen and I spent an unusual, albeit unusually moving, Independence Day: