Distinctly Catholic

I highly recommend readers to this masterful article by Melinda Henneberger on the lack of coverage of the Gosnell case in Philadelphia. I find it especially curious that the editors at the Post entitled the article "Why Kermit Gosnell hasn't been on Page One." In the event, Henneberger's article did not make page 2, where her columns usually appear. It was only published online. This makes Henneberger's arguments even more damning.

Michael Gerson's tribute to Margaret Thatcher noted that she was no libertarian, that her commitment to free markets was tempered by her Methodism. Good for him for noting this. But, Gerson flinches before the task of wrestling with the real question here: Are the values the market requires, and which Thatcher championed, are they Christian values?

Okay, okay. I know the Holy Father does not want us to be "self-referential" but I must confess my disappointment that not a single person, in the comments or by email, picked up on one line in my review of George Weigel's new book.  I wrote that Wiegel held up Pope John Paul II as the "model of a major modern papacy." I had in mind the great song from Gilbert & Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance." Here is the song:

“The first thing we do….” Dick, the butcher, a forgettable role in a largely forgettable play by Shakespeare, gave voice to a sentiment that many people share, even if his remedy was excessive. There is something about the legal profession that makes it especially ripe for satire and worse.

As if the debate on gay marriage was not provocative enough! This article by Patrick Dineen I commend because it will make both the left and the right squirm. It echoes the point I have been making, namely, that we lost the fight for traditional marriage fifty years ago with the introduction of no-fault divorce laws, but Dineen goes further and points to the ways the ambient culture can be conservative in ways that accelerate the decline of traditional marriage. Interesting stuff.