by David L. Gregory (Catalyst 12/2005) The Right to be Wrong: Ending the Culture War Over Religion in America is the latest, and perhaps the most engaging and lucid, entry in the burgeoning “culture war” literature. But, unlike all of the others, this book proposes an interesting way to end hostilities. The author of the book, Kevin (Seamus)... [Read more...]
The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights erected a nativity scene today in New York’s Central Park. Every year the Catholic League obtains a permit from the Parks Department of the City of New York allowing us to put up a manger scene on the corner of 59th Street and 5th Avenue. It will be blessed today at 4:00 p.m. by Msgr. John Woolsey,... [Read more...]
A lawsuit has been filed by the Thomas More Law Center against the City of New York, Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and another school official challenging the Department of Education’s policy regarding “Holiday Displays”: the policy allows the display of the Jewish Menorah and the Islamic Star and Crescent while banning the Christian religious... [Read more...]
Yesterday, the Catholic League issued a news release on the “holiday wars” over the display of crèches and menorahs on public property. The release stated, among other things, that a menorah had been banned from display in public land in Watchung, New Jersey; it also said that in Airmont, New York, a crèche had been banned. But now a Jewish... [Read more...]
On November 29, U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens ruled that the city of Cincinnati cannot bar the display of a menorah on a downtown plaza during the holidays. The municipal ordinance that was overturned said that only the city can use Fountain Square during the last two weeks of November through the first week of January. Stevens, who... [Read more...]
A Review-Article By Kenneth D. Whitehead (The Political Science Reviewer, Volume XXXI, 2002) I. One of the most remarkable of phenomena in recent years has been the revival of the controversy over the role of Pope Pius XII during the Second World War, and, specifically, over that pontiff’s stance with regard to Hitler’s effort to exterminate... [Read more...]
There are many Catholic organizations and publications that reject the Church’s teachings on sexuality. We’ve been tracking what they’ve been saying in this time of crisis and, predictably, the voices of dissent want to turn the Church upside down and inside out. Here’s a sampling of some of the more inane comments we’ve... [Read more...]
On January 9, the opening day of the new Nebraska legislative session, state senator Ernie Chambers distributed a packet of unusual Rosary beads to his colleagues. All of them had the crucifix chopped off. Chambers justified his decision to disfigure the Catholic devotional object by arguing that people of many religious beliefs find peace in what he... [Read more...]
On December 7, menorahs were removed from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in West Palm Beach. On December 10, they were restored. The initial complaints were made by those who contended that the menorah is a religious symbol and should therefore not be displayed on government property. The second round of complaints came from the Jewish War Veterans.... [Read more...]
The Catholic League triggered a media frenzy in Arizona that embarrassed its Attorney General for supporting a ban on Santa Claus in public areas of her office. It began when Gale Garriott, chief counsel of the Agency Counsel Division of the Arizona Attorney General’s office, issued a memo banning the display of Santa Claus from areas open to the... [Read more...]