Tag: Secularism

A Nation of Sleeping Susies

In the 1950’s, I remember listening to a hit recoding of an Everly Brothers’ song, Wake up Little Susie on my 45 record player. I believe the song title has an implicit warning for us today. With apologies to Winston Churchill, like the frantic...

The Marxist Imagination

There are a myriad of different kinds of imaginations. The one I am the most familiar with is the Catholic Imagination, especially Andrew Greeley’s wonderful book of the same name.  In my past essay, the Womb of My Catholic Imagination I explored...

The Secularization of the Church in Our Midst

Sadly, one of the most obvious effects of the COVID-19 pandemic is the extent to which the institutional Church has been secularized. Many are familiar with the term secularization in terms of the broader culture. There is no need to repeat here at...

The Winter Solstice

It is at this time of the year many devout people question the real meaning of this, the most religiously festive of all seasons. Ok, for over 50 years, I confess to having enjoyed putting up the tree, seeing it glimmer with colorful lights and our...

The Hollywood Gospel

For over a century, Hollywood has served as the showcase for American culture. For generations, patriotism, hard work, fair play, and even religious fervor permeated the big screen because it was good business to give the public what it wanted...

Pope Francis and Population Control

Pope Francis has issued a challenge to traditional Catholics by welcoming prominent population-control advocates such as Paul Ehrlich to speak before the Pontifical Academy of Sciences earlier this year. This invitation was extended in the context...

Coming of Age

The biggest challenge facing Catholics today is how to live in the City of Man without forfeiting our residency in the City of God. It is a dilemma that is now more pronounced than it was 50 years ago. Before Vatican II everything was laid out with...

Big Words

My adult daughter likes to use big words, such as “polymath” and “bloviation.” Her favorite word is “sesquipedalian,” which means someone who likes to use big words. The only place in print I have ever seen this word was in three different...