Does a “Catholic vote” even exist?
And so, in this exceedingly strange political year, what has become of the Catholic vote? There was a time not so long ago when the actual or anticipated voting behavior of American Catholics was a […]
Articles by Russell Shaw
Opinion
Thomas Aquinas and angry American voters
Americans, a goodly number of them anyway, are angry. Opinion polls and both parties’ primaries are evidence of that. But will this anger be put to good use or squandered? At the moment, squandering appears […]
Opinion
Modesty in America and the Great Bathroom War
If the Great American Bathroom War hasn’t taught us anything else, at least it’s reminded us—supposing we needed reminding—that the secular culture hasn’t got a clue about the meaning of modesty as applied to human […]
History
Dorothy Day’s houses of formation
It wasn’t so much the look of poverty as she saw it a century ago in the teeming tenements of New York that outraged Dorothy Day as it was the smell. Many years later in […]
As culture wars escalate, so do legislation and litigation
Although the wave of battles now underway in several parts of the country over religious freedom laws and LGBT rights may come as a surprise to some people, it shouldn’t. At least since last year’s […]
Essay
Cheap grace won’t suffice in any age, including ours
Now that the dust stirred by publication of Pope Francis’s new document on marriage has started to settle, it’s time for assessments that avoid the overwrought tone of some early responses. Here, then, some preliminary […]
Essay
Catholic Voters and the Dilemma of 2016
As the presidential primaries wear on, a potentially serious dilemma has begun to take shape for some voters. The question isn’t for whom to vote in November but whether to vote at all. Yes, the […]
Analysis
A clash of secularism and fundamentalism?
While President Obama is correct in saying the war on terror is not and mustn’t become a war against Islam, it would be foolish to ignore the religious dimension of Islamic terrorism as now reflected […]
Analysis
Catholics, Protestants, and Christian union
News that Pope Francis will travel to Sweden in October for an event marking the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation underlines the fact that the Catholic Counter-Reformation is over. Whether Protestants are prepared to […]
Analysis
The Post-Scalia Court and the Culture War
To no one’s particular surprise, the process of filling the Supreme Court vacancy created by Antonin Scalia’s death has morphed into a huge Washington-style power struggle. What may not be so obvious is that the […]