Things You Don't Talk About in Polite Company

The good news is that social conservatives are always getting upset over triivial stuff like this. No one takes them seriously about it and they end up looking a little goofy (have they proposed a boycott against Goofy?), but as long as it occupies their time and efforts, our culture is probably safe.

[I]mplement a national ID and give one to everybody, free of charge. You get it when you turn 18 (or whatever), and you get a free update every five years (or whatever). Roving mobile vans would trek through rural areas periodically to make sure everyone has easy access to whichever federal agency is tasked with providing the cards. Instead of simply requiring people to have picture IDs, the federal government would do everything it could to make sure everyone actually has a picture ID, with as little hassle as possible.

Now, this would cost money. And it would create a (smallish) bureaucracy. And Michigan Militia types wouldn't like the idea. But if Republicans are serious about this whole thing, it's the fair and decent way to go about it. Any takers?

The Vatican opened part of its secret archives to let historians review millions of diplomatic letters, private correspondence and other church documents to gain insight into how the Holy See dealt with the persecution of Jews before World War II.

Researchers said it could take months or years to study about 30,000 bundles of documents from the 1922-39 papacy of Pius XI, a span when the rise of Nazism, fascism and Soviet-bloc communism gripped Europe.

The opening is part of the Vatican's efforts to defend Pius' successor, the wartime Pope Pius XII, against claims that he did not do enough to save Jews during the war.

Joe Swanson's office looks like a minister's office -- dark wood furniture on red carpet -- and in a gentle voice he talks about God and Christianity, usually smiling as he does so.

But he isn't a minister. He's a developer.

Swanson grew up in a Christian home, raised his children the same way, and when he talks about how blessed he is, there's something so genuine in his tone that you'll probably nod in agreement, whether you agree or not.

So he's decided to spread his faith, but instead of standing at a pulpit preaching to a congregation, he's found a more subtle way to introduce Christianity into society — by building mixed-use developments. Swanson is not the only one who's found that, when it comes to real estate, faith can be an amenity.

Rosenbloom says September 11 intensified public interest in nonfiction, and hastened the decline of literary and escapist fiction: "I think literary fiction is struggling because of the new reality that September 11 ushered in. The public realises that we are engaged in a protracted struggle with fanatics who will probably cause massive damage at home. I think the reading public has lost patience with, and is irritated by, old-fashioned escapist fiction. It has lost patience with literary fiction. It has lost patience with fiction that doesn't engage with the world."

'Pope Benedict pastries' — sweet cakes with a cross in the middle — fill bakery windows in the small town of Marktl, the birthplace of Pope Benedict XVI, in anticipation of his arrival in the Catholic-dominated Bavarian heartland on Saturday.

Across town, crates of 'Benedict Beer' are being brought in for the expected influx of tourists. And souvenir stores have been stocking up on pope memorabilia."

In the book, which hits bookstores September 19, the antiwar icon admits she has fantasized about going back in time and killing the infant George W. Bush, thereby preventing the Iraq War.

For us Catholics, the “Catholic vote” holds no mystery: it consists of the fact that Catholics participate fully in democratic life, without leaving their Catholic identity outside the voting booth.
Participation in democratic life, especially through the vote, but also through various channels of expression that our system allows, is the responsibility of every Catholic.

Why? Because, as people of faith, we believe both in the need to build a just society and in the supernatural destiny of the human person. This conviction naturally impels us to the building of the common good.

The Compendium of the Catechism explains that “the common good” is understood as “the sum total of those conditions of social life which allow people as groups and as individuals to reach their proper fulfillment.” (Compendium 407)

According to the Social Doctrine of the Church, the common good is more than the wellbeing of isolated individuals: it involves respecting and promoting the fundamental rights of the person, developing the spiritual and temporal goods of the person and society, and the peace and security of everyone.

As The Compendium of the Catechism explains, “all men and women according to the place and role that they occupy participate in promoting the common good by respecting just laws and taking charge of the areas for which they have personal responsibility such as the care of their own family and the commitment to their own work. Citizens also should take an active part in public life as far as possible.” (Compendium 410)

For us Catholics, the “Catholic vote” holds no mystery: it consists of the fact that Catholics participate fully in democratic life, without leaving their Catholic identity outside the voting booth.
Participation in democratic life, especially through the vote, but also through various channels of expression that our system allows, is the responsibility of every Catholic.

Why? Because, as people of faith, we believe both in the need to build a just society and in the supernatural destiny of the human person. This conviction naturally impels us to the building of the common good.

The Compendium of the Catechism explains that “the common good” is understood as “the sum total of those conditions of social life which allow people as groups and as individuals to reach their proper fulfillment.” (Compendium 407)

According to the Social Doctrine of the Church, the common good is more than the wellbeing of isolated individuals: it involves respecting and promoting the fundamental rights of the person, developing the spiritual and temporal goods of the person and society, and the peace and security of everyone.

As The Compendium of the Catechism explains, “all men and women according to the place and role that they occupy participate in promoting the common good by respecting just laws and taking charge of the areas for which they have personal responsibility such as the care of their own family and the commitment to their own work. Citizens also should take an active part in public life as far as possible.” (Compendium 410)

For us Catholics, the “Catholic vote” holds no mystery: it consists of the fact that Catholics participate fully in democratic life, without leaving their Catholic identity outside the voting booth.
Participation in democratic life, especially through the vote, but also through various channels of expression that our system allows, is the responsibility of every Catholic.

Why? Because, as people of faith, we believe both in the need to build a just society and in the supernatural destiny of the human person. This conviction naturally impels us to the building of the common good.

The Compendium of the Catechism explains that “the common good” is understood as “the sum total of those conditions of social life which allow people as groups and as individuals to reach their proper fulfillment.” (Compendium 407)

According to the Social Doctrine of the Church, the common good is more than the wellbeing of isolated individuals: it involves respecting and promoting the fundamental rights of the person, developing the spiritual and temporal goods of the person and society, and the peace and security of everyone.

As The Compendium of the Catechism explains, “all men and women according to the place and role that they occupy participate in promoting the common good by respecting just laws and taking charge of the areas for which they have personal responsibility such as the care of their own family and the commitment to their own work. Citizens also should take an active part in public life as far as possible.” (Compendium 410)