Surprise! There’s plenty of debate, disagreement, and flat out arguing to be found in the news today.
A new ABC News/Washington Post poll shows Americans are sharply divided on same-sex marriage in the wake of President Obama endorsing marriage equality rights last week. Sarah Posner and Sarah Pulliam Bailey discuss whether being anti-gay marriage also means being anti-gay. Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite wonders if we need to redefine what it means to “love thy neighbor” in the 21st century.
The argument over “religious liberty” violations has gone north of the border. Now Canada’s Catholic bishops are making a case that their religious freedom is threatened.
Melinda Gates’ support of contraception in developing countries as a health and safety issue for women has drawn the ire of Dallas Bishop Kevin Farrell. On our blog, Meghan Murphy-Gill wonders if Gates framing the question as one of social justice merits more consideration from the church.
Mark Hannah was upset to see his parish opposing the Affordable Care Act, and he’s issued an open letter to the parish to oppose its political stance on the issue.
Debate over Paul Ryan’s budget proposal, which was opposed by the U.S. bishops for its moral failings, continues to rage on. Madison, Wisconsin’s Bishop Robert Morlino, who happens to be Ryan’s bishop, has gone against his fellow bishops to support Ryan and even to say his budget, as Ryan himself has argued, is influenced by Catholic teaching.
Another ongoing squabble surrounds HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius speaking at Georgetown University. Grant Gallicho at dotCommonweal recaps some of the highlights, including comments from Robert George of Princeton.
Here’s one for the Catholic argument against capital punishment: The Atlantic recounts the story of an innocent man executed for a crime that someone else committed.
OK, how about a nice, happy story to round things out? A 52-year old janitor at Columbia University has spent years taking classes at the school part time (with free tuition, since he’s a university employee). Now he has finally received his bachelor’s degree, and he may now try to move on to a master’s or even a Ph.D.
