Seeing the Humanity of “the Enemy”: Movies to Provoke Thought and Discussion
by John Whitehead One of the many pernicious effects of war and other violent conflicts is how they push people into demonizing people on the other side of a conflict. Once people become identified as “the enemy” in a conflict, they become one-dimensional figures of evil or otherwise less than human in their opponents’ eyes….
Their Abortion Stand Still Hurts Democrats
by Rachel MacNair Yesteryear We’ve long been making the point that Democrats are shooting themselves in the foot with having not merely a pro-abortion stand but an aggressive stand, tolerating no dissent. Here are illustrative quotations: A Couple of Decades Ago: Mark Shields Dems doing worst to lose “Catholic vote”, Mark Shields Creators Syndicate, July…
Human Being, or Merely Potential Human?
by Jim Hewes In abortion debates, a pro-abortion presenter might dismiss the developing human organism within the womb as merely a potential human. This suggests a state of being unreal or incomplete. This term is misleading and fundamentally flawed, as it denies biological reality and creates ethical confusion. Historically, labeling certain groups as less than…
Through Heaven’s Eyes: Honoring the God-Given Worth of Every Life
by Ava Addams In a fractured world where value is too often assigned by status, productivity, or popularity, the message of the Gospel cuts through the noise with a bold, unrelenting truth: Every human life bears the image of God. Not some. Not just convenient. Not only the ones who agree with us or look…
Conviction When Real Guilt is Irrelevant
by Ms. Boomer-ang Sarah Terzo, in her October 2024 blog post about the September 2024 execution of a man, despite the fact that the one who testified against him had later retracted his statement and declared he did not want someone to die for something he did not do, observed, “It often seems that our…
Abortion When it Involves a Rape: See the Faces
by Jim Hewes Addressing abortion following criminal rape is sensitive and complex. Below I draw from nearly two decades of direct experience as the director of Project Rachel, where I have accompanied many women wounded and hurt by abortion. I also rely on people directly affected such as Rebecca Kiessling, Lianna Rebolledo, Stephanie Reynolds, Jennifer…
Persuading People to Act against the Nuclear Threat: Some Findings and Recommendations
by John Whitehead A perennial question for activists is “How do you get people to join you?” Persuading people to accept your views on an issue and then to act on these views is a major challenge. Addressing this challenge, specifically regarding activism against the threat of nuclear weapons, is the subject of the recent…
Abortion and the Unwanted Child
by Fr. Jim Hewes In the 1990’s I was invited to be a presenter to a non-profit organization who was considering moving to support abortion rather than continuing to stay neutral. It was in a home filled with quite a few people. There were two of us on the pro-life side and two on the pro-abortion…
Signal Chat: The Media Misses the Actual Scandals
by Rachel MacNair A journalist is mistakenly invited and included in a group chat of top officials discussing a military strike in Yemen. Details of the operation that’s about to happen are given there, but the reporter doesn’t divulge them to anybody at that point. Indeed, it’s not until the strikes happen as detailed that…
U.S.A.I.D. – The Good and the Bad
by Rachel MacNair The Trump administration is trying to shut down the United States Agency for International Development. The courts are weighing in and developments are likely to change between the time I write this and the time you read it. The US Congress is supposed to have a say since it created the agency…