EPPC - Colleen Carroll Campbell RSS Feed

Whose Vision of Social Justice?

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST

Anyone who has cracked open a Bible knows that justice is indeed a recurring theme. Still, there's a reason that the term "social justice" provokes sighs and rolled eyes among many Christians today.

Would Jesus Defend Marriage?

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST

It was a controversy tailor-made for the TV cameras: A lesbian couple in the liberal bastion of Boulder, Colorado, had enrolled their children in a Catholic parish school, only to see those children denied re-enrollment once the parish priest learned of their home situation.

In Defense of ’Speciesism’

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST

It's easy to snicker at the sort of people who berated Barack Obama last year for smacking a fly. But there is surprisingly little distance between the animal-rights movement's violent radicals and those who serve as its more moderate public face.

Atheist Campaign Against Mother Teresa Postage Stamp Is Silly, Outrageous

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST

Atheist activists have made themselves look silly by opposing a stamp for Mother Teresa. But the consequences of their decades-long campaign against religion in American public life are serious.

A Virtual Boyhood

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST

In an age of media saturation, I worry: How long will my son retain that innocent enthusiasm for the thrills of being a little boy in a wide, wonderful world? How soon will he feel the pressure to swap those thrills for the smaller, virtual ones that come via television, video games or the Internet?

Life: A ’Dangerous’ Choice

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST

Only abortion could rouse America's feminist establishment to defend the sanctity of Super Bowl Sunday.

It’s 2008 All Over Again

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST

Barack Obama's presidency was supposed to unfold like a scene from "Avatar." Instead, it's looking more like "Groundhog Day."

Hope in the Ruins of Haiti

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST

The needs of the Haitian people and our own capacity to address them have reminded us once again that the mystery of suffering is best answered with self-giving love.

An Inconvenient Truth about Absent Fathers

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST

For all we have learned in recent decades about how a child benefits from
having his biological father in the home for the long haul, many of us still
prefer to tell ourselves that any caring adult can fill a father's shoes, and a
live-in, married-to-mom dad is simply a bonus.

The Upside of a Rough-and-Tumble Decade

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST

Despite the end-of-the-decade angst emanating from talk show perches and op-ed pages since we ushered in 2010 last week, it's not all doom and gloom. There have been some positive effects of the recession that forced Americans to reevaluate our priorities -- spending and otherwise.

Abortion Compromise Flouts Public Opinion, Precedent

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

Reversals such as Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson's are not surprising. Pro-life voters are accustomed to broken promises from opportunistic politicians who jettison their abortion opposition for a bigger slice of the Beltway pie.

"Christmas Wars" Begin Within

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

The real "War on Christmas" is less about external battles over the placement of manger scenes than about internal battles in the hearts of believers over what that manger scene means and how much it really matters.

’Sexting’ Suicides Should Serve as Wake-Up Calls

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

Teens who "sext" -- send sexually explicit photos of themselves via cell phone -- are confounded by a culture that teaches them to equate exhibitionism with empowerment, then vilifies them for the same reckless behavior it implicitly encourages.

A Campaign of Intimidation

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST

St. Louis Catholics heading into the Cathedral Basilica for Mass last Sunday got a taste of what their counterparts in California experienced last fall: protests intended to shame churchgoers for their church's opposition to gay marriage.

The not-so-irrelevant Sarah Palin

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Sarah Palin's critics say she's a has-been. So why can't they stop talking about her?

A Critical Test for Democrats

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

The looming Senate debate over abortion funding in the health care bill will force Democratic leaders to decide which they value more: the creation of a big-tent party that welcomes moderates or the appeasement of a small band of ideologues who consider abortion funding the party's top legislative goal.

Attacks on Traditional Anglicans Prove Pope’s Point

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EST

The possibility that the Catholic Church's commitment to defending traditional marriage and the tradition of an all-male priesthood stems from anything other than bias, and that those Anglicans attracted by that commitment could be anything other than narrow-minded, cold-hearted simpletons, never seems to have occurred to many who pronounced publicly on this development.

The White House War on Fox News

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EST

You'd think the leader of the free world would have more important things to worry about.

Answering the Demand

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EST

Nothing in this action by the Vatican contradicts the principles of genuine ecumenism: the commitment to speaking the truth in love, to seeking common ground where it can be found and to honestly acknowledging deep differences -- including those differences that have divided the Anglican Communion.

Hate Crimes Law Promotes Inequality and Division

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EST

Although intended to promote equality and tolerance, hate-crimes provisions such as the ones passed last week only exacerbate social divisions, by declaring some citizens inherently more deserving of protection -- and thus, more prone to victimhood -- than others.