How to Win an Argument with a Catholic

In the delightfully crunchy world of debate, it seems apparent to me that the closer you are to the tactics of the Westboro Baptist Church, the closer you are to being entirely wrong. This is a concept towards which I have no doubt that my atheist friends will nod in earnest. After all, the level of intellectual destruction it takes to reduce one’s entire theology to the slogan “God Hates Fags” is embarrassing, to the point that the entire universe seems sadder for WBC’s very... Read More

Did Pope Francis Criminalize the Reporting of Sex Crimes?

Yesterday morning, the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science Facebook page posted the following bombshell: "According to the new laws, revealing or receiving confidential Vatican information is now punishable by up to two years in prison, while newly defined sex crimes against children carry a sentence of up to twelve years. Because all sex crimes are kept confidential, there is no longer a legal way for Vatican officials to report sex crimes." This was startling stuff, and... Read More

Why the Scandals Increased My Faith in the Church

When people hear that my husband and I began exploring Catholicism in 2005, one of the first questions they often ask is, “What about the sexual abuse scandals? Didn’t that scare you away from the Church?” They’re usually surprised when I report that the answer is no; in fact, the scandals and the negative media coverage actually increased my faith in the Church. Here’s why: Getting the Facts Straight   One of the first things I did was to look into the numbers behind the... Read More

5 Questions on Pope Benedict XVI and the Sexual Abuse Crisis

The announcement that Pope Benedict XVI renounced the papacy on Feb. 28 caused many in the media to revisit one of the major issues of his pontificate: the clergy sexual abuse scandal that dominated the news for nearly a decade in the United States, Australia, and parts of Europe. The record of Pope Benedict XVI has also come under scrutiny, with many in the secular media repeating a discredited clam that the pope had failed to act properly in dealing with the crisis and may even have... Read More