If you haven’t heard it already, abortionist George Tiller, one of the few who performed partial birth abortions in the United States, was murdered today while attending his Lutheran Church(!?).

Of course, everyone here at Southern Appeal and 99.999% of pro-life citizens totally deplore such violence.   Violence and injustice cannot be solved by more violence and injustice.  Also, the murderer sent Mr. Tiller to face his Maker with very little chance to repent for his sins.  That is not the mark of a true Christian, to say the least.  Please pray for the soul of Mr. Tiller.

At this point, we do not even know for sure if the murderer was part of the pro-life movement.  (Of course, obviously, he was not truly pro-life.)   At any rate, now we must pray even harder that this violent action does not harm the pro-life movement as a whole, and that pro-life advocates as a whole are not seen as “terrorists” because of this.

I close with a quote from the late John Cardinal O’Connor (hat tip to Mark Shea):

If anyone has an urge to kill someone at an abortion clinic, they should shoot me. … It’s madness. It discredits the right-to-life movement. Murder is murder. It’s madness. You cannot prevent killing by killing.

It is with great sadness that I report the death of my friend, Billy Raftery. I have known Billy and his wonderful parents and siblings since I was a student at St. Viator Elementary School in the late 1960s. During my years at Bishop Gorman High School (1974-78), Billy was the most enthusiastic fan and supporter. He bled orange and blue.

Billy lived a full and flourishing life, touching the lives of countless friends and admirers who had the privilege to cross his path. Although his time with us has been brief, his personal virtues and deep love for friends, family, and community have left an indelible mark on so many of us. Here his is obituary in this morning’s Las Vegas Review Journal:
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(Posted on What’s Wrong With the World)

“The ink is black, the page is white
Together we learn to read and write
A child is black, a child is white
The whole world looks upon the sight
A beautiful sight.

And now a child can understand
That this is the law of all the land
All the land.

The world is black, the world is white
It turns by day, and then by night
A child is black, a child is white
Together they grow to see the light
To see the light.

And now at last, they plainly see
They’ll have a dance of liberty, liberty.”

–David Arkin and Earl Robinson (recorded by Three Dog Night)

Consider two cases about two tests. The first, Bartlett v. the New York State Board of Law Examiners, is from 1997. The other, Ricci v. DeStefano, is presently on appeal before the U. S. Supreme Court, which will issue its opinion sometime soon. In the first case, the jurist who issued the ruling was Judge Sonia Sotomayor when she served on the bench of the Federal District Court of the Southern District of New York. In the latter case, the Supreme Court will be assessing a Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in which Judge Sonia Sotomayor participated.

What follows is a summary of the first case, found in the article authored by Ruth Shalit, “Defining Disability Down,” published in the August 25, 1997 issue of The New Republic:
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A few weeks back, I posted a version of the famed Richard John Neuhaus/Rockford Institute break-up incident. The story there was that the break-up happened because Neuhaus overspent the Institute’s budget on conferences after having been ordered to cancel them. That version of the story came from John Howard, who used to run the Rockford Institute a number of years ago. Howard’s version was new to me. I’d mainly heard the rumblings about ideological discontent and jumped at the chance to shed a little light on a longtime mystery.

Joseph Bottum, who now runs First Things, offers more discussion about the incident on page 69 of the June/July issue of the magazine. He reiterates the story of ideological animus, but does provide some reinforcement to the budget/conference planning story I mentioned before. However, according to Bottum there was a conference Neuhaus was ordered to cancel, but he refused because the planning was too far along and he had raised adequate earmarked funds. So, Howard’s story is that Neuhaus went beyond his mandate and the Neuhaus story is that Rockford crawfished on a deal!

I was thrilled to see the discussion continued at FT, but I have one small objection. Dr. Howard is presented in the short piece as bringing Neuhaus in for some “knocks” on the occasion of his death. That part isn’t really fair. In the conversation I had with Howard (who is probably an octogenarian), he was very complimentary of Father Neuhaus and clearly respected his body of work. I asked him to tell me the story and he did. Tone doesn’t come across in the typed word many times. That applies here. Dr. Howard was clearly proud of having been associated with Father Neuhaus and of having hired him.

Professor Robbie George of Princeton University, probably the greatest and most compelling pro-life voice in America today, has just founded the American Principles Project.

Yesterday, Prof. George participated in a debate with Doug Kmiec, and the compelling statements he made can be found here and here.   Any principled abortion rights advocate will have to deal with Professor George’s unassailable logic, which, contrary to pro-abortion caricatures, draws almost entirely on science.  It is well worth your time to read Prof. George’s statements in their entirety.

Here is one excerpt, wherein he speaks about the “common ground” Pres. Obama is calling for:

In speaking of common ground, he did not propose that we reduce the number of abortions, but rather [and I quote] “the number of women seeking abortions.” Get it? The President and his administration will not join us on the common ground of discouraging women from having abortions or even in encouraging them to choose childbirth over abortion. The proposed common ground is the reduction of unwanted pregnancies.

Patrick Ruffini’s take on how to approach the Sotomayor nomination is one which most closely resembles my own.  Like me, Ruffini is not advocating an all-out blitz, but rather a vocal if restrained “get it on the record” approach.  I think his first point is most salient. (more…)

The “Oprah Priest” recently caught in a not-so-secret two year love affair, Father Alberto Cutie, has decided to leave the Catholic Church and become Episcopalian. As scripture says, “you are a priest forever . . .”. This man deserves our prayers as do all priests. Here’s hoping that this last step out of the Church soon becomes his first step back to the Church. It should be a reminder to always, always, always pray for our priests.

You can watch it today at 5 pm EDT on CSPAN2. Read about it here. And Mary Ann Glendon’s the moderator. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Let’s hope there is indeed cause for their concerns.

In case anyone was wondering, Professor Díaz is a Liberation Theologian, strains of which are known for having a strong Marxist tendency and for which numerous Liberation Theologians have been censured by the Church. I wonder how this is going to play out given that then-Cardinal Ratzinger wrote in 1984: (more…)

Meet Migeul H. Díaz, theologian and advisor to the Obama campaign. And now, the nominated Ambassador to the Holy See. Doug Kmiec could not be reached for immediate comment. Professor Diaz is an expert in something known as “Hispanic Theology”—the description from a course he teaches says the following:

328 Hispanic Theology in the United States. (4)
This course explores how U.S. Hispanic experiences (of religion, culture, gender, etc.) mediate theological approaches to the Bible and Christian doctrines. It offers a survey of the origins and presence of U.S. Hispanic communities and examines central biblical and theological themes in the writings of contemporary U.S. Hispanic theologians.

Until this very moment, I had never heard about this topic before, but such studies strike me more as anthropology and sociology rather than theology, as I come from a systematic and moral theology background. Between Díaz and Sotomayor, clearly team Obama is gunning 110% for us Latino voters.

H/t: The Deacon’s Bench

Apparently earlier this month, many of the world’s Billionaires (including Gates, Buffet, Soros and Whinfrey…) all gathered at a secret meeting and following Gates’ lead, agreed that putting their resources towards true population control should be their legacy: (more…)

Not long ago the Supreme Court was content to let the legislative and executive branches handle national security issues. In light of the Supreme Court’s increasing intrusion into national security policy it is prudent to question candidates regarding their national security expertise. Glen Sulmasy, a member of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy law faculty, lists five questions to ask Sotomayor. They are as follows: (more…)

I’ve got a new commentary up with my favorite Catholico-Evangelical-Hayekian(!) think tank, the Acton Institute. Here’s a clip:

Ronald Reagan gave birth to a long boom when he successfully repudiated the Keynesian economics and punitive marginal taxation that had come to characterize the American approach to running the economy. By doing so, he restored prosperity to a nation mired in the twin crises of unemployment and inflation and wondering whether the presidency was simply too big for one man. His formula of stimulating the economy through tax cuts rather than government distribution of centrally-confiscated dollars fueled increases in American productivity and thus provided the nation with a basis for real wealth generation. (more…)

Prepare yourselves for a shock, but Grima Wormtongue Doug Kmiec has come out in support of Sonia Sotomayor.  I’ll give you a moment to recover from the surprise. (more…)

According to the LA Times, Solicitor General Extraordinaire, Republican, Conservative, and Federalist legal heart-throb, Theodore Olson is going to be part of the legal team mounting a federal challenge to the proposition 8 ruling. Say it ain’t so, Ted!

From the Washington Post

North-South relations on the Korean Peninsula have deteriorated dramatically this spring. The North has launched a long-range missile, detained a South Korean national, kicked out U.N. nuclear inspectors, restarted a plutonium factory and halted six-nation negotiations on its nuclear program. It has also voided contracts with South Korean companies at the Kaesong industrial park, a jointly run operation just across the border from South Korea.

If only they’d accepted TARP funds, then we’d have us some real leverage…

Well, in a stunning 6-1 majority, the California Supreme Court has decided to uphold the will of the people and not hang the democratic majority by the noose of technicality. So, what’s next? (more…)

… from the left?

Thankfully, it would appear that the majority of those in the know believe that Sotomayor isn’t the type of justice who will become an intellectual force for liberals on the Court. However, it’s bad enough that she will be a reliable vote.

“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion [as a judge] than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.”

For anybody who has been reading up on Sonia Sotomayor, this quote has become the elephant in the room.  The line was delivered during the Judge Mario G. Olmos Law and Cultural Diversity Lecture at UC Berkeley School of Law in 2001.

The problem with this line is obvious — it’s one thing to deliver platitudes about diversity, while it’s quite another to suggest that a female, Hispanic jurist has superior life experiences and will thus reach better legal conclusions. The former is P.C. blather, the latter is vile, racist dreck. If a white male had said the opposite, they’d be rightly decried as a bigot, not elevated to the highest court in the land.

Even worse,  Sotomayor’s vote in the New Haven firefighters case tends to suggest that she sets a very high bar, if indeed she sets one at all, for committing racial discrimination against whites. In that case, an exam for promotions was thrown out because too few minorities scored high enough to be promoted.  The decision was based entirely on racial outcomes and caused harm to white firefighters. Sotomayor apparently did not see any equal protection violation.

In other words, Sotomayor is a radical on racial issues and arguably a bigot herself in her attitudes towards white males. Way to pick ‘em, Obama.

Andrew (ND ‘09, a good friend of my sister’s, the Irish Rover’s Spring 2009 Editor in Chief, and a crazy guy on a bike) is doing one of those wild and random things that we all wish we had the gumption to do.  Today, he and some friends are leaving from Boston and biking across the United States, through several states and a few Canadese territories.  He’s going to be writing about it at crazyguyonabike.  You can find his inspiration on the site. Bon Voyage!

(The book that features prominently, Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace, is in my reading queue and should, according to my sister, be in yours as well. Get thee to a library.)

According to the AP and other sources, President Obama has chosen Sonia Sotomayor to replace David Souter.

It’s great to see a fellow native New Yorker make the big time.  That, I am sure, will be the last positive thing I say about this nomination.

According to Scoutsblog, President Obama will announce his nominee at 10am Eastern this morning. Also, California announces their decision on Proposition 8.

To all who have served the country and continue to do so: thank you.

At 4:15 pm today (Monday), the Notre Dame Club of Washington, DC will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers, if any Domers are in the area and want to honor our service men and women.

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

— Lt.-Col. John McCrae (1872 – 1918)

(My Dad, me, and brother Jim in front of Caesar's Palace in 1968. And yes, that is our white Mercedes Benz)

Today my father turns 79. He has been the best father any man can hope to have. Here are some excerpts about my father from my book, Return to Rome: Confessions of An Evangelical Catholic (Brazos Press, 2009):
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I’ve been reading the stories in Russell Kirk’s Ancestral Shadows collection. They are chillingly full of awful justice. Highly recommended for the Christian supernaturalist.

(Posted last week on What’s Wrong With the World)

Professor Brian Leiter of the University of Chicago has, again, misrepresented my point of view on Christian academic institutions that forbid their faculty and students to engage in extra-marital acts of intimacy including homosexual ones. I do not attribute this to malicious intent on Professor Leiter’s part. But rather, I think it is a consequence of a general lack of serious and respectful study and reflection on the philosophical beliefs that undergird theological traditions with which he disagrees.
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Liberty University has banned the Democratic club from campus.  I’m rather relieved, as this gives me a rare chance to defend the donkeys.  The impulse here–to oppose abortion and the redefinition of marriage–is laudable, but this is the wrong way to go about it.  Too often, in evangelical colleges (which I know well), there is a tendency to believe that “Christian World View” translates directly and simply into a set of political positions and demands allegiance to a specific party. It’s not about the parties, it’s about the principles.

It would be healthier for the Democratic club to be brought back to Liberty and the Republican club to be banned forthwith.

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Below is an essay written by my 14-year-old niece, Riley Beckwith. She is the eldest child of my brother Patrick’s five children. She won an award for this essay when she wrote it several months ago for Veteran’s Day. Because I gave up blogging for Lent, I could not post it at the time she won the award. But I promised my brother that I would post it on Memorial Day Weekend, since it is during this time that we honor our fallen veterans.

(Riley is the brunette standing behind her siblings from left to right: Camilla, Sophie, John Paul, and Darby)
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He’s all, like, buff and digitized and stuff.  An affront to literature? Sure! Why not? I’m a bit distracted by the quality of the graphics.

“A man who fears no death in the 9 circles learns quickly to fear his sins.”