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This work analyzes how the three key elements of a democratic society—freedom, equality, and fraternity—have been misconstrued by intellectuals and policy makers who do not respect the limitations of the human condition. Their lack of common sense has resulted in social and cultural problems rather than solutions to them. By contrast, the social teachings of the Catholic Church mesh nicely with the demands of human nature, and as such they offer the right remedy to our cultural crisis. Freedom defined as radical individualism has eclipsed the understanding that real rights are tethered to responsibilities. Equality defined as radical egalitarianism yields little in the way of equality and much in the way of state-sponsored social discord. And fraternity without the foundation of familial bonds and religious communities leaves people isolated and disoriented. Catholic teaching offers much wisdom to remedy our insufficient understanding of the elements needed for a free and flourishing society. Its common sense is greatly needed to help modern Americans rediscover the true meaning of their highest ideals.
The controversial president of The Catholic League shows how the Church may be the best guide for achieving long-term health and happiness. Religious Americans are by far the healthiest and happiest of any segment of the population—this is true across religions according to recent Gallup polls. Bill Donohue, President of the Catholic League, goes a step further to show that Catholicism will not only make you healthy and happy, but it will ultimately lead you to heaven too. In his latest book, The Catholic Advantage, Donohue turns his attention to the ways Catholicism is experienced by believers. He explores a simplified and practical way of looking at the faith, demonstrating how Catholic ...
Mother Teresa was voted the most admired person of the 20th century, and is loved the world over. Still, she was not without her critics. This book closely examines their accusations. What virtually all of her critics have in common is an unabiding disdain for Catholicism—most were, or are, militant atheists. Their strong embrace of socialism is another conspicuous characteristic. What they abhor about Mother Teresa is her strong faith and her altruism. Mother Teresa's conviction that life begins in the womb, and that abortion is a violent act, does not sit well with her atheist critics. They are also contemptuous of her private, voluntary efforts to tend to the needs of the poor: socialis...
This work unpacks the history and root causes of the clergy sex abuse scandals in the United States. Building on decades of data and research, author Bill Donohue, who holds a doctorate in sociology, tells the story from a fresh angle and calls us to rethink our assumptions about the Church''s handling of these horrific abuses. The Truth about Clergy Sexual Abuse challenges many myths about the scandals, demonstrating that the abuse of minors is a problem that haunts virtually every institution--religious and secular--where adults interact with young people. The work also provides compelling evidence of the great progress that the Church has made in preventing abuse, contrary to public perce...
How did neighborhood groceries, parish halls, factories, and even saloons contribute more to urban vitality than did the fiscal might of postwar urban renewal? With a novelist’s eye for telling detail, Douglas Rae depicts the features that contributed most to city life in the early “urbanist” decades of the twentieth century. Rae’s subject is New Haven, Connecticut, but the lessons he draws apply to many American cities. City: Urbanism and Its End begins with a richly textured portrait of New Haven in the early twentieth century, a period of centralized manufacturing, civic vitality, and mixed-use neighborhoods. As social and economic conditions changed, the city confronted its end o...
This is a critical analysis of the history of the American Civil Liberties Union and represents the first published account of the ACLU's record. Other works on the organization either dealt only with specific issues or have been simply journalistic accounts. Donohue provides the first systematic analysis by a social scientist. It is unquestionably the most serious work now available and is likely to remain the touchstone for any such work for many years to come.
In recent years the Catholic Church has gone through turbulent times with the uncovering of horrible abuse--abuse that persisted and which could have been prevented by many within the Church’s own ranks. As a result many positive aspects of what the Catholic Church teaches and practices are now being overlooked, not just by the media, but by people in and out of the pews. This is not only unfortunate, but detrimental to society at large. As Donohue makes plain, the Church’s teachings remain the best guide to good living ever adopted. Moreover, the content of these teachings defy today's typical ideological categorizations; the Church is decidedly conservative in matters of morality and c...
The early twentieth century marked a dramatic shift in the American conception of nature. This book analyzes the ways in which the scientific recasting of American nature as an antidote for degeneration influenced work of important modernist writers Harriet Monroe, Ezra Pound, and Marianne Moore.
It was all as unpredictable as it was riveting: Hillary Clinton's improbable rise, her fall and her insistence on pushing forward straight through to her remarkable phoenix flight from the race; Sarah Palin's attempt not only to fill the void left by Clinton, but to alter the very definition of feminism and claim some version of it for conservatives; liberal rapture over Barack Obama and the historic election of our first African-American president; the media microscope trained on Michelle Obama, harsher even than the one Hillary had endured fifteen years earlier. Meanwhile, media women like Katie Couric and Rachel Maddow altered the course of the election, and comedians like Tina Fey and Amy Poehler helped make feminism funny. As Traister sees it, the 2008 election was good for women. The campaign for the presidency reopened some of the most fraught American conversations about gender, race and generational difference, about sexism on the left and feminism on the right, all difficult discussions that had been left unfinished but that are crucial to further perfecting our union.