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21. Catholic Social Science Review: Volume > 17
Stephen M. Krason Thoughts On Immigration
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This article is one of SCSS President Stephen M. Krason’s “Neither Left nor Right, but Catholic” online columns. It briefly addresses, in light of Catholic social teaching, the immigration question that has been a major public issue in the U.S.
22. Catholic Social Science Review: Volume > 17
Joseph A. Varacalli Catholicism, the Tea Party Movement, and American Civilization: Questions, Propositions, and Proposals
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Based on a paper presented, and the feedback received, at the 19th Annual Conference of the Society of Catholic Social Scientists held at Franciscan University, in Steubenville, Ohio, October 29th, 2011, this short article proposes to initiate what could be an important research project intended to study the relationship between Catholicism and, respectively, the Tea Party movement and American civilization. Given the generally accepted understanding that American civilization is in the midst of a deep crisis, such a study hopes to provide, among other important analyses, both a Catholic critique of the present crisis and a Catholic critique of the Tea Party movement and the latter’s proposed solutions to the contemporary dysfunctional transformation of the American democratic republic.
23. Catholic Social Science Review: Volume > 17
Kenneth L. Grasso Taking Religion Seriously: Reflections on Tocqueville, Catholicism, and Democratic Modernity
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The contributions to this symposium raise several issues that extend beyond an examination of Tocqueville’s Democracy in America. For example, is the conventional distinction between ancient and modern in political philosophy too simplistic? Is religion necessary to preserve democracy, and if so, what kind of religion must it be? Theological and sociological sources both suggest that the fate of democracy in the modern world is inextricably, not merely accidentally, connected with the fate of Christianity.
24. Catholic Social Science Review: Volume > 17
Brian Simboli Ex Corde Ecclesiae, Social Science, and the Public Square
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This essay explores the relationship between Ex Corde Ecclesiae and its application in the United States on the one hand and the practice and teaching of the social sciences on the other. The paper reflects on ways the bishops and laity can advance the social sciences, which provide the current-day lingua franca of public discourse, and expresses the need to invoke social scientific research in the public square.
25. Catholic Social Science Review: Volume > 18
Stephen M. Krason Free Speech: The Last Right to Be Lost
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This article was one of SCSS President Stephen M. Krason’s online “Neither Left nor Right, but Catholic” columns. It appeared on April 1, 2012. There is a link to Krason’s monthly column at the SCSS website (www.catholicsocialscientists.org). Since August 2012, his column also appears at Crisismagazine.com. This article considers new, serious threats to free speech in the contemporary Western world.
26. Catholic Social Science Review: Volume > 18
Edward Cardinal Egan The Challenge of Episcopal Leadership Today
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The following is a slightly revised version of the address delivered by His Eminence Edward Cardinal Egan during the Twentieth-Anniversary Conference of the Society of Catholic Social Scientists in New York, October 2012. Drawing on his experience as Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Egan offers five rules for the Church’s episcopal leadership: focus on what is essential; don’t be distracted from basic duties; make self-assessments based on documented facts; foster good relationships with priests, lay advisors, and non-Catholics; and pray for the people of the diocese.
27. Catholic Social Science Review: Volume > 18
Robert P. George Conscience and Its Enemies
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The following is the text of an address delivered by Professor George at the twentieth anniversary conference of the Society of Catholic Social Scientists in New York, October 2012. George identifies the intellectual roots of recent threats to conscience rights—especially for people of faith—in the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology’s 2008 report that, he argues, makes ideological claims rather than using scientific evidence to support the denial of conscience rights to medical professionals in the areas of birth control and abortion. (This essay will be included in a forthcoming collection of George’s work to be published by ISI Books.)
28. Catholic Social Science Review: Volume > 18
Ryan J. Barilleaux Political Institutions and Power in the Twenty-First Century Republic
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Stephen Krason’s study of the American political experiment is a valuable exercise in traditional political science. His analysis leads a reasonable observer to ask whether the republic established by the Founders is still operative, or whether it has evolved into something quite different from the democratic republic of 1787. The creation of an administrative state in modern America, which has taken form especially in the past half-century, has moved the political system toward new modes of governing and domination by a new class of political elites. The article concludes by asking whether the American democratic republic is a lost cause.
29. Catholic Social Science Review: Volume > 18
Walter Rhomberg, Michaela Rhomberg, Hubert Weissenbach Natural Family Planning as a Family Binding Tool: A Survey Report
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In 2008, on behalf of the marriage- and family centers of the Austrian dioceses of Salzburg and Feldkirch, a survey concerning the performance of natural regulation of conception and its potential influence on family life and spousal relations was conducted by the Institute for Natural Regulation of Conception (INER), Vöcklabruck, Austria among its own members, a group of declared users and/or teachers of the method. Questionnaires were mailed to 1131 members in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy. The return rate was 43.5%. The results support earlier publications indicating that natural familiy planning (NFP) is associated with positive spousal relationships and family stability. NFP, here specifically the sympto-thermal method of J. Rötzer, improves communication and mutual respect between the spouses and is associated with a low divorce rate (3%). Periodic continence is regarded as beneficial by a majority of respondents. Since the method is free of any undesirable side effects and associated with a favourable Pearl Index, it should become more widely known.
30. Catholic Social Science Review: Volume > 18
Suzanne Carpenter Incorporating the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services into a Nursing Curriculum
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This paper discusses ideas on how to incorporate Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services into a Catholic college nursing curriculum. Questions addressed include: What does the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops say is the purpose of the Ethical and Religious Directives? Is the profession of nursing a particularly difficult one in which to incorporate Catholic teachings? Can we share with our students a code of nursing ethics that supports the Ethical and Religious Directives? Promoting faculty and students’ learning about Catholic teachings may be a step to changing what Blessed John Paul II called the culture of death into one of life.
31. Catholic Social Science Review: Volume > 18
Steven Brust Education Under the Dictatorship of Relativism
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The goal of this article is to assist Catholic faculty members and other educators in developing strategies that will enable them to begin to counteract what Pope Benedict XVI has identified as the dictatorship of relativism. I explore what this social phenomenon is and how Catholic faculty members might respond to it by offering some suggestions on topics to address and by exploring potential obstacles to sound moral reasoning. Concluding with a brief consideration of the necessity of presenting the Christian faith as integral to the response to the dictatorship, I reinforce Benedict XVI’s contention that Christ is the clear alternative goal of life that can be offered to students.
32. Catholic Social Science Review: Volume > 18
Amir Azarvan Are Highly Theistic Countries Dumber? Critiquing the Intelligence-Religiosity Nexus Theory
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Recent research suggests that higher-IQ countries have significantly more atheists, supposedly because higher intelligence confers a greater ability to apprehend the assumed irrationality of theistic belief. In this quantitative study, an alternative explanation is offered to explain the apparent relationship between intelligence and theism. It is theorized that higher education in free societies brings greater exposure to, and eases the acceptance of, such unconventional views as atheism. This exposure, in and of itself, augments the likelihood that one will reject belief in God. In addition, it is argued on the basis of the Christian ascetic tradition that materialism also produces higher levels of disbelief. OLS regression analysis of 99 countries confirms both theories, while revealing no evidence of an inverse link between intelligence and theism. Findings also show that disbelief is significantly lower in countries that are traditionally Roman Catholic, as well as in those that have not experienced communist rule.
33. Catholic Social Science Review: Volume > 18
Stephen Nikola Bartulica Lessons Learned from the Transition from Communism to Free-Market Democracy: The Case of Croatia
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This article explores the transition experience of Croatia from 1990 to the present, with emphasis on social attitudes towards the free-market system and how the legacy of communism has influenced people’s expectations of and views towards the economy. The anthropological position of man as homo economicus is of central importance, if one is to properly understand the forces at work in a transition society like Croatia. This position also has far-ranging implications for ethics and morality, as well as for the general culture. Assisted by the insights of Catholic social teaching, in particular Pope Benedict XVI’s Caritas in Veritate, the article concludes with possible lessons from the failure of communism and the challenges of transition.
34. Catholic Social Science Review: Volume > 18
Stephen M. Krason Response
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This is a response by the author to the comments made about his book, The Transformation of the American Democratic Republic, in this symposium.
35. Catholic Social Science Review: Volume > 18
Stephen M. Krason Neither Left nor Right but Catholic: The Conservative Weakness and the Solution: Catholic Social Teaching
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This article was one of SCSS President Stephen M. Krason’s online “Neither Left nor Right, but Catholic” columns. It appeared on May 1, 2012. There is a link to Krason’s monthly column at the SCSS website (www.catholicsocialscientists.org). Since August 2012, his column also appears at Crisismagazine.com. This article considers weaknesses in present-day conservatism, and how embracing certain principles of Catholic social teaching could rectify those weaknesses.
36. Catholic Social Science Review: Volume > 18
Carmine Gorga A Three-Part Proposal for Investing Hoarded Cash
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In this article, the author makes a proposal, based upon Concordian economics—which stresses cooperative effort and concern for the good of the community—to stimulate investment, without government stimulus packages or “bailouts,” so as to bring the U.S. out of its current relative economic stagnation.
37. Catholic Social Science Review: Volume > 18
Kevin Schmiesing The Transformation of the American Democratic Republic: A Historical Critique
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Stephen Krason’s The Transformation of the American Democratic Republic, argues that the American nation has drifted far from the principles of its founding. This historical critique questions some of the details of Krason’s account, observing that the claims of some of the secondary sources on which he relies are open to dispute. Notwithstanding these details, Krason’s overarching thesis is historically sound and its important message deserves wide attention.
38. Catholic Social Science Review: Volume > 18
Stephen M. Krason Our Founding Fathers, Religion, and Religious Liberty
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Stephen M. Krason presented this talk at the “Stand Up for Religious Freedom” rally in Buffalo, New York on June 8, 2012. It was one of many that were held around the U.S. that day, to show opposition to the attempt by the Obama administration’s Department of Health and Human Services to mandate that religious entities provide free contraceptives (including abortifacients) and sterilization procedures in their health insurance programs.
39. Catholic Social Science Review: Volume > 18
Joseph A. Varacalli The Birth, Near Death, and Possible Resurrection of the American Experiment
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This article first summarizes the thesis of Stephen M. Krason on the historical transformation of the American Democratic Republic. It then builds on the Krason thesis by providing an introductory analysis of two dysfunctional sectors of American life that must be addressed and corrected if the civilization is to be revitalized. These problematic sectors involve cultural and institutional-organizational life. Solutions can be provided through a Catholic sociology whose work in analysis and social policy formulation is led by the principles of the natural law and Catholic social thought.
40. Catholic Social Science Review: Volume > 18
Marie I. George Environmentalism and Population Control: Distinguishing Pro-Life and Anti-Life Motives
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Environmentalists commonly offer three motives for why human populations need to be reduced or stabilized. One group maintains that human numbers threaten natural goods that should be preserved: biodiversity and ecosystems. A more extreme group maintains that we are taking up more than our fair share of the planet, eliminating species that have just as much right to be here. A third group advocates controlling human populations in order to prevent the environment from being degraded to the point that it harms people. I intend to examine in light of Catholic social teaching whether these proposed motives for controlling population are always anti-life.