Author: Chris Lee

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Chris Lee

Voter ID laws do more harm than good

Eye on the Capitol by John Huebscher

The “principle of proportionality” is a useful tool for evaluating laws and public policy. It suggests that the remedy should not create more problems than it solves.

Put another way, the principle means: “Thou shalt not use a sledgehammer to kill a fly.” Moreover, in assessing whether a law’s impact is proportionate, we must take special care to weigh its impact on those who have a special claim on our concern: the poor and marginalized in our society.

The principle of proportionality can be quite helpful when applied to proposals to require law-abiding citizens to produce a photo ID card prior to voting in Wisconsin.

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Chris Lee

The danger of soft atheism

A very instructive exchange between Gary Gutting, a philosophy professor at Notre Dame, and Philip Kitcher, a philosophy professor at Columbia, just appeared in The New York Times.

Kitcher describes himself as a proponent of “soft atheism,” an atheism distinct from the polemical variety espoused by Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. Unlike his harsher colleagues, Kitcher is willing to admit that religion can play an ethically useful role in a predominantly secular society.

I would like to draw attention to one move made in this interview, since it shows one of the fundamental misunderstandings of religion common among atheists.

Plurality of religious doctrines

Prompted by Gutting, Kitcher admits that he finds all religious doctrine incredible. He points to the plurality of religious doctrines: Christians, Jews, Hindus, Muslims, animists, etc., hold to radically different accounts of reality, the divine, human purpose, etc.

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Chris Lee

The danger of soft atheism

A very instructive exchange between Gary Gutting, a philosophy professor at Notre Dame, and Philip Kitcher, a philosophy professor at Columbia, just appeared in The New York Times.

Kitcher describes himself as a proponent of “soft atheism,” an atheism distinct from the polemical variety espoused by Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. Unlike his harsher colleagues, Kitcher is willing to admit that religion can play an ethically useful role in a predominantly secular society.

I would like to draw attention to one move made in this interview, since it shows one of the fundamental misunderstandings of religion common among atheists.

Plurality of religious doctrines

Prompted by Gutting, Kitcher admits that he finds all religious doctrine incredible. He points to the plurality of religious doctrines: Christians, Jews, Hindus, Muslims, animists, etc., hold to radically different accounts of reality, the divine, human purpose, etc.

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Chris Lee

Mirar a nuestra Señora, la ‘guerrera’

Esta columna es la comunicación del Obispo con los fieles de la Diócesis de Madison. Cualquier circulación más amplia va más allá de la intención del Obispo.

Queridos amigos:

En todo momento, pero especialmente durante el mes de mayo, y especialmente cuando experimentamos ciertas pruebas, debemos mirar a María.

La situación en el mundo y en la Iglesia es muy difícil. Hay una gran cantidad de división, pero María es Nuestra Señora de la Esperanza, ella es la Madre de la Misericordia y ella es la más grande guerrera contra el mal. Ella es esas tres cosas y más.

María ancló su vida en la esperanza y la verdad

En primer lugar, cuando pensamos en la esperanza, debemos pensar en María. Ella ancló toda vida en la esperanza de algo que podría nunca haberle sido probado.

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Chris Lee

The field hospital is open

By now everyone in the world knows that Pope Francis offered a lengthy and wide-ranging interview to the editor of Civilta Cattolica, which was subsequently published in 16 Jesuit-sponsored journals from a variety of countries.

To judge by some media coverage, the Church is in the midst of a moral and doctrinal revolution, led by a pope bent on dragging the old institution into the modern world.

Read what pope actually said

I might recommend that everyone read what Pope Francis actually said. For what he said is beautiful, lyrical, spirit-filled, and in its own distinctive way, revolutionary.

The first question to which the pope responded in this interview is simple: “Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio (his given name)?” After a substantial pause, he said, “a sinner whom the Lord has looked upon.”

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Chris Lee

The joy of evangelizing

An emergency tends to focus one’s mind and energies and to clarify one’s priorities.

If a dangerous fire breaks out in a home, the inhabitants thereof will lay aside their quarrels, postpone their other activities, and together get to the task of putting out the flames. If a nation is invaded by an aggressor, politicians will quickly forget their internal squabbling and put off their legislative programs in order to work together for the shared purpose of repulsing the enemy.

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Chris Lee

Consider offering support and prayer for retired priests

To the editor:

In his inspiring Holy Thursday homily, Pope Francis declared, “I ask the Lord Jesus to confirm the priestly joy of those who have already ministered for some years.” He prayed that God gives them a “second wind” to help them faithfully serve.

Our 77-year-young pope continued, “I ask the Lord Jesus to make better known the joy of elderly priests, whether healthy or infirm. It is the joy of the cross, which springs from knowledge that we possess an imperishable treasure in perishable earthen vessels. May these priests find happiness wherever they are.”

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Chris Lee

How saintly popes modeled virtue

On April 27, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (Pope John XXIII) and Karol Jozef Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II) were recognized as saints of the Catholic Church, and may God be praised for it!

No one with the slightest amount of historical sensibility would doubt that these men were figures of enormous significance and truly global impact.

But being a world historical personage is not the same as being a saint; otherwise neither Thérèse of Lisieux, nor John Vianney, nor Benedict Joseph Labré would be saints.

What is a saint?

So what is it that made these two men worthy particularly of canonization? Happily, the Church provides rather clear and objective criteria for answering this question. A saint is someone who lived a life of “heroic virtue” on earth and who is now living the fullness of God’s life in heaven.

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