In the last six weeks, over 2300 children have been separated from their parents as a result of the Trump administration’s new “zero tolerance policy” for unauthorized entry into the United States. This policy change means that every adult, regardless of context, will be detained and criminally prosecuted. It is the logical and natural progression… Read More Who Are We? Facing Political Violence at the Border
Colin Kaepernick—the very mention of his name elicits strong reactions from football fans. Last August, as a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem in protest of ongoing police violence against black men and women around the country. The decision sparked considerable controversy and has likely cost Kaepernick his… Read More Colin Kaepernick’s Opposition is an Act of Solidarity
This post began as a “top 5 shockingly immoral aspects of President Trump’s budget proposal.” The problem is that virtually the entire budget is shockingly immoral and unjust. Instead, I want to highlight 5 touchstones of Catholic Social Teaching on justice. I will provide one example of its violation; however, for every single one, you… Read More How Trump’s “America First” Budget Violates 5 Key Justice Principles of Catholic Social Teaching
At the beginning of each semester, I introduce my students to modern Catholic social teaching by emphasizing its dialogue with a changing world. We often start with Rerum Novarum, which was a moral reflection and response to a particular historical context in the wake of the Industrial Revolution and the emergence of new working conditions.… Read More See, Judge, Act: Racism, Structural Sin, and Infant Mortality
It has been a week, only a week, since President Donald Trump took office. As I look back at the previous week, I cannot believe it has only been one week. Constant tweeting and talk about crowd sizes is dangerous misdirection – the overwhelming theme of the week, in my opinion, was violence. The World… Read More The Normalization of Violence: Week One in the Trump Era
A month before the election, a 2005 video of Donald Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women on an Access Hollywood taping surfaced. As I listened to Donald Trump joke about how his celebrity allowed him to assault women without consequence, I felt sick to my stomach. Here we had a presidential candidate actively boasting about… Read More The US Church’s Failure to Stand Against Sexual Assault
Catholic high school girls in Queens, NY harassing African-Americans on a NYC bus, suggesting they move to the back of the bus now that Trump is president. The Muslim center at New York University being vandalized. Multiple stories from across the nation of young Muslim women having their hijabs pulled off and ethnic slurs thrown… Read More Unity in Trump’s America Must Begin with Protecting Vulnerable Communities
Millennial 