Author: Robert Christian

Robert G. Christian III is a PhD candidate in politics at the Catholic University of America and a graduate fellow at the Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies. He also serves as a fellow at Democrats for Life of America. Robert received his undergraduate degree from University of the Pacific in American politics and a master’s degree in international security from University of Leicester (UK). He has taught religion, social studies, and politics courses at various Catholic schools. Robert also worked as a columnist for the former online journal Asia Chronicle. He currently coaches girls’ volleyball and basketball.

Cardinal Dolan Tries to Spin Pope Francis’ Message with Help from a Free Market Critic of the Pope

Cardinal Timothy Dolan has a new article in the Wall Street Journal. It is massively disappointing and either exceptionally inarticulate and incoherent or an intentional dissent from Catholic doctrine on economic justice. What is clear is that it is an attempt (albeit failed) to spin Pope Francis’ strong defense of economic justice in order to… Read More Cardinal Dolan Tries to Spin Pope Francis’ Message with Help from a Free Market Critic of the Pope

May 23, 2014May 23, 2014 Robert Christian

Courage and Hidden, Everyday Saints

We often associate courage with fearlessness in the face of danger. In our society, fortitude has been disconnected from the other virtues that define its true meaning. But courage is not about being reckless. It is not about courting danger for an adrenalin rush. Courage may involve great acts of heroism that involve danger and… Read More Courage and Hidden, Everyday Saints

May 22, 2014May 22, 2014 Robert Christian

Rwanda’s Central Lesson: Never Again

It’s now been twenty years since Rwanda was engulfed in a sea of unimaginable horrors. Perhaps 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in just 100 days in 1994, as the world stood by idly. This modern genocide relied not on the latest technology, but on simple instruments of death—most often machetes and nail-studded sticks… Read More Rwanda’s Central Lesson: Never Again

May 14, 2014May 14, 2014 Robert Christian

Money vs. the Common Good: The Battle for American Democracy

The Initiative on Catholic Social Thought in Public Life recently held an event titled Moral Dilemmas of Partisanship: Ethical Obligations and Limitations for Political Partisans. The event featured a number of political actors who have not always toed the party line in their respective parties. They discussed the challenges they have faced in a hyper-partisan… Read More Money vs. the Common Good: The Battle for American Democracy

May 12, 2014May 12, 2014 Robert Christian

Why Inequality is the Root of Social Evil

There is a common root to most (or perhaps all) grave forms of social injustice: the rejection of human equality and the influence of this rejection on human relationships and institutions. Human persons are fundamentally equal in their worth and dignity. A person’s worth is not dependent on their lineage, how they fit in some… Read More Why Inequality is the Root of Social Evil

May 1, 2014May 19, 2014 Robert Christian

A Prophetic Rejection of Sectarianism and Defense of Human Rights in the Middle East

In a remarkable communiqué, the Assembly of the Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land has put Christian persecution in the Middle East in the wake of the Arab Spring in the proper perspective. The persecution of Christians in the region is real and gravely serious, but it does not exist in isolation. Other groups are… Read More A Prophetic Rejection of Sectarianism and Defense of Human Rights in the Middle East

April 22, 2014April 22, 2014 Robert Christian

Millennial

Catholicism, Communion, and the Common Good in the Third Millennium