News Roundup: Dolan at DNC, More on Finn Conviction, Eric Erickson and Michael Sean Winters

Some end-of-week commentary that touches on issues I've discussed here of late:

1. At Salon, Sarah Posner looks at the Democrats' decision to have His Eminence Timothy Cardinal Dolan bless the proceedings of their convention, and wonders why Democrats still have such difficulty speaking truth to power.  As she argues, Dolan's real role at the DNC--a role the party handed him by inviting him on stage--wasn't to bless the convention but to signal to conservatives his condemnation of the DNC platform.

The Most Powerful Abortifacient in America Is Poverty

The most powerful abortifacient in America is poverty:

More Family Death-Certificate Finds: Stories Piled on Stories

And what do you do amidst the political nonsense and religious drivel to retain such scraps of sanity as you manage to retain, you ask?  Thanks for asking.  I do appreciate the concern.

I can't say that, like William Byrd of Westover, I dance my dance, read my Greek and Latin, and then proceed to roger this and that enslaved serving girl under my complete control.  Kneeling down at the end of each day to ask God's forgiveness for my transgressions, knowing full well I'll keep at the manful wench-rogering the following day and the next . . . .  Since I have pieces of paper telling the world I own those servant girls, after all.

Nation Editorial on GOP as Post-Truth Party

The Nation's latest editorial on the GOP as the "post-truth" party that "has now fully entered the netherworld of post-truth politics" seems to me right on target.  As the editorial notes, (über-Catholic) Mr. Ryan is now "infamous" for his "pack of lies," and (über-Mormon) Mr. Romney wasn't even "remotely believable" with his rambling, truth-defying rhetoric at the recent convention of the party on whose side God stands.

Bishop Finn Sentenced, Catholics Still Living in Limbo

Hieronymus Bosch, "Christus in de Limbus," 1575

Here's what St. Augustine meant when he spoke of the limbo (the limbus, the border region) to which the souls of unbaptized children are consigned: 

Breaking News: Finn Found Guilty

The Kansas City Star has just reported that Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City has been found guilty of failing to report suspicions of child abuse in the case of Father Shawn Ratigan.  Finn is the highest-ranking Catholic official in the U.S. to be convicted under laws that criminalize failures to protect the safety of children and report suspected child abuse.

Women as the Enemy and the Religious Right's Claim to Own God: A Photo-Essay

Something seems really wrong with a nation (and with churches) where these are supposed to be the enemy: