Category Archives: Polemics

Polemics

Archbishop Fulton Sheen once wrote an excellent article called “The Decline of Controversy.” He gave the Center permission to publish it in From the Housetops magazine. His major point was that false ecumenism and religious indifference were undermining the art of religious disputation. The good old days of vibrant argumentation were being replaced by soulless dialogue. The more controversy declines the more truth becomes relative.

Polemics can be called the art of disputation. It is more than debate; it is animated debate. By its very nature polemics is meant to be a stimulating exercise, which fortifies the mind by establishing the reasons that support the truths we believe in. And one way to do that is by exposing the fallacies of the arguments used to support false doctrine.  With liberals and Protestants, polemics employs arguments based on the authority of scripture and tradition. But the polemicist may also utilize contrast in exposing doctrinal or moral fallacies. Whatever tools are used, charity is the balm that softens the opponents hearts so that they may listen to or read arguments rather than ad hominems.

12 Angry Men

Reacting to Pope Francis

I am a convert. If I wanted to be my own Pope, I’d have stayed Protestant. That is to say, I accept that it is the exclusive right of the Church headed by the Pope, not mine as an individual, to decide what is authentic Christian belief and practice. She teaches, I can only repeat the teaching (and try to live by it). One of … More →


Posted in Articles, Current Issues in the Church, Polemics | 16 Comments
born_this_way_square

‘Born This Way’

The Supreme Court has recently begun to hear arguments in two cases related to “gay marriage” — a doubly-deceptive oxymoron which ought always to be put in quotes, if used at all. It is no surprise that, early in the oral arguments of the case, the champions of these unnatural unions claimed justification for their cause in the pseudo-scientific supposition that homosexuality is biologically determined. … More →


Posted in Apologetics, Culture Wars, Heresies and Errors, Morals, Polemics, «Ad Rem» A Weekly Email Message from the Prior | 20 Comments

‘Sentimental Theology’ and ‘Faith is a Gift’

In this video, Michael Voris presents some good thoughts on the subject of sentimental theology. There are two points here where he appears to have borrowed from Saint Benedict Center’s founders. (Note that I do not say he borrowed, but “appears to have” done so.) First is the name itself, which was the title of an article by Dr. Fakhri Maluf (later Brother Francis, M.I.C.M.) … More →


Posted in Columns, Current Issues in the Church, Outside the Church there is no Salvation, Polemics | Leave a comment

Sophists Running the Academy

You’ve no doubt heard the expressing “lunatics running the asylum.” Well, The Telegraph reports that a new article, published in the Journal of Medical Ethics, says newborn babies are not “actual persons” and do not have a “moral right to life”. The academics also argue that parents should be able to have their baby killed if it turns out to be disabled when it is born. … More →


Posted in Columns, Culture Wars, Faith and Reason, Morals, Philosophy, Polemics | Leave a comment

Reply to a ‘Gay Christian’

Our most recent Mancipia, which was mailed last week, featured an article I wrote called “Where Have the Real Men Gone.” The piece was originally posted on this web site. A gentleman who read the newsletter, and who calls himself a “Gay Christian” wrote me objecting to what I said therein. I will not give the gentleman’s name or reproduce his email in its entirety … More →


Posted in Columns, Culture Wars, Current Issues in the Church, Morals, Polemics | 29 Comments
Saint George and the Dragon

Patriarchy and the Defenseless

On January 25, 500,000 pro-lifers marched on the Mall in Washington D.C. in defense of unborn human life. Four days before that, the most progressivist, pro-abortion, homosexualist president in American history gave his second inaugural address. In that address, Mr. Obama equated the “love” that “our gay brothers and sisters” have for one another with real married love between a man and a woman. He … More →


Posted in Culture Wars, Current Issues in the Church, Marriage and Family, Polemics, Spiritual Life, Vocations and States in Life, «Ad Rem» A Weekly Email Message from the Prior | 1 Comment

Open Email to Boy Scouts of America

Dear Boy Scouts of America, This is a brief message requesting that you maintain the present policy of not admitting homosexuals into Scout membership. If you reverse this policy, you will… reduce the Scout’s pledge [s/b "Scout Oath"] to utter meaninglessness, as homosexuality is intrinsically dishonorable; open up BSA to a flood of lawsuits when predatory homosexuals infest your troops and government at all levels; … More →


Posted in Columns, Culture Wars, Polemics | 2 Comments
Crusaders

‘Religious Liberty’ and Conflicting Rights Claims

Rereading the excellent post on Rorate Caeli, “Religious Liberty or Liberty for Christians?,” led me to some broader considerations on the subject of religious liberty. Roberto de Mattei, the author of the piece, expresses what is no doubt a controversial, if very true, thesis: “For this reason we say that man has the right to profess, not any religion, but to profess the only true … More →


Posted in Catholic America, Columns, Culture Wars, Polemics | Leave a comment
Voters ca. 1908

Vote Fraud vs. Reality

From the corner where I sit, I see much of the conservative reaction to last month’s election as more dismaying than the election itself. After all, whichever of the two principal candidates won, the country was not going to be measurably better off. Certainly Christian interests would not be served, not that more than maybe a half-dozen Americans care about that. It can’t be more … More →


Posted in Articles, Polemics, Politics and Society | 5 Comments

Jesus Does Have a Bride, and She’s Named…

Sancta Mater Ecclesia. We did not need the New York Times to tell us that, right? But the Times has told us that A Faded Piece of Papyrus Refers to Jesus’ Wife. This will, of course, be taken seriously by the enemies of the religion. It will then fade from memory, and when the actual significance of the discovery turns out to be something the … More →


Posted in Columns, Culture Wars, Polemics | 3 Comments
Pope Innocent III

More Catholic Than the Popes

Dr. Jeff Mirus of Catholic Culture website has misled his readers by putting his own gnostic interpretation on a thrice-defined dogma, Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus (no salvation outside the Church). In response to an article by John Vennari of Catholic Family News defending the unambiguous, ex cathedra teaching of the Church on salvation, as defined by Pope Eugene IV at the Council of Florence, Mirus … More →

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Posted in Articles, Outside the Church there is no Salvation, Polemics, Theology | 5 Comments

New York Times Contracepts Science

Donna Harrison, M.D., is an obstetrician-gynecologist in southwestern Michigan and director of research and public policy for the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists. She wrote a rebuttal to a recent article in The New York Times. (National Review Online) The recent New York Times article by Pam Belluck, asserting that so-called abortifacient drugs may not be abortive at all, is a wonderful example … More →


Posted in Columns, Current Issues in the Church, Faith and Reason, Polemics | Leave a comment
obumma

Obama’s ‘Unacceptable’ Compromise, and Lies

CatholicCulture.org and cnsnews.com both have coverage of the Bishops’ response to President Obama’s “compromise” on the HHS contraceptive mandate. Worth noting in the Bishops’ statement is their  assertion that “coverage of sterilization and contraception, including some abortifacients” is …both unsupported in the law and remains a grave moral concern. We cannot fail to reiterate this, even as so many would focus exclusively on the question … More →

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Posted in Articles, Current Issues in the Church, Morals, News, Polemics, Politics and Society | 2 Comments

ADL’s Foxman: Christ the King ‘unAmerican’

Abraham Foxman, the pro-abortion, head of the ADL, recently proclaimed Our Lord Jesus Christ the King to be unAmerican. Religion, specifically Rick Santorum’s Catholic religion, has no place in American politics, according to Mr. Foxman. In a confused statement, the ADL proclaimed that “Senator Santorum’s remark comparing himself to a ‘Jesus candidate’ was inappropriate and exclusionary.”

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Posted in Columns, News, Polemics, Politics and Society | Leave a comment

Fr. Thomas Keating on NPR: Heresy as Mysticism

Saturday, December 24. I went to Keene, N.H. to run errands. On the way, I said a chaplet of the Rosary. While carrying out my errands and on the trip back, I clicked on the local NPR affiliate to see if there was any news worth hearing. It would have been better had I prayed more chaplets of the Rosary.

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Posted in Articles, Current Issues in the Church, Heresies and Errors, Polemics, Spiritual Life | 7 Comments