It would be a serious mistake to regard Christian nonviolence simply as a novel tactic which is at once efficacious and even edifying, and which enables the sensitive man to participate in the struggles of the world without being dirtied with blood. Nonviolence is not simply a way of proving one’s point and getting what… continue reading
It’s All About Usury
June 1, 2009 by
With all the turmoil in the financial industry, you would think that there would be a national conversation of money and lending. You would think that this would be a good time to re-examine the way we create money and the way we lend it. You would think, especially, that it would be a good… continue reading
The Story of my Journey to the United States Begins With Poverty
April 1, 2009 by
My story begins with the poverty in our country, El Salvador. Due to the lack of work, very low salaries and the lack of a basic food basket for the family and the debts that stack up that many times we cannot pay, I had to leave my country. I couldn’t pay for my house…. continue reading
William T. Cavanaugh, Being Consumed: Economics and Christian Desire, Eerdmans, 2008, 115pp., $12.00 (pbk) ISBN: 9780802845610
April 1, 2009 by
William T. Cavanaugh’s recent work, Being Consumed: Economics and Christian Desire , is a timely read for those seeking to reflect upon the manner in which their Christian faith can be brought to bear not only on their consumer habits but also on the market framework within which those habits are instilled and fostered. Instead of… continue reading
Being Pro Life is Hard in a Consumer Culture
April 1, 2009 by
Decisions about life are affected by the dominance of the economic factor in our lives. In our culture, for a woman to accept an unwanted pregnancy may require heroic virtue. Pregnancy, for some mothers, is such an intrusion that it would completely turn their lives around. Even for Catholic women, it is hard to avoid… continue reading
The Economic Crisis of 2008-2009: The Logic of the Market is Unacceptable
February 1, 2009 by
This article appeared in a “symposium in print” in the National Catholic Register in November 2008. God brought Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin together to form the Catholic Worker movement at a time when the world was facing an economic crash similar to today’s. They critiqued robber barons, banks, the financial system, and the free… continue reading
Pope Benedict XVI: Self-Interest Will Destroy the World
February 1, 2009 by
Pope Benedict XVI contradicted the reigning philosophies of self-interest, warning listeners gathered to hear his Angelus reflection on the Feast of Christ the King: “If each one thinks only of his or her own interests, the world can only go to ruin.” Contrasting the message of Jesus with the idea of basing our lives and… continue reading
Chesterton and John Paul II on Capitalism
February 1, 2009 by
by Donald Boland, Center for Thomistic Studies, Sydney, Australia Confusingly, the word “Capitalism” is used both for an economic system that has an abnormal condition in regard to the distribution of wealth or property, and one where the distribution of wealth is not an issue. Both are systems that are based upon the institution of… continue reading
Faith and the Financial Crisis
February 1, 2009 by
Jim is the Editor of The Common Good, the newspaper of Christchurch Catholic Worker in New Zealand. There is no easy way to write about the financial crisis which has hit the global economy these past months. In New Zealand, more than 20 financial institutions have gone to the wall. Investors have lost everything. The… continue reading
An Inside Job: Our Best and Brightest, Not Illegals, Pushed Us To the Brink of Financial Disaster
December 1, 2008 by
Greg Erlandson is the president and publisher of Our Sunday Visitor. They did it again. They distracted us with all their talk of illegal immigrants stealing our jobs and draining our resources. They told us how we had to put up barriers, distrust anyone who wasn’t American. They made us suspicious of others, just the… continue reading
