A tale of two movements

Coverage of eco and pro-life activism are a case study in media bias, writes David Quinn If you want to know what a favoured movement looks like, and you wish to contrast it with one that is disfavoured, look no further that the environmentalist and pro-life movements. The starkly differing ways in which they are…

A Catholic guide to modern politics

How can a global religion help us navigate a global world, asks David Quinn   It’s fair to say we live in a time of big political turmoil. We don’t want to exaggerate, mind you. It is not anything like as turbulent as the years from World War I until the end of World War…

Funding the death of the ‘black babies’

Ireland now backs abortion in the developing world, writes David Quinn   Most readers of this paper will remember a time when we used to have collections for the ‘black babies’. As insensitive as that term is by today’s standards, the intention behind the collection was good. We wanted to help African children in war-torn…

Needed: an environmentalist Temperance movement

A ‘Green Pledge’ could be an important step forward, writes David Quinn   What should the Church itself do about climate change? Some parishes now have climate change committees and various religious orders have long had a strong commitment to preserving the environment. Pope Francis has made it a central theme of his pontificate. The…

Doctrine not politics will split the Church

The Pope has to be careful to give equal attention to the legitimate political concerns of all Catholics, writes David Quinn   It is now over a year since Pope Francis visited Ireland. There has been remarkably little interest in that fact and almost no commentary about it. That’s not a good sign. On the…

A frosty reception for Mike Pence

Ireland is increasingly a cold house for people who hold values seen as out of step, writes David Quinn   The American Vice-President, Mike Pence, was in Ireland last week and it is fair to say he did not receive a hundred thousand welcomes. Yes, he was met by President Higgins, and Leo Varadkar and…

Introducing intersectionality politics

Now there’s a way to quantify your victimhood, writes David Quinn   Have you ever calculated your intersectionality score? Do you even know what intersectionality is? The answer to both questions is almost certainly ‘no’, but actually, if you want to understand political correctness and its demands it pays to be familiar with the concept.…