Cover Story |
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Europe’s Crisis of Faith
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| Götterdämmerung, a word suggested by a Scandinavian myth, means "twilight of the gods." With religious belief and birth rates at an all-time low, Europe, a culture whose roots are profoundly Christian, is fading into oblivion. If current trends continue, Western traditions, practices, and laws may soon be replaced by Islamic ones. Is there hope for renewal, or is this the end of Europe as it has stood for millennia?
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By Russell Shaw
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Feature Article |
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How to Make the Case for Marriage
(Using Non-religious Language) |
| As a national election looms in the U.S., the debate over same-sex "marriage" rights grows more and more contentious. Traditional marriage—as it has been defined for centuries—is under siege throughout the Western hemisphere. But attempts to defend marriage as a union between a man and woman are often met with angry retorts of "don’t impose your morality on me." Can we build a convincing secular case for marriage? Yes. With an essay by Donald DeMarco.
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By Mary Jo Anderson
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Sidebar |
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Family Day in Italy:
A Case Study |
| A rally for families in Italy reveals an awareness of the crisis facing them in Europe |
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Sidebar |
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She Needs a Father, Not a Sperm Donor
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| Why fathers cannot be optional in the lives of their children |
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By Donald DeMarco
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Feature Article |
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The Bishop vs. the Nazis
Bl. Clemens von Galen in WWII Germany |
| Execute the sick, the elderly, the disabled. Suppress religious practice and free speech. These were official policies of Germany’s National Socialist government in the 1930s and 40s. But in the face of Nazi oppression, a patriotic German bishop spoke out forcefully—at great personal risk—for the dignity of the human person. The story of Clemens August von Galen bears deep significance for Western cultures quickly losing their understanding of the value of human life at every stage.
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By Joanna Bogle
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Sidebar |
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From Bishop Von Galen’s Sermon against Euthanasia
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| The bishop’s homily on the evils of so-called mercy killing strongly resonates today. |
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Sidebar |
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T4
The Nazis’ Euthanasia Solution |
| National Socialism’s official program for killing the most vulnerable |
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Feature Article |
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God in Search of Man
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| "Religion . . . comprises a series of wistful illusions," wrote Freud a century ago. Today many people subscribe to a similar view, one that attributes the source of the religious impulse largely to human psychology. They claim that religion, like biology, follows an evolutionary pattern. But nowhere in the history of religion does such a pattern appear. So, the question remains: Does our need for God come from ourselves or from him?
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By Patrick C. Beeman
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Sidebar |
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A Dim Memory of Eden
Original Monotheism |
| The research of Fr. Wilhelm Schmidt reveals commonalities among the world’s religions |
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Sidebar |
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Further Reading
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| Additional resources on world religions and their origins |
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