The Patient Body: Mortality and the American Dream
A monthly column by Ann Neumann about issues at the intersection of religion and medicine. Continue Reading →
Tag: ross douthat
Daily Links: "Where You Been?" Edition
Ok, so it’s not always daily. But it is more than links. Continue Reading →
Daily Links: “Where You Been?” Edition
Ok, so it’s not always daily. But it is more than links. Continue Reading →
Charity's Faith Problem
Amy Levin: What’s wrong with charity? Well, nothing, if you’re Mitt Romney and your definition of charity is giving to anti-gay referendums. Ok, that was harsh, but none of us can deny that whatever we mean by “charity” comes with a loaded moral gun and a wad of political undertones, not to mention an extra ladle of shame along with your soup kitchen stew. I would argue that the mixing of faith and charity has once more come to the fore of American politics, but that would presume that it ever left. Nevertheless, columnist Ross Douthat’s piece in the New York Times on “Religious Giving and Its Critics” caught my eye this week, especially alongside Amy Sullivan’s piece in which she asks, “Is Compassionate Conservatism Dead?”
Douthat, known for his conservative voice on The Times, expressed his disappointment in the The New Republic’s Alec MacGillis’ reaction to conservative applause over Mitt Romney’s charitable giving. MacGillis’ piece takes a snarky stab at the praise for Romney’s 30% contribution of his income to society (argued by Heritage Foundation‘s economist, J.D. Foster). For those of you who struggle with math (like me), that 30% does not exactly amount to federal income tax, but is more of an amalgamation of a 13.9% federal income tax and $7 million in charitable contributions over the past two years, including $4.1 million to the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints. Continue Reading →
Charity’s Faith Problem
Amy Levin: What’s wrong with charity? Well, nothing, if you’re Mitt Romney and your definition of charity is giving to anti-gay referendums. Ok, that was harsh, but none of us can deny that whatever we mean by “charity” comes with a loaded moral gun and a wad of political undertones, not to mention an extra ladle of shame along with your soup kitchen stew. I would argue that the mixing of faith and charity has once more come to the fore of American politics, but that would presume that it ever left. Nevertheless, columnist Ross Douthat’s piece in the New York Times on “Religious Giving and Its Critics” caught my eye this week, especially alongside Amy Sullivan’s piece in which she asks, “Is Compassionate Conservatism Dead?”
Douthat, known for his conservative voice on The Times, expressed his disappointment in the The New Republic’s Alec MacGillis’ reaction to conservative applause over Mitt Romney’s charitable giving. MacGillis’ piece takes a snarky stab at the praise for Romney’s 30% contribution of his income to society (argued by Heritage Foundation‘s economist, J.D. Foster). For those of you who struggle with math (like me), that 30% does not exactly amount to federal income tax, but is more of an amalgamation of a 13.9% federal income tax and $7 million in charitable contributions over the past two years, including $4.1 million to the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints. Continue Reading →
Romney's Mormonism and the "Wierdness Quotient"
Amy Levin: If it wasn’t already, presidential politicking has stooped a little low. Curiously, Barack Obama’s reelection campaign informed Politico of their strategy to re-elect the “hopeful” incumbent: to make Mitt Romney seem. . . weird. Due to his fairly low approval ratings, the Obama’s campaign strategists are betting on a victory at the expense of throwing his most likely opponent under the rug. According to writers Ben Smith and Jonathan Martin,
The onslaught would have two aspects. The first is personal: Obama’s reelection campaign will portray the public Romney as inauthentic, unprincipled and, in a word used repeatedly by Obama’s advisers in about a dozen interviews, “weird.”
Romney’s Mormonism and the “Wierdness Quotient”
Amy Levin: If it wasn’t already, presidential politicking has stooped a little low. Curiously, Barack Obama’s reelection campaign informed Politico of their strategy to re-elect the “hopeful” incumbent: to make Mitt Romney seem. . . weird. Due to his fairly low approval ratings, the Obama’s campaign strategists are betting on a victory at the expense of throwing his most likely opponent under the rug. According to writers Ben Smith and Jonathan Martin,
The onslaught would have two aspects. The first is personal: Obama’s reelection campaign will portray the public Romney as inauthentic, unprincipled and, in a word used repeatedly by Obama’s advisers in about a dozen interviews, “weird.”
Ross Wants Your Snowflakes
Mary Valle: My favorite cheek-shaved, neck-bearded Catholic convert, Ross Douthat, weighs in today (sort of? His columns seem to consistently defy “logic” and “making a point”) on abortion and infertility. Citing a recent MTV broadcast of a show in which a teen mother has an abortion, an article about how years of Pill usage makes women forget about their fertility, and last Sunday’s spectacular about the making of very special “twiblings” in his own paper, he ends with a little sniffy blort about America’s unborn — “No life is so desperately sought after, so hungrily desired, so carefully nurtured. And yet no life is so legally unprotected, and so frequently destroyed.” Continue Reading →