Martin Shkreli has been labelled the “most hated man in America” after his company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, raised the price of their potentially life-saving anti-parasitic drug Daraprim by over 5000%. But if you support the HHS Mandate, you can hardly complain about Turing Pharmaceuticals. You don’t get to spend years harassing Hobby Lobby and the Little Sisters of the Poor for bringing conscience into the marketplace, and then turn around and complain that the markets are amoral.
Tag: social justice
Ten Great Quotes from Pope Francis
Pope Francis is a gifted orator, and an effective evangelist, proclaiming the Gospel from the world’s largest pulpit. In the short time that he’s been pope, he’s had a lot to say. Today, I want to highly ten quotations from Pope Francis that you might have missed. These are taken from ten different occasions, on… Continue reading Ten Great Quotes from Pope Francis
Speaking Out Against the Slave Labor of the Sweatshop System
The Rana Plaza building near Dhaka, Bangladesh collapsed recently, killing (at latest count) 657 sweatshop workers, and seriously injuring thousands. Pope Francis responded in a homily, condemning the horrible wages and conditions: Not paying a just [wage], not providing work, focusing exclusively on the balance books, on financial statements, only looking at making personal profit.… Continue reading Speaking Out Against the Slave Labor of the Sweatshop System
The Gospel and The Poor: Léon Bloy and Pope Francis
One of the things that has most impressed me about Pope Francis is that he talks about sin, and about the devil as if he actually believes that sin and the devil are real. In his first homily as pope, Pope Francis made this stunning claim: When one does not profess Jesus Christ – I… Continue reading The Gospel and The Poor: Léon Bloy and Pope Francis
How to Understand Catholic Social Teaching: Solidarity and Subsidiarity
I’ve gotten questions in the past about how the Vatican views the international financial crisis, as well as what Catholics should think about a variety of economic and social issues. I think that in addressing any of these questions, there are exactly two tools that we need to have at our disposal: solidarity and subsidiarity.… Continue reading How to Understand Catholic Social Teaching: Solidarity and Subsidiarity
Disturbing New Evidence on Contraception and AIDS in Africa
A few weeks ago, I wrote on the impact of Catholic social teaching on AIDS rates in Africa. I showed there that the most Catholic parts of sub-Saharan Africa tend to have lower (sometimes, dramatically lower) rates of HIV infection than their non-Catholic counterparts. This proved true both by region, and by country. There are… Continue reading Disturbing New Evidence on Contraception and AIDS in Africa
A Personal Turning Point: Not Living by Bread Alone
During my sophomore year of college, back in 2005, one of my history essays was on liberation theology. In the early drafts, I was pro-liberation theology (as I understood it), and against some Cardinal named Ratzinger, who I’d heard terrible things about. Before the final draft of the paper, my position had changed nearly 180… Continue reading A Personal Turning Point: Not Living by Bread Alone
The Irony of Kathleen Kennedy Townsend’s Holier-Than-Thou Hit Piece on Rick Perry
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend has written one of her perennial disingenuous articles manipulating religion for political gain (she’s earlier claimed that Obama is more Catholic than the pope, since Obama supports abortion — no, really). This time, she’s bashing Rick Perry for not being sufficiently Christian on the pages of The Atlantic. My interest isn’t in attacking or defending Rick… Continue reading The Irony of Kathleen Kennedy Townsend’s Holier-Than-Thou Hit Piece on Rick Perry
The Orwellian Logic Behind Abortion and Population Control
A recent Associated Press story on the work of the ASPCA had this to say: It took years of campaigning to change thinking about sterilizing pets, but it has paid off. This year fewer than 4 million unwanted dogs and cats will be euthanized, down from as many as 20 million before 1970. There are… Continue reading The Orwellian Logic Behind Abortion and Population Control
Dorothy Day and Obamacare
Servant of God Dorothy Day is a fascinating woman, and a saint for the modern world. Prior to her conversion, she was an outspoken Communist sympathizer who’d had two common-law marriages and an abortion. Yet after the birth of her daughter, she began to take Catholicism seriously, and was Baptized and received into the Church… Continue reading Dorothy Day and Obamacare