The Roman Catholic bishops seem to have a problem with strong, independent women, don’t they?

The hierarchy recently launched an offensive against American nuns, accusing them of supporting “radical feminism” and failing to show sufficient enthusiasm for the bishops’ efforts to ban abortion and deny civil rights to gays. Now the all-male church leadership has decided to subject the Girl Scouts to an inquisition. Read more

Who gets to decide how you run your life: you or a small group of aggressive religious leaders?

In a nation that separates religion and government, the answer ought to be easy. Apparently it’s not. Read more

Some of my friends in Washington are employed by firms that handle contracts for various federal agencies. It works like this: The department in question (Health and Human Services, Education, Defense, etc.) issues a document listing in detail what needs to be done, and companies compete to get the contract by explaining how they’ll do it and what they’ll charge.

If a company doesn’t come up with a convincing plan or ignores the department’s wants, it won’t win the contract. It’s that simple. Read more

As we start off this week, the debate over reproductive rights restrictions in the U.S. House's proposed health-care legislation continues to rage. Read more

Should America's Roman Catholic bishops deny themselves communion for engaging in forbidden political activities?

I'm certainly no scholar of church law, but I think you can make a pretty good case that they should.

As everyone knows, a large faction of the Catholic hierarchy has spent much of this year demanding that Catholic politicians conform American law to the church's doctrinal stance on abortion. These same bishops have demanded that Catholics vote only for political candidates who comply with church teachings as well. Read more