The straw man is an all-too-common feature of contentious debates. On one level, this is understandable: why engage with your opponent’s actual argument when you can create another, weaker version of it which can be easily defeated or dismissed? The problem, of course, is that you never actually get anywhere: neither side understands the other,...
The tragic case of Dhara Kivlehan, who died of organ failure several days after giving birth by Caesarian section, is the latest in a number of cases where Irish hospitals disastrously failed pregnant women, many of them non-nationals. But there’s something strange about the degree to which the Irish media seem to cover each of...
The Synod on the Family, convened by Pope Francis, begins in Rome this coming weekend. The Synod will look at the totality of the Church’s teaching on marriage and the family, the challenges facing the family in various parts of the world, and what the Church can do to help families and better communicate its...
I was reminded of the Terry Schiavo case from a few years back when I read about a recent study from the University of Western Ontario. But more on her later. Patients in what doctors call a “persistent vegetative state” may be much more aware of their surroundings than previously believed. The researchers provided strong...
I was reminded of the Terry Schiavo case from a few years back when I read about a recent study from the University of Western Ontario. But more on her later. Patients in what doctors call a “persistent vegetative state” may be much more aware of their surroundings than previously believed. The researchers provided strong...
Every so often, you’ll hear about some kind of policy move so utterly ridiculous that it’s a wonder its advocates don’t burst out laughing. The recent decision by the Californian State University system (CSU) is such a move. What did they decide? To remove recognition from the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship because they required their leaders...
Developmental biologist Prof Lewis Wolpert, writing recently in the Daily Telegraph, describes how, from conception, genes affect our gender roles. It’s not simply nurture at work. Wolpert’s principle examples are well worth a read. But the arguments around the issue are even more so. Today, solid, objective research is not enough to merit publication. Good...
Study after study shows that children benefit when their parents are married. Ah, say the sceptics, is that because they’re married, or it is because married couples usually have more money and better parenting skills? Share those same benefits with other family forms and all will be well. Sweden provides a sort of controlled experiment...
The entry of women into the workplace in ever-increasing numbers is usually hailed as a great progressive victory. And indeed, the lowering of the barriers that prevent women from choosing to work is a very good thing. But the fact that there has been no corresponding move of men towards spending more time childrearing has...
Writing about the legalisation around the world of “assisted suicide” in 2012, palliative care oncologist José Pereira explained that “laws and safeguards were put in place to prevent abuse and misuse of these practices. Prevention measures have included…explicit consent by the person requesting euthanasia, mandatory reporting of all cases, administration only by physicians (with the...
