"But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers … shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone" (Rev. 21:8). It was an unsettling conversation, and quite unlooked for. I brightly greeted the Tim Hortons cashier with a cheery, "Good morning, how are you"? We had many times exchanged such pleasantries, so I was surprised by her response. With sad [...]
One of the factors credited for the conservative and pro-life revival in the U.S. - along with talk radio and the presence of numerous, supporting institutions and foundations - is the internet. This medium of communication has been seized upon to circumvent the liberal, filtering function of more traditional forms of mainstream media and has allowed common citizens access to closer versions [...]
According to a recent study, teenagers who watch television programs with sexual content are two times as likely to engage in sexual activity at an earlier age than their peers who do not watch such shows. The study was released Sept. 7 in Pediatrics, a journal published by the American Academy of Pediatrics. While the results of this study are not groundbreaking, [...]
Do you remember the 1980s comic strip about a boy and his stuffed tiger, the strip Calvin and Hobbes? It sometimes featured a game called Calvinball. The most outstanding thing about the rules of that game was that they changed. Continuously. In fact, in one of the classic panels that introduced the game, Calvin gleefully tells Hobbes that "the only permanent rule [...]
Freedom presents the chief problem in moral education I have been a teacher of ethics at several institutions of higher learning over the course of the past five decades. While I cannot assess the impact I have had on my students, I can easily assess the impact they have had on me. One problem, central and challenging, remains. It is, I would [...]
Thanks to the generosity of Interim readers, an orphanage and family centre run by a Catholic priest in a Rwandan village is $1,400 richer, bringing the total raised in a recent Canadian fundraising initiative for the projects to about $41,000. Peter Tassi, a Hamilton Catholic high school chaplain who helped organize the fundraising effort, which included the staging of a concert, expressed [...]
Robin Sharpe to get two years minus a day for sexual assault "I am the nation's most notorious child pornographer," Robin Sharpe states in the short bio posted to his website. "As a young boy, I was a nerd, a loner and religiously Anglican. I had no friends until my early teens and didn't start to overcome my hypermoralism until I was [...]
Despite bombardment by the media on young females to enhance their sex appeal, fashion and image, recent news reports claim that that pre-teen and teen girls are opting for more modest wear. As of late, young girls have been feverishly attempting to dress like favourite Hollywood and MTV celebrities. These women, with their ultra-thin, ultra-tight, ultra-low styles, set a high "sex" standard [...]
Press Council biased Interim staffComing on the heels of blatant liberal-left bias in media coverage during the recent federal election campaign comes disturbing news of further bias and a conflict of interest on the part of a press watchdog organization in Ontario. The Ontario Press Council has rejected final appeals into a complaint over a series of pieces by Globe and Mail [...]
Doreen Beagan 'As a society, we accept, participate in and perpetuate things that are inherently evil. Things like poverty, racism, social inequality, economic imperialism, all kinds of discrimination, are so entrenched in our way of life that we can scarcely recognize them and their harm," said a woman I know. She studies social cultures and humans as members of social groups. "For [...]
Tony Gosgnach The Interim One of the world's top researchers into life issues made a tour of southern Ontario recently, offering information and strategies to combat the anti-life agenda - a particularly timely topic, given the federal election campaign and the prominence given to abortion within it. Dr. Brian Clowes included a Basic Pro-Life Training Workshop in Hamilton as part of his [...]
Kathy Shaidle The Interim The press seemed to relish the irony, making a point of mentioning Michael Briere's chosen profession at almost every opportunity: here was a software programmer, admitting to viewing child pornography on his computer just before he raped, murdered and dismembered 10-year-old Holly Jones. The June 17 admission sparked a controversy, pitting police, parents and social conservatives against internet [...]
Tony Gosgnach The Interim In this edition of Corporate Watch, we'll be focusing mainly on some good news coming out of the corporate world. Look for some not-so-good news and areas of concern in the next edition. The owners of the Curves fitness chain, Gary and Diane Heavin, came under fire earlier this year for giving away 10 per cent of the [...]
On April 13, the Social Affairs Commission of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a document to help Catholic citizens of Canada make good choices in the upcoming federal election. Unfortunately, the document does not have the strength and precision that many had hoped for and that we find in the teachings of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith [...]
Most Canadians believe that the cost of an abortion must be covered by provincial health care systems. However, there is no legal basis for that argument. The Canada Health Act requires that province must fund only medically necessary procedures. The act does not mention any specific services, including abortion. Neither pro-abortionists nor the government has ever proved that abortion is a medical [...]