1. Matthew Schmitz writes in First Things:
Despite the persecution, Egypt’s Christians are winning converts. The number and names of converts must be carefully guarded, however, because conversion from Islam carries a high price. “Some of them are kicked out of their houses, some of them are fired, some of them have their kids taken away,” Roshdy says. “But they consider all of these troubles nothing for the sake of Christ. Their faith is so strong, they see him.” Cast out by their families, these men and women are adopted into the household of God.
2. The stunning new evidence of China’s dictatorial repression
3. Pope Blasts ‘Inhuman, Un-Christian’ Rebirth of Anti-Semitism
4. Abortion Is New Litmus Test for Democratic Attorneys General Group
5. I think this is a dangerously under-covered case: Court rules Daleiden’s undercover videos caused ‘substantial harm’ to Planned Parenthood
6. D.C. effort to decriminalize sex work won’t move forward after 14-hour hearing
7. 1 Year After Sex Change, This Teen Regrets His ‘Frankenstein Hack Job’
8. From our Xan in the Washington Post: How Democrats purged ‘safe, legal, rare’ from the party
9. A Crisis of Saints — an interview with Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez, the new president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Here’s just a bit of it:
I think all of us can point to issues in our society that disturb us—abortion, euthanasia, inequality, homelessness, our families breaking down, the random violence in our communities, racism, too many people in jail, pollution. There are many issues.
But the way I see it, all our political issues are symptoms of a bigger problem, and that is the loss of the human person.
We no longer know the beautiful mystery of life. We don’t know any more who we are, where we came from, or what we are made for. The awareness of our great dignity as children of God, the sense of God’s loving design for creation and the divine meaning of our lives—all of this is fading from the hearts and minds of this generation.
And our democracy can’t stand without a true and authentic understanding of the human person.
Governments exist to serve the person and to ensure the conditions in which persons can grow and flourish. If we don’t know what the human person “is” or what human life is “for,” then we risk becoming a society in which men and women are treated as “objects” that can be discarded or “tools” to be used to further the ambitions of others.
So, as I see it, the biggest political issues we confront are actually spiritual, existential. The task for us, as Catholics, is to defend the mystery of the human person in our times.
More here.
10. Archbishop Gomez: USCCB’s Faithful Choice
11. Archbishop Charles J. Chaput: History’s Answer to Modern Despair
12. Catholicism, Culture Mix at the Sheen
13. Naomi Schaefer Riley: How High School Seniors Would Divide Their Future Work-Family Life Might Surprise You
14. My heart sinks every time I hear women called ‘gutsy’ or ‘badass’
15. Nancy French on redemption songs
PLUS:
I have an event I’m moderating in D.C. on Thursday on immigration
My friends at Good Counsel Homes are having a fundraising dinner in a few weeks in NY and are worthy of support
If you missed it: Last week’s adoption conversation with the Heritage Foundation and the ERLC and the National Review Institute can be watched here.
And the conversation NRI had with Ivanka Trump on paid family leave is here.
A Congressman, a Homeless Man, and a Presidential Daughter
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