The Gristmill talk about everything

Kermit Gosnell is an abortionist in Philadelphia, PA, who is being tried for the murders of four babies after they were born alive, as well as one woman who was there as a patient. Part of the coverage of the Gosnell case by more conservative elements in the media has been to remark at the lack of general coverage--the mainstream (generally liberal, abortion-industry-supporting) media doesn't seem to want to touch the trial.

That's it, in a nutshell.

Marriage is a cultural constant. Every society has some form of the thing that we in the modern English-speaking world call "marriage." It spans East to West and Modern to Ancient. It doesn't always look the same; for example, a number of societies permit the marriage of several women to the same man, and there are undoubtedly a few which permit wedding several men to the same women. A society with no version of marriage, however, is a rare exception.

My daughter (high school freshman) had to pick a movie to do a paper on. The paper had to discuss a character of the movie as a Christ figure. My daughter picked Batman, and I thought her essay was pretty neat, so I'm posting it here:

I'm curious to know something, so I'm going to pose a question. I'm going to use the word "we" in posing the question, because I'm addressing this mainly to my friends (both FB friends and real friends) who voted for Romney in the election this week; however, I would welcome feedback on the question from those who voted for Obama.

As I'm watching the election returns, I'm already convinced that Obama is going to win, and can't help being depressed about it--not depressed because of what Obama's going to continue to do to America (although there's plenty there to be depressed about) or because of the idea of "my candidate" losing; I'm depressed because of what it says about America that an Obama would win this election.

I've developed an application, which I'm making available to all men who have daughters. When your daugther is 25 or so (old enough to start spending time in the company of men), you can hand this application out to any suitors.

There are many biblical references to fasting. Below are a few.

2Sam 12:16-22

For most clear-headed people, the religious liberty issue behind the Obama HHS contraceptive mandate is a no-brainer. The violation of religious liberty is obvious without it being pointed out to them, and that religious liberty ought to be protected is just as obvious. It wasn't a shock to me that Obama would attempt to pull off something like the contraceptive mandate. I've complete confidence that, given another four years, he'll find a way to expand it to an abortion mandate.

Here are a few of the reports on various Stand Up for Religious Freedom rallies around the country, Friday, March 23. Please add more in the comments, and include what city it's covering.

Charlotte Observer - Charlotte, North Carolina

Kakeland (Wichita, Kansas?) - Wichita, Kansas (?)

The National Catholic Register has an editorial discussing reasons for hope in the debate over the HHS contraceptive mandate. It's a good article, that basically shows that recent opinion polls are demonstrating that the Catholic Bishops (indeed, we Catholics as a whole) may not be out there alone in this battle.