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This Insights eNewsletter was sent to subscribers on August 30, 2013.

eNewsletter Subject: To Defend and to Advance

I am happy to report that we've pulled within about $5,000 of our August expenses. That is a huge improvement, considering we were $18,000 short just ten days ago. There is still time to help before the end of the month. My thanks to all!

Many of you have heard by now about Joseph Bottum, a former editor of First Things, and his confusing case for dropping Catholic resistance to same-sex marriage. Phil Lawler responds in what I regard as a brilliant—and far more reliable—essay: To defend marriage, the truth is enchanting enough.

Another thing that confuses too many people is the false dichotomy between adherence to the Magisterium of the Church and concern for the poor, as if the two do not actually strengthen each other. One place this crops up is in the misguided defense of dissident women religious in the United States. See my latest On the Culture: “Marginalization Gamesmanship” and Catholic Love.

Indeed, if we are to defend and advance Catholic faith and life, there are many things we must understand properly. One of these things is the way in which false concepts of liberty can be twisted to deny Catholic liberty. Cardinal George Pell of Sydney delivered an outstanding lecture on this about a week ago: Religious Freedom....

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