1. Weak US dollar hits papal profits

Comment #208830 by Burt Likko on July 11, 2008 at 9:37 am

Don't shed a tear for impoverished Catholic clerics. They're doing quite fine despite this worrisome news. I'm certain I'm not the only recovering Catholic here, and the financial structure of the Catholic church is no secret from anyone who cares to investigate it.

Each dioscese within the church is functionally independent of the others, particularly in terms of financial support. At least in the US, that's where the real estate comes in. Here in southern California, the Archdioscese of Los Angeles is one of the largest residential landowners in the region, and the bulk of its residential holdings are apartments and trailer parks that offer low-income housing to renters. Unsurprisingly, this generates a large amount of income and because it's the church and all, no one wants to call Cardinal Mahoney a "slumlord."

I would be not surprised at all if similar situations prevailed in other parts of the US and elsewhere in the world. And this doesn't count the other kinds of state support the church receives -- either the direct payments or state-run tithes that prevail in European countries, or in the form of very generous tax breaks and other indirect subsidies that happen even here in the US. So the Vatican may not have realized a profit in 2007, but the Vatican isn't the entire Catholic Church, just its glittering and storied headquarters. The Catholic Church as a whole (or in its several parts) may well still be profitable.

2. New legal threat to school science in the US

Comment #207304 by Burt Likko on July 9, 2008 at 1:28 pm

I wonder, is there "academic freedom" to teach geocentricity and teach the flaws and historical criticisms of Copernican theory? After all, it's only a theory that the Earth revolves around the sun.

And what about the "theory of gravity?" That's being presented as a "fact," too. What about the academic freedom to present the alternative and intellectually exciting theory of intelligent falling?

3. Trailer for Religulous

Comment #197143 by Burt Likko on June 21, 2008 at 8:03 am

An ally, by definition, someone who is "not one of us, but on our side for this fight." Maher is an outstanding ally for the purpose of demonstrating the ridiculousness of religion. Let's leave it at that.

4. Pastors Challenge Law, Endorse Candidates From Pulpit

Comment #196819 by Burt Likko on June 20, 2008 at 1:10 pm

The pastor has every right imaginable to engage in all the speech he wants on politics. He can endorse specific candidates, denounce other candidates, and urge people to vote yes or no on whatever issue he wants.

The pastor does not, however, have the right to avoid paying taxes. That is a very special privilege, one that in a truly just world he would not have in the first place. But given that he does have that privilege, he must abide by the rules that go along with it.

So if the pastor wants to denounce same-sex marriage or speak out against a candidate of whom he disapproves, he can do so on the same footing as the rest of us -- as a taxpaying citizen of the United States of America. This atheist has no problem with that trade-off at all.

5. Mark Steyn vs. the 'Sock Puppets'

Comment #185657 by Burt Likko on May 28, 2008 at 9:18 am

I cry for you, Canada. Every Canadian should ask their MPs what they think about this -- and what they're going to do about reconciling their government's actions with Canada's guarantee of freedom of speech.

6. Car dealership advert tells atheists to 'shut up'

Comment #185398 by Burt Likko on May 27, 2008 at 5:58 pm

Oh, how embarrassing. I live only about twenty minutes from this place. The auto dealership is a small one that caters to a mainly military and lower-income share of the market. I'll be writing a nasty letter to the local paper, and taking my business elsewhere, for what it's worth.