Judaism

The Christmas story suggests that we can somehow try to be loyal members of our nations, our families, our tribes—and to reach out to the broader human community of which we are also a part.

Catholics have a unique and urgent responsibility to confront antisemitism wherever they find it.

A substantial uptick in anti-Semitic rhetoric and attacks has occurred from Los Angeles to New York, and abroad in London and elsewhere.

Our religious freedom is one of these modern privileges that previous generations would have envied. Reviewing religious persecution in the past can help Christians appreciate the freedoms they have now.

The Christmas story doesn’t tell us how to reconcile the virtues and the vices of universal cosmopolitanism and local loyalty. But it suggests that we can somehow try to be true to both ideals: to be loyal members of our nations, our families, our tribes—and at the same time to reach out to the broader human community of which we are also a part.

As we start to look at this whole Christmas phenomenon, it makes sense to begin with the basics. The first questions any sensible person asks about Christmas are pretty straightforward: What event is this holiday supposed to commemorate, and do we know that it actually happened?

The manger scene these days really is the face of Christmas for most people and, perhaps not surprisingly, it is one of the aspects of the season that keeps causing trouble.

The Catholic community has come a long way in its relationship with its Jewish brothers and sisters, but there is more to be done. American Catholics can no longer be passive in our fight against antisemitism; we must be active, and we can start in our Catholic schools.

Jealousy, love, and punishment are not bad ways of understanding the rise in both government-based religious discrimination and societal religious discrimination, as Jonathan Fox shows in his newest book, Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods Before Me: Why Governments Discriminate against Religious Minorities.