Cruelty is the Point

Building Bridges Between Church and LGBTQ Community
Catholic Catechism

The Church, the Catholic Catechism, and the LGBT Community

Bruce Strom 1

How should this two-fold Love of God and love of neighbor affect how we enforce moral laws in our faith and civil communities? When should these be enforced?

Simply put, in the Judeo-Christian tradition, they should be enforced so they increase in our hearts the two-fold Love of God and neighbor. This certainly means we should discourage sexual abuse and punish serious sexual abuse that is proven. Certainly, it means we should seek to be compassionate rather than cruel, because compassion is loving, while cruelty is hateful. […]

Biblical Interpretation

Blessed Are the Poor, Woe to the Rich, and Other Woke Compassionate Bible Verses

Bruce Strom 0

Among the Church Fathers, St Ambrose teaches us,
“Blessed are the poor. Not all the poor are blessed, for poverty is neutral. The poor can be either good or evil,” unless he is the blessed pauper described by Proverbs 19:22, “’A righteous poor man is better than a rich liar.’ Blessed is the poor man in whom the prince of this world finds nothing. Blessed is the poor man who is like that poor Man who, although he was rich, became poor for our sake,” […]

Five Minute History

How Did Confessing Christians Tolerate Hitler? Excerpts From Post-War Interviews

Bruce Strom 0

The war softened the hearts of many Germans. One German remembers shopping during the time of the brutal Allied bombing of Berlin, the “shopkeeper was talking to another customer whom she knew and said, ‘This is the punishment for what we’ve done to the Jews.’ And she dared to say that much, although I was a stranger in her shop.” […]

Five Minute History

WWII Lessons: What Happens When Politicians Promote Violence? Comparing Mussolini and Hitler to Trump

Bruce Strom 0

The Fascist movements in Italy and Germany came to power with assistance by large gangs of fascist thugs who bullied, beat up, and sometimes murdered their opponents. These fascist thugs were drawn from the millions of veterans of the bloody fighting in the tranches of World War I. After assuming dictatorial powers Mussolini promised the Pope that he would reign in his thugs, but this was a promise he never fully kept, in part because these fascist gangs were hard to control, in part because he wanted to remind the Pope who was really in charge, who alone could rein in the gangs. […]