Crisis Magazine | A Voice for the Faithful Catholic Laity

What Does a “Realistic” Fantasy Look Like?

A Game of Thrones was first a fantasy novel by American writer George R.R. Martin, published in 1996 as the first book in the series A Song of Ice and Fire. Five of a projected seven titles have appeared, the last being Dances with Dragons in 2011. It was last year as well that Game of Thrones became an HBO…

Today on Crisis

A Fantasy of Salvage

Zombie voodoo pirates. Time-traveling Mossad agents. Djinn in the Cold War. The dark fantasy novels of Catholic author Tim Powers can seem like pure high-concept, and his newest book—a sequel to The Stress of Her Regard, a.k.a. What If the…

Brain Damage and the NFL: Is Watching Football Immoral?

by Christian Tappe

Every Sunday, from the kickoff to the final Hail Mary attempt as time expires, Americans glue themselves to their TVs and cheer on their team. Football may not quite be America’s Pastime, but it’s certainly America’s Game. And yet, the…

Peter Maurin: A Fool for Christ

“For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake . .…

View more from The Standard Bearers

View more from The Civilized Reader

Columnists

Afghanization: A Half Year Plan

by Earl Tilford

President Barack Obama’s five-point plan for turning the war back to the Afghans is designed to cover the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces and “forge a just and lasting peace.” What does the plan involve, and can it work?…

An Unsurprising Marriage Epiphinay

by Sheila Gribben Liaugminas

It may have erupted in the Twitterverse and on MSM sites, but the only possible surprise element may have been the timing. Maybe. Because President Obama’s was among the most expected and awaited coming out moments in the nation. Which…

Reflections on the French Election

by Mark W. Hendrickson

The election of Socialist Party candidate Francois Hollande to the presidency of France epitomizes the sorry state of contemporary democracy. By that, I don’t mean to imply that the French people should have voted for the incumbent, Nicolas Sarkozy. Neither…

View more recent columns

From the Vault

On Being a Catholic Writer

by Ralph McInerny

Many Catholic writers have balked at being called that. They were Catholic and they wrote, all right, but they didn’t want to be read as if the point of their fiction was a religious message. As if you could earn…

View more from the Vault

Catholic News
Via H2O News

30 years ago: The election of John Paul II

Title: 30 years ago: The election of John Paul II
Runtime: 1:31
View count: 50,019

Title: May Feelings II
Runtime: 3:04
View count: 38,897

Politics

Obama Devolves

by Robert R. Reilly

Both Vice-President Joseph Biden and President Barack Obama have said that their positions regarding same-sex marriage have evolved. When you are “evolving,” you should really watch your grammar. Otherwise, people might suspect you are devolving instead. Take for instance, the…

View more articles in Politics

Business

Investment and the Common Good

by Christopher Blum

It is now twenty years since the publication of Centesimus Annus, yet only halting steps have been made towards an adequate reception of it. In his concluding remarks to that great encyclical, the Holy Father warned that the Church’s social…

View more articles in Business

Church

The Harvest is Plentiful But the Laborers Are Few

by Paul Kokoski

On Sunday, Jan. 25, 1959, Pope John XXIII proclaimed that it was time to drag the church out of the Dark Ages and into the modern world. It was time, he said, to open the stained-glass windows and let in…

View more articles in Church

Art & Culture

What Does a “Realistic” Fantasy Look Like?

by Harley J. Sims

A Game of Thrones was first a fantasy novel by American writer George R.R. Martin, published in 1996 as the first book in the series A Song of Ice and Fire. Five of a projected seven titles have appeared, the…

View more articles in
Art & Culture

Catholic Living

In Praise of Noisy Villages: Homeschooling and the Common Good

by William Fahey

A simple premise: nothing short of the complete family being engaged in learning will secure a proper education. Behind this premise is a simple principle: Education is communal. It is communal because that which deals with the formation and perfection…