Today on Kresta - January 7, 2010

Talking about the "things that matter most" on Jan. 7

4:00 – “Catholic” Feminist Icon Mary Daly Dies at Age 81
Radical feminist Mary Daly, the iconoclastic theologian who proclaimed, ''I hate the Bible,'' and retired from Boston College rather than allow men to take her classes, has died. She was 81. Daly's tumultuous career at the Jesuit-run Boston College ended after three decades when she refused to open her classroom to men, believing women did not freely exchange ideas if men were present. Men, she said, ''have nothing to offer but doodoo.'' Daly described herself as a pagan, an eco-feminist and a radical feminist in a 1999 interview with The Guardian newspaper of London. Al looks at her life and impact.

4:20 – National security adviser: Airline bomber report will “shock” Americans
White House national security adviser James Jones says Americans will feel "a certain shock" when they read an account being released today of the missed clues that could have prevented the alleged Christmas Day bomber from ever boarding the plane. President Obama "is legitimately and correctly alarmed that things that were available, bits of information that were available, patterns of behavior that were available, were not acted on," Jones said in an interview. We talk to counterterrorism expert Lorenzo Vidino about the impact of this report.
4:40 – Four-legged animals emerged earlier than thought: A Danger to Evolutionary Thought
The water-dwelling ancestors of modern-day mammals, reptiles and birds emerged onto land millions of years earlier than previously believed, researchers reported recently. A set of fossilized footprints show that the first tetrapods — a term applied to any four-footed animal with a spine — were treading open ground 397 million years ago, well before scientists thought they existed. An expert unconnected with the research said the find would force experts to reconsider a critical period in evolution. Until now, scientists thought they had the evolution from fin to foot fairly well understood. Apparently not so. We talk to Dr. Fuzzale Rana, vice-president for science apologetics at Reasons To Believe.

5:00 – U.S. Bishops Announce a Major Push for Immigration Reform in 2010
The USCCB yesterday announced steps to push for the enactment of immigration reform legislation in 2010. Bishop John C. Wester, bishop of Salt Lake City, Utah, and chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration, said “It is our view, and that of others, that the American public, including the Catholic and other faith communities, want a humane and comprehensive solution to the problems which beset our immigration system, and they want Congress to address this issue.” They are pushing a postcard campaign and have set up two websites to keep the issue in the forefront. We talk to Kevin Appleby, Director of the Office of Migration and Refugee Policy at the USCCB.

5:20 – Marriage: The Rock on Which the Family Is Built
Is marriage the foundation of family life? Many people today would say, “No!” Others would say, “Yes!”, but they would define “family” and “marriage” in ways at odds with how the words have been used almost throughout human history. In this revised and expanded edition of Marriage: The Rock on Which the Family is Built, internationally-renowned theologian William May makes the case for marriage’s foundational role for family, with marriage defined as the union of one man and one woman. Drawing on Pope John Paul II’s “theology of the body”, he explains the person-affirming, love-enabling, life-giving, and sanctifying nature of marriage. He shows how marriage is necessarily a complementary union of man and woman and how this rules out the idea of “same-sex” marriage.

5:40 – Lourdes: Font of Faith, Hope, and Charity
Today is the anniversary of the birth of St. Bernadette Soubirous, whose visions of the Blessed Virgin led to the establishment of the Shrine of Lourdes. We talk with Elizabeth Ficocelli, author of Lourdes: Font of Faith, Hope and Charity. We look at the different facets of the apparitions - personal experience, historical analysis, and spiritual reflection.