Today on Kresta - August 18, 2010

Talking about the "things that matter most" on Aug. 18

Live From the Iowa State Fair with KWKY - Catholic Radio for DesMoines, IA

4:00 – A. Lincoln: A Biography
Last year, in celebration of the Lincoln’s 200th birthday, Lincoln scholar Ronald White has written a splendid, sprawling biography of a man we can never know too much about. Everyone wants to define the man who signed his name “A. Lincoln.” In his lifetime and ever since, friend and foe have taken it upon themselves to characterize Lincoln according to their own label or libel. In this magnificent book, White offers a fresh and compelling definition of Lincoln as a man of integrity–what today’s commentators would call “authenticity”–whose moral compass holds the key to understanding his life. He joins us.

5:00 – Fired University of Illinois professor vindicated, will again be allowed to teach Catholicism class
The University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana confirmed to Alliance Defense Fund attorneys recently that it will once again allow popular professor Dr. Kenneth Howell to teach on Catholicism after recently firing him for explaining the Roman Catholic Church’s position on human sexual behavior to members of his class. A letter from the University of Illinois Office of University Counsel admits no wrongdoing on the part of the university. Howell, who had been teaching at the university since 2001, was relieved of his teaching duties based in part on an anonymous complaint sent via e-mail to university officials. The e-mail was sent by the friend of an anonymous student who claimed to be “offended” by a May 4 e-mail Howell sent to students elaborating on a class discussion concerning Catholic beliefs about sexual behavior. We talk to Ken.

5:20 - Love, Warmth, and Discipline: Lessons from Boys Town for Successful Parenting
We’ve all been challenged by our children at one time or another, but what about every day by dozens of kids of all ages and backgrounds? Now parents, teachers, counselors, and pastors can benefit from the collective wisdom of Boys Town, one of the most successful programs for troubled youth in the country. In the truest form of reality checks, former director of Boys Town, Father Val Peter, shares these skills so that you too, can help the young people in your life develop the virtues, self-esteem, resilience, and a moral code that will sustain them throughout their lives. Fr. Val is here.

5:40 – The Lesson of Lough Derg
Fr. Robert Barron’s Catholicism Project film crew recently arrived at the shores of large lake in far northwest Ireland, in the county of Donegal. They stepped onto a ferry and were taken to an island in the middle of the lake. Fr. Barron wanted to find a place which would be a fitting visual accompaniment to the section of the series dealing with Purgatory—and he wasn’t disappointed. He said he doesn’t know any other place on earth that better exemplifies the idea and practice of purgative suffering than Lough Derg. He is here to explain the lessons of Lough Derg.