Today on Kresta - May 31, 2011

Talking about the "things that matter most" on May 31

4:00 – Harold Camping and the “Rapture Trap”
May 21 has come and gone and born-again Christians are still here. When his prophecy did not come true, and after hiding out in a motel over the weekend, Harold Camping now says that a “spiritual judgment” did take place over the weekend. He says the rest of his prophecy of the Rapture will come true on October 21, as scheduled. Paul Thigpen, author of The Rapture Trap: A Catholic Response to "End Times" Fever, is here to draw from Tradition, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Church history, and contemporary experience to reveal the shortcomings of the rapture doctrine and the larger tangle of twisted religious teachings to which it is tied.

5:00 – Shepherding Moral Economic Policy: Paul Ryan and Archbishop Dolan’s Dialogue on Catholic Social Teaching and the Federal Budget
Catholic university professors two weeks ago engaged in a tired broadside against Speaker of the House John Boehner as he was set to deliver the commencement speech at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Last week, something much more constructive: The public presentation of an ongoing dialogue between Paul Ryan, a Catholic from Wisconsin, who is the House Budget committee chairman, and Archbishop Timothy Dolan, the president of the Catholic bishop’s conference, about Catholic social teaching and its application to the current budget debate. Kathryn Jean Lopez is here to discuss this example of how Catholics SHOULD engage in debate over prudential judgments.

5:20 – Social Justice Isn’t Left of Right: It’s Catholic
Social justice is based on the rights that flow from and safeguard human dignity, and inclines us to work with others to help make social institutions better serve the common good. When it comes to Catholic Social Teaching, we frequently encounter “peace and justice” Catholics who dissent from certain Church teachings. Unfortunately this can lead us to not pay sufficient attention to the social demands of the Gospel. It’s a matter of both / and NOT either / or. The big picture transcends the artificial separation of the “pro-life” and “peace and justice” camps that we often find in the Church. Leon Suprenant is here to discuss Social Justice – Not Left of Right, But Catholic.