Today on "Kresta in the Afternoon" - July 30, 2012

Talking about the "things that matter most" on July 30

Special Broadcast of Interviews from the Napa Institute Conference

4:00 – Fight Against HHS Mandate Wins Court Battle in CO
A federal judge in Colorado has given a preliminary legal victory to a privately owned business, granting an injunction to stop the implementation of the Obama administration’s contraceptive mandate. Hercules Industries--a firm owned by a Catholic family, the Newlands—had argued that the mandate would force the owners either to violate their consciences or to suffer severe financial penalties. Judge John Kane agreed, saying that the government’s interest in a health-insurance program “are countered, and indeed outweighed, by the public interest in the free exercise of religion.” We talk to Matt Bowman, the attorney who argued this case.

4:20 – The Catholic School Textbook Project
The Catholic Schools Textbook Project is producing a 12-volume series of history/social studies textbooks and supporting materials specifically for Catholic schools and students. Textbooks that are urgently needed. Textbooks that bring history alive – in the heart as well as the mind. The need is urgent because the story of human civilization cannot be told unless the essential contribution of Catholics and the Faith that inspired them is included - and it is just this Faith that is left out of every textbook available to Catholic schoolchildren today. This project will change that situation. We talk to Michael Van Hecke, the President of the Catholic Schools Textbook Project.

4:40 – Evangelizing a Secular Culture
Father Robert Barron spoke this week to the Napa Institute Conference on “Evangelizing the Secular Culture.” In his interview with Al following the talk, they examined how to capture the body, heart and mind of the Catholic faith. Starting from the essential foundation of Jesus Christ’s incarnation, life, and teaching, Father Barron moves through the defining elements of Catholicism – from sacraments, worship, and prayer, to Mary, the Apostles, and Saints, to grace, salvation, heaven, and hell – using his distinct and dynamic grasp of art, literature, architecture, personal stories, Scripture, theology, philosophy, and history to present the Church to the world.

5:00 – Fight Against HHS Mandate Wins Court Battle in CO
A federal judge in Colorado has given a preliminary legal victory to a privately owned business, granting an injunction to stop the implementation of the Obama administration’s contraceptive mandate. Hercules Industries--a firm owned by a Catholic family, the Newlands—had argued that the mandate would force the owners either to violate their consciences or to suffer severe financial penalties. Judge John Kane agreed, saying that the government’s interest in a health-insurance program “are countered, and indeed outweighed, by the public interest in the free exercise of religion.” We talk to Matt Bowman, the attorney who argued this case.

5:20 – Religious Freedom Internationally and At Home
Leonard Leo is the former Chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom for both the Bush and Obama administrations. We talk about the state of religious freedom worldwide and how it has become an issue in our own country.