Stephen M. Krason

What’s Wrong with Guaranteeing a Free College Education?

This was one of SCSS President Stephen M. Krason’s “Neither Left nor Right, but Catholic” columns that appear monthly at his blog site (https://skrason.wordpress.com/) and in Crisismagazine.com and The Wanderer. This column discusses the problems of guaranteeing free higher education at state universities and colleges that was especially promoted by Senator Bernie Sanders in his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, and which is likely to continue as a political issue in the years ahead.

The Supreme Court’s Same-Sex “Marriage” Decision: Grave Implications and Needed Responses

This was one of SCSS President Stephen M. Krason’s “Neither Left nor Right, but Catholic” columns that appeared during 2015 in Crisismagazine.com and The Wanderer and at his blog site (skrason. wordpress.com). It discusses the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 2015 decision on same-sex “marriage,” Obergefell v. Hodges, and its likely implications for religious liberty, true marriage, and children. He says it is the latest expression of concocted rights under the Court’s “substantive-due-process” doctrine. He suggests ways to respond to the decision politically and legally—by citizens, organizations, and the use of executive power by a sound president in the near future, and by the Church.

The True Story—and Tragedy—of Race in America

This was one of SCSS President Stephen M. Krason’s “Neither Left nor Right, but Catholic” columns that appeared during 2015 in Crisismagazine.com and The Wanderer and at his blog site (skrason. wordpress.com). He makes an assessment, in light of Catholic social teaching, of the race issue in America today. He argues that the typical commentary about it ignores obvious realities, is often driven by ideology and the opportunism of self-appointed racial spokesmen, and ignores serious, deep-seated problems in minority communities with tragic consequences.

On Our Dysfunctional Criminal Justice System

This was one of SCSS president and Franciscan University of Steubenville professor Stephen M. Krason’s “Neither Left Nor Right, but Catholic” columns that appeared initially in Crisismagazine.com on May 1, 2013. It argues why the U.S. criminal justice system is in a state of crisis. It argues that what seem to be ideologically-oriented critiques of the problems of the system actually have their basis in traditional Christian thinking.

Our Founding Fathers, Religion, and Religious Liberty

Stephen M. Krason presented this talk at the “Stand Up for Religious Freedom” rally in Buffalo, New York on June 8, 2012. It was one of many that were held around the U.S. that day, to show opposition to the attempt by the Obama administration’s Department of Health and Human Services to mandate that religious entities provide free contraceptives (including abortifacients) and sterilization procedures in their health insurance programs.

Good Intentions, Unintended Consequences, and Speculative Harm: Current American Scourges

The author notes how American public policy typically springs from good intentions, but brings unforeseeable consequences that cause new social problems. It also increasingly seeks to address speculative, not actual or certain, harms. He gives numerous examples and argues that the effect is increasingly expansive state power and heightened intrusion into private areas of individual and family lives. He also argues that all three public policy trends grow out of modern utopian tendencies and secularism.

New Directions for U.S. Foreign Policy: Catholic Social Teaching as a Guide

The author argues that there are serious problems from the standpoint of Catholic social teaching (as well as traditional Western thought and simple prudence) in making the forcible spreading of democracy an objective of U.S. foreign policy. He argues that U.S. policy, in light of Catholic social teaching, should be prudently interventionist—but not primarily in a military sense—in promoting human rights, diffusing international tensions, and peacekeeping. Also, the author discusses such questions as shaping U.S. foreign policy in conjunction with allies and foreign aid, in light of Catholic social teaching.

A Catholic-Realist Approach to International Political Life: Application to Selected Current Questions

My previous article on the subject of international politics in the pages of this journal argued that there was a basic compatibility between Catholic teachings regarding international politics and the theory of political realism as advanced most prominently by the great international affairs scholar Hans J. Morgenthau, even though it pointed out arears of disagreement. This article attempts to apply the basic principles comprising a Catholic-realist theory to a few current international questions. First, we review these basic principles. The basic perspective of political realism—which holds that society is governed by objective laws, the ubiquitous reality in international life is that nations seek to gain power to further their interests, that political realities must always be accepted and moral results are less than satisfying, and that morality cannot be identified with any one nation’s views—is accepted in a Catholic-realist position. While carefully avoiding moral crusades, efforts must be made by nations and actors to address moral questions nonetheless, taking heed of the Church’s teaching on such matters as development, human rights, and the rights of nations. When confronted by an especially great moral evil or evil ideology, such as communism or Nazism, a foreign policy may rightfully be oriented to opposing it, but must always proceed prudently. Finally, the central role of the papacy as an international moral arbiter and conciliator should be recognized. We seek here to determine how a Catholic-realist theory would be applied to the following crucial current questions: globalization, and more broadly the role of international organizations; military interventions, peacekeeping, and more basically war and peace in the contemporary world; foreign aid; international law, international juridical structures, and the protection of human rights; nationality groups and nation-building; and immigration. Globalization and International Organizations. The previous article made clear the popes’ support for international organizations, but we must note