The South Dakota Catholic Conference supports the passage of House Bill 1311, which would require that courts use state adoption laws in all instances of voluntary termination of parent-child relationships. It would thus eliminate the use of commercial contracts currently being used to end these most important relationships. While the Read more…
Chris is joined by Luke Niforatos, Executive Vice President at Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM). Luke shares SAM’s position on marijuana policy, unpacks who is driving the push to legalize marijuana across the nation and in South Dakota, and describes what science has told us about legalization efforts. He also reveals some of the failed promises of legalization advocates, namely that blackmarkets would disappear (they’ve expanded) and that it would be a boon to state revenues (far from it). Lastly, reflects on how Christians might approach the topic of marijuana policy.
The SD Catholic Conference opposes SJR 502, which seeks to amend the state constitution to permit mobile sports betting throughout the state. The Catholic Church does not understand games of chance to be inherently wrong in every instance. However, very serious concerns arise in the context of modern sports betting, Read more…
Chris gives a legislative update to open this episode, and then welcomes Fr. Joe Forcelle, a priest of the diocese of Sioux Falls. Fr. Forcelle recently directed a one-day retreat titled, “God and Country: Prayer in the Midst of Conflict and Grace,” which they discuss. He offers reflections on love of country through the lens of the 19th century short story, A Man Without a Country, by Edward Hale. Awareness and right-ordering of one’s passions, prayer, and the virtue of patriotism (pious love of one’s country and countrymen) are all important to holiness for those navigating turmoil in the civic sphere.
The South Dakota Catholic Conference supports the passage of Senate Bill 159, which would eliminate the death penalty as a possible criminal sentence for those with severe mental illness. The measure defines severe mental illness as “schizophrenia with psychotic symptoms, major depression with psychotic features, bipolar disorder with psychotic features, posttraumatic Read more…
The South Dakota Catholic Conference opposes Senate Bill 137, which seeks to legalize commercial surrogacy in the state. The great pain felt by couples who experience infertility is a heavy burden. All who carry this cross should be met with love and support. And yet surrogacy is not the answer Read more…
Chris Motz, director of the South Dakota Catholic Conference joins Real Presence Radio Live to talk about the 2022 legislative session in South Dakota.
The South Dakota Catholic Conference supports the passage of House Bill 1005, a bill that ensures sex-segregated restrooms and overnight accommodations for K-12 school children. The bill does not apply to single-occupancy rooms. Boys and girls are not interchangeable, but have God-given differences that are uniquely beautiful and important. Such Read more…
The South Dakota Catholic Conference supports the passage of House Bill 1113, a bill to criminalize threatening a pregnant mother with murder, assault, or kidnapping in order to coerce an abortion. This bill is similar to a prior HB 1193, which the SDCC supported in 2019, which criminalized such a Read more…
Your road-weary host gets a chance to relax in the studio with Dr. Chris Burgwald, for a conversation on the moral implications of a number of bills currently in the legislative process. They discuss prayer in schools, tax-credit scholarships, intoxication and marijuana, the death penalty, the power of humor, and more.
Today is the 49th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision effectively legalizing abortion in all 50 states. This is a day of sorrowful remembrance of all those “holy innocents,” those little ones in the womb, known and loved by God from the moment of their creation, who Read more…
The South Dakota Catholic Conference supports the passage of SB 46, a bill that provides for fairness in sports, ensuring girls and women will not be required to compete against boys and men in athletic activities. SB 46 ensures state law respects the natural law, as given by God and Read more…
The South Dakota Catholic Conference supports Senate Bill 71, a bill raising the cap on South Dakota’s tax-credit K12 scholarship program to $3.5M. The program is currently capped at $2M. As the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council taught, “Parents who have the primary and inalienable right and duty to Read more…
This week, Chris is joined by Dr. Glenn Ridder a family practice doctor, medical director at the Alpha Center, state director of the Catholic Medical Association, and a permanent deacon for the diocese of Sioux Falls. Dr. Ridder explains how chemical abortions function in depriving a child of it’s needed environment in the uterus, resulting in death, followed by a second drug that causes intense labor that expells the deceased baby from the womb. He also explains the science behind abortion “discontinuance” laws and medical protocols, and shares the hearwarming story of a young boy who was recently saved with these methods. Lastly, they unpack the FDA’s recent loosening of safety protocols surrounding abortion drugs, and South Dakota’s legal efforts to place these protections for women in state law.
This episode, Chris is joined by Norman Woods, director of Family Heritage Alliance for a preview of the 2022 legislative session. They talk about sexual identity and compassion, pro-life, education, surrogacy, and marijuana. Plus, the SD Catholic Conference is now on Twitter (in addition to Instagram and Facebook). Follow us at @SDCatholicConf
On this episode, Chris is joined by Dr. Scott Yenor, professor of political science at Boise State University, where he teaches political philosophy. He is the author of The Recovery of Family Life: Exposing the Limits of Modern Ideologies, published in 2020. Chris and Scott discuss modern ideological trends that cut against the formation of family life, as Scott argues that a renewed public consensus supporting marriage is urgently needed today.
On this episode Chris is joined by Cameo Anders, a South Dakota lawyer and bioethicist, and Dr. John DiCamillo, a staff ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center. They take up the topic of vaccines, which have remained prominent in national and state political conversations. They discuss the moral analysis Read more…
Chris is joined this episode by Shawn Peterson, president of Catholic Education Partners, an organization founded by US bishops in 2017 in order to provide a Catholic voice in education choice policy discussions. Chris and Shawn walk through Catholic teaching on this topic, including Vatican Council II, which exhorted civil Read more…
As Catholics, we know the importance of intentionality in church design. Beauty matters, layout matters, elements of proportionality and ratio matter. Taking this as a metaphor for city planning, the design of our homes, neighborhoods, and cities matter too. Engineer and city planner Chuck Marohn joins the show to talk Read more…
On this episode, Chris is joined by Katy Faust, Founder and Director of Them Before Us, an organization formed to advance and defend the primacy of children’s rights above adult desires. Chris and Katy unpack the issue of surrogacy, a process by which a child is deliberately subjected to mother-loss. Read more…