John Haught, an emeritus professor of theology at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., believes that spiritual experiences are connected to the brain processes and dependent on them but not reducible to them. He says it is possible to distinguish between the chemical basis of experiences and the experiences themselves. Life and mind cannot be reduced […]

The Rev. Traci West is professor of ethics and African-American studies at Drew University in Madison, N.J. Among her specialties are welfare policy and justice issues in church and society. She wrote the entry “Agenda for the Churches: Uprooting a National Policy of Morally Stigmatizing Poor Single Black Moms” for the book Welfare Policy: (Feminist Critiques).

The Rev. Thomas J. Massaro is dean of the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, Calif. He wrote the book Catholic Social Teaching and United States Welfare Reform. He also co-wrote the article “Compassion in Action: A Letter to President Bush on Social Policy” for the journal America (2001).

Read a statement from the Center for Media and Democracy’s PR Watch saying the budget worried Ryan’s former parish priest.

Watch a commentary from Word on Fire comparing Ryan’s budget with Catholic social teaching.

Read a statement from Faith in Public Life calling Ryan’s budget immoral.

Read a letter from Georgetown faculty to Ryan telling him he’s misusing Catholic teachings in trying to explain the reasoning behind his budget proposal.

Read a statement from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops saying the federal budget must look out for the poor.

Read a statement from Network, a national Catholic social justice lobbying organization, calling for a budget that is a “stark contrast” to Ryan’s.