Faith & Politics – South Dakota Catholic Conference

On this episode, Chris is joined by Dr. Kevin Baxter, former superintendent of Catholic schools for the largest U.S. archdiocese, Chief Innovation Officer for the National Catholic Education Association, and current director of the Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program at the Alliance for Catholic Education at the University of Notre Dame. They discuss Dr. Baxter's recent book, Greatness in Smallness: A Vision for Catholic Microschools, published by the NCEA. As Dr. Baxter describes it, a "microschool" isn't defined so much by total enrollment, but is rather an attitudinal posture that isn't afraid to depart from historical paradigms. For example, he describes how multi-age instruction (multiple ages of kids in one classroom) couldn't be further from a "desperate" measure, but rather is a model with many, many benefits for children, and which is being used in some premier, high-tuition schools. Looking to the future, he sees leadership and innovation as the two pillars on which Catholic schools can newly thrive (again, not defined in enrollment data) in the years ahead.

Airing for this week's installment of F&P is a segment from Catholic Views, the weekly broadcast of the diocese of Sioux Falls. Guest host Dr. Chris Burgwald interviews SD Catholic Conference director Chris Motz on bills that he's tracking in the state capitol. Chris (Motz) rounds out the half-hour with late-breaking updates on several bills. Find all Catholic Conference legislative positions at https://sdcatholicconference.org/category/2022-session/ or follow updates on Twitter @SDCatholicCon.

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.

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.

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.

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…