The Home Front

The Home Front

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The Home Front episodes

  • Cardinals' consistory; Diocesan conflict; Venezuela: Just War? Monroe Doctrine?

    Show Notes:

    A Consistory to Revitalize the College of Cardinals by Fr. Daniel Gallagher (The Catholic Thing)

    Charlotte priests submit Dubia to Vatican over liturgical changes (The Pillar)

    Is our society normalizing dark things while our bishops polish their managerial skills? Nicole Shanahan: Burning Man; Mike Cernovich: Ayahuasca trips. What does the Church teach?

    Here is a more optimistic take.

    Phil Lawler:

    Pros and cons on the politics of the Venezuela action: Rich Lowry and Megyn Kelly

    And what about the Just War aspect? Phil:

    My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell (affiliate link) and the whimsical movie based on the book (highly enjoyable, not without mild adolescent themes, in keeping with the “coming of age” aspect).

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    51 min
  • Daycare fraud: bad, but also inevitable; what to know when someone on the right gains "strange new respect"; and more!

    Show Notes:

    Nick Shirley’s report on MN daycare fraud.

    Minnesota’s Massive Somali Fraud Scandal Is a Warning to Every State, Including Maine by Ben Midgley, Republican candidate for governor (not an endorsement; we don’t know anything about him)

    Andy Ngo addressing claims that the legacy media already reported on the MN fraud

    Washington State AG Warns Citizen Journalists To Stop Investigating Somali Daycares Or Face Potential Hate Crime Charges ~ Zerohedge

    Legislators move to protect fraudsters

    Peachy Keenan: “You had to send your baby to a real daycare to pay a Somali to open a fake one.”

    The New York Times moves in to neutralize Nick Shirley (I said this article was unlocked but I’m not sure about that now.)

    There was even a Strange New Respect award! Tom Bethell

    The Bishop’s Wife

    Seven housewifely [and mostly universal] New Year’s resolutions that will actually change things from The School for Housewives

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    56 min
  • Demographics, Wokeness: Baby Boomers; and the Lost Generation of straight white men

    Show Notes:

    Eclipse of the boomers by Christopher Caldwell

    Bottle feeding: an unexamined societal factor

    Jacob Savage: The Lost Generation, Compact Magazine

    Black Lives Matter Activists Executed A Shocking $83 Billion Shakedown Of American Corporations

    Helen Andrews

    Merry Christmas! See you in two weeks!

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    57 min
  • MA priest desecrates Nativity display; Vatican issues monogamy document; China's underground Church ignored

    Show Notes:

    Controversial “ICE was here” nativity display in Massachusetts to remain until priest speaks to archbishop - CBSNews

    ICE acting director, Boston Archdiocese demand ‘ICE was here’ Nativity be removed from Massachusetts church: Todd Lyons says display adds to dangerous narrative as archdiocese calls for removal - Fox News

    Why it’s wrong to deprive the community of religious displays: Beauty will save the neighborhood by Leila M. Lawler

    It’s Historically And Theologically Ridiculous To Compare The Holy Family To Illegal Immigrants by Maisey Jefferson

    Marriage is an exclusive union requiring ‘tender care,’ Vatican says

    I’m finding it difficult to get the English translation of the document “ ‘Una Caro’ (One Flesh): In Praise of Monogamy. Doctrinal Note on the Value of Marriage as an Exclusive Union and Mutual Belonging.” (Obviously you can get your browser to translate it, but must remember that is not official.) I read it on the Inside the Vatican site, but awkwardly, as it is spread over three “letters” that are not linked together. This is the final post there. You can see how thinly the topic of procreation and children is treated.

    Catechism of the Council of Trent: Marriage

    For my critique of Amoris Laetitia, see the appendix to my book God Has No Grandchildren: A Guided Reading of Pope Pius XI’s Encyclical “Casti Connubii” (On Chaste Marriage), 2nd Edition, by Leila M. Lawler. This book makes a great Christmas gift, by the way!

    Is Vatican ‘satisfied’ with China’s contempt for diplomatic accord?

    Our Lady of Guadalupe: the stories behind the story

    Guadalupe and the Flower World Prophecy by Joseph Julian and Monique Gonzalez (Affiliate link)

    The Like Mother, Like Daughter Library Project

    Go here for the Lawler Family Book Club list from the past year.

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    54 min
  • Pope Leo's trip to Turkey; 10 children confirmed dead from the mRNA shot, breaking open the narrative; and more!

    Show Notes:

    Pope visits famous Istanbul mosque but does not pause to pray

    In Unitate Fidei: Apostolic Letter on the 1700th Anniversary of the Council of Nicaea by Pope Leo XIV

    Pope Leo speaks out on the situation in Germany

    Neglected highlights of Pope Leo’s first voyage by Phil Lawler

    FDA Memo Links COVID Vaccines to Child Deaths in Internal Review ~ X thread

    One of the children likely to have been one of the 10 cited by the FDA ~ Maryanne Demasi

    Early on, the media, in collusion with Pfizer, covered up the truth, that covid poses no threat to children.

    My post with many resources so you can find your own information:

    The Lawler Family Book Club list for 2025, as promised (some time ago, sorry)!

    Our family (seven grown children, five with families of their own) has a book club in which we nominate books, vote on them, and choose our collective reading for the year, one book every two months. We meet by Zoom for about an hour or two and it is really fun! We started in February and did have one in-person meeting during our family reunion in Maine; the grandkids had a book club meeting as well! They mostly discussed Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes this past year.

    I think Phil and I at least briefly touched on our thoughts about the books so far in the podcast episode after the respective meetings.

    Lawler Family Book Club - 2025 here’s our Amazon affiliate link — anything you buy when you open this tab, for 24 hours, sends a little change our way at no cost to you — thank you!)

    February: Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri

    April: Laurus by Eugene Vodolazkin

    June: The Fathers by Allen Tate

    August: The Children of Men by PD Janes

    October: The Double by Fyodor Dostoevsky

    December: The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark.

    *These are affiliate links; a small amount comes to us when you buy anything through our link at no cost to you. Thank you!

    Feel free to propose good books for us to consider!

    Do you look forward to our podcast? Do not hesitate to subscribe! It’s free! Or you can choose to support us financially if you are able— either way, we appreciate you!

    Your paid subscription means a lot to us and helps us continue our work.

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    53 min
  • Our exasperating bishops; Why we don't recommend giving to the Campaign for Human Development; and more!

    Show Notes:

    Bishops vote to ban gender transition treatments at Catholic hospitals - Aleteia

    Bishop Joseph Strickland interjects at US Conference of Catholic Bishops - Catholic Herald — his subsequent statement can be found here.

    Catholic Vote quotes the Catechism on immigration

    More: Catholic Vote has provided a response to the bishops’ statement on immigration, emphasizing the nation’s duty to protect its own citizens: Immigration Enforcement and the Christian Conscience: The Receipts

    EXCLUSIVE: I have obtained a copy of the Diocesan Synod Leaders’ meeting schedule for this year, not posted on their website as far as I can tell. Note that this is how the “synodal path” will be distributed to the dioceses and from thence to the parishes, by means of these meetings:

    And what is Porticus, featured on this schedule? AI process content, hard to get a handle on, with one extremely rich sponsor, the Brenninkmeijer family of entrepreneurs, the philanthropic arm of which’s only substantive goals, if you can call them that, seem to be climate change and social action, and DEI.

    Refugee Revenue: US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ $455 million in grant awards

    Lepanto Institute on the latest Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) scandal: BOMBSHELL: US Catholic Bishops Give $1 Million to Marxist Movement

    Lepanto research reports (see specific reports on CCHD awards)

    Bait and Switch by Diogenes (Catholic Culture, from 2007)

    The time is now for reform of the CCHD by Phil Lawler (from 2010)

    CCHD lost $11.4M in 2023

    Is it Time to Abolish the USCCB? by Leila Marie Lawler

    Pope Leo supports the US bishops’ immigration position as stated in this video

    Pew Report — 12th grade girls less likely than boys to say they want to marry

    Phil’s novel! Ghost Runner makes a great Christmas gift!

    Do you look forward to our podcast? Do not hesitate to subscribe! It’s free! Or you can choose to support us financially if you are able— either way, we appreciate you!

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    56 min
  • Honoring -- or just humoring -- veterans; Scotus won't hear Kim Davis case in Obergefell and that's okay; and more!

    Show Notes:

    A British WWII veteran speaks his mind, but the BBC doesn’t want to listen; neither do many others

    A veteran’s haunting question: Was his sacrifice worth it? by Phil Lawler

    Katy Faust | How Obergefell Commodified Children — a must listen!

    Supreme Court declines to hear challenge to same-sex marriage decision — The Federalist

    The Obergefell ruling rode rough-shod over religions and dozens of state constitutions on the bases of a moral — not legal — opinion. — The Federalist

    The Three Necessary Societies by Russell Hittinger

    Do you look forward to our podcast? Do not hesitate to subscribe! It’s free! Or you can choose to support us financially if you are able— either way, we appreciate you!

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    50 min
  • Fear of having babies at 40; Vatican oddly weighs in on Mary's titles; and more!

    Show Notes:

    What is a good age to have a baby? by Leila Marie Lawler — embedded link re: progesterone treatment in IVF

    The Facebook post, “40 is not the onset of menopause” — up to 300 likes/loves and 146 testimonials and comments

    Leila on how silencing works — this strategy applies to all sorts of issues:

    For a long time, many of good will wanted to extend a charitable interpretation of whatever seems disturbing in Fr. Martin’s work, especially when it comes to rejecting Church teaching (and normal morality) on something as important as homosexuality.

    Their relentless overlooking of his intent is in part due to the success of LGBT+ activists in creating an identity to substitute for mental illness and perversion, and thus effecting a handy self-silencing culture among opponents.

    Fr. Martin is good at this. He has maneuvered many Catholics into thinking they have to approve him in order to avoid being thought “mean” (a term he often uses for bigoted and hateful).

    Why now? The Vatican’s odd ‘clarification’ of Marian piety by Phil Lawler

    The Vatican and the trolls — Or: Is Cardinal Fernandez spending too much time online? by Phil Lawler

    Do you look forward to our podcast? Do not hesitate to subscribe! It’s free! Or you can choose to support us financially if you are able— either way, we appreciate you!

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    48 min
  • Catholics are suffering in Nigeria and China; bottle-feeding as a cultural norm led to disaster; and more!

    Show Notes:

    Nigeria once again declared world’s deadliest country for Christians Catholic Vote

    Catholic Church Cries Out Over Renewed Herdsmen Attacks In Taraba Communities As Hundreds Are Displaced Sahara Reporters

    The Trump Card That Could Free Jimmy Lai by William McGurn Wall Street Journal (go here for archived version)

    Vatican confirms papal approval of new Chinese bishop Catholic Culture

    The Vatican’s one-sided deal with China Phil Lawler

    Hong Kong Catholics Deserve the Church’s Leadership, Not Silence by Frances Hui

    A Brief History of Baby Feeding

    Baby Formula: The Story of How America Helped Invent One of the Great Life-Saving Technologies for Babies, Made Parents Dependent On It, Then Let the System Collapse Is…Uniquely American

    Here’s why a patriarch gave Sox-fan Leo a Cubs jersey

    The Dean’s Watch by Elizabeth Goudge (affiliate link)

    Elizabeth Goudge in the Library Project by Leila Marie Lawler

    Do you look forward to our podcast? Do not hesitate to subscribe! It’s free! Or you can choose to support us financially if you are able— either way, we appreciate you!

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    55 min
  • Helen Andrews' The Great Feminization - and how we stand to lose the rule of law and everything else

    Show Notes:

    Helen Andrews: The Great Feminization, Compact Magazine

    Harvey Mansfield: Manliness (affiliate link)

    Do you look forward to our podcast? Do not hesitate to subscribe! It’s free! Or you can choose to support us financially if you are able— either way, we appreciate you!

    Your paid subscription means a lot to us and helps us continue our work.

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    52 min

About The Home Front

From the publisher's feed

Leila and Phil Lawler have been talking to each other about everything for almost 50 years. Join as they discuss every aspect of the battle on the home front.

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