facebook twitter RSS
Menu
  • Home
  • About
    • Mission and Vision
    • History
    • Board of Directors
    • Board of Advisors
    • Contact Us
    • Close
  • Fellows
    • E. Christian Brugger, D.Phil. – E. Christian Brugger is a Senior Fellow of Ethics and Director of the Fellows Program at the Culture of Life Foundation in Washington, D.C. and the J. Francis Cardinal Stafford Professor of Moral Theology at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver, Colorado. He has Master degrees in moral theology and moral philosophy from Seton Hall, Harvard and Oxford Universities and received his D.Phil. (Ph.D.) in Christian ethics from Oxford in 2000.  Christian has published over 200 articles in scholarly and popular periodicals on topics in bioethics, sexual ethics, natural law theory, as well as the interdisciplinary field of psychology and Christian anthropology.  He lives on a farm in Evergreen, Colorado, with his wife Melissa and five children.
    • Helen Alvaré, J.D. – Helen Alvaré, J.D. is Honorary Fellow in Law at the Culture of Life Foundation.   Helen is an Associate Professor of Law at the George Mason University School of Law in Arlington, Virginia where she teaches and publishes in the areas of property law, family law, and Catholic social thought. Professor Alvaré serves as Consultor for the Pontifical Council for the Laity, Senior Fellow at the Witherspoon Institute where she chairs the Conscience Protection Task Force, is President of the Chiaroscuro Foundation and most recently Editor and Co-Author of Breaking Through: Catholic Women Speak for Themselves.From 2000 to Spring 2008, Professor Alvare taught at the Catholic University Columbus School of Law. Professor Alvare also lectures widely in the United States and Europe on matters concerning marriage, family and respect for human life. She is a consultant to ABC News and to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Marriage and Pro-Life Committees. In 2008, Pope Benedict XVI named Professor Alvare a Consultor to the Pontifical Council for the Laity.From 1987-2000, Professor Alvare was an attorney with the USCCB’s General Counsel Office and director of information and planning for the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities. In these positions, she testified before the…
    • Jennifer Kimball Watson, Be.L. – Jennifer Kimball Watson joined Culture of Life Foundation as Executive Director in November of 2007. She is an Adjunct Professor of Bioethics at the Ave Maria School of Law in Naples, F.L.. Previous to her work with the Culture of Life Foundation Jennifer was a Wilbur Fellow of the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal located in Michigan. Jennifer earned a Licentiate in Bioethics from the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum School of Bioethics in Rome.  Her prior undergraduate studies were in International Administration and Government Policy at the Evergreen State College in Washington State.Jennifer’s areas of specialization include Eugenics in Artificial Reproductive Technologies, Heterologous Adoption and Transfer of Embryos, The Womb in Reproductive Technologies, and the Role and Significance of The Medical Act. She interviews with National Conservative and Christian Radio Syndicates as well as several foreign and secular reporters. Jennifer has spoken on the dignity of women and women’s social issues to various audiences since 1999 and has spent several years in advocacy work with various international organizations in the field of life sciences. From 2000 to 2006 she recruited and coordinated grass-roots social policy efforts that consisted of a public and private sector network of professionals and academics…
    • Margaret Datiles Watts, J.D. – Margaret Datiles Watts, J.D., is Culture of Life Foundation’s Associate Fellow in Law. Maggie is member of Washington, D.C. and Maryland bar associations.  She holds a B.A. in Philosophy (Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude) and a Certificate in Classical Philosophy from the University Honors Program at The Catholic University of America. She earned a Juris Doctorate from Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America, where she served as a Research Fellow at CUA Law’s Marriage Law Project. She also studied Roman Law and EU Law at Magdalene College, University of Oxford, England.A former Fellow and Staff Counsel for Americans United for Life, Datiles co-authored an amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Court of the United States in the landmark partial birth abortion case, Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood, et al., companion case to Gonzales v. Carhart (2007). She also advised legislators, policy groups and the media (radio and newspapers) on abortion and bioethics laws and drafted pro-life model legislation.Her areas of research and/or publication include legal issues surrounding abortion, government funding restrictions for abortion, contraception, healthcare rights of conscience, stem cell research, artificial reproductive technology, population decline, physician-assisted suicide, euthanasia, and same-sex marriage.She currently publishes articles…
    • William E. May – William E. May is Senior Research Fellow of the Culture of Life Foundation and emeritus Michael J. McGivney Professor of Moral Theology at the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he taught the academic years from 1991 through 2008 after teaching for 20 years at The Catholic University of America. He is the author of more than a dozen books. The 2nd edition of his Catholic Bioethics and the Gift of Human Life was published by Our Sunday Visitor (2008), and a substantively revised 3rd edition is scheduled for publication in 2013. In 2003 Our Sunday Visitor published a revised and expanded edition of his Introduction to Moral Theology. Among his other books are: Marriage: The Rock on Which the Family Is Built (San Francisco: Ignatius, 1995; 2nd revised edition, 2009)); and, with Ronald Lawler OFM Cap and Joseph Boyle, Catholic Sexual Ethics (rev. and enlarged ed. Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, 1998; 2nd rev. edition, 1998; a 3rd edition, substantively revised by May alone, was published in 2011); Theology of the Body: Genesis and Growth (Boston: Pauline Books & Media, 2010) He has published more…
    • Frank J. Moncher, Ph.D. – Dr. Frank Moncher received his Ph.D. in Clinical-Community Psychology from the University of South Carolina in 1992, following which he spent several years on faculty of the Medical College of Georgia, with a focus on Adolescent Intensive Services. In 2000 he moved to the Washington, DC area to teach at a graduate school of psychology which had a mission of integrating the science of psychology in the context of the Catholic Christian view of the human person. Concurrent with this, over the past 12 years he has consulted with 11 different religious orders and 4 dioceses to provide psychological evaluations of aspirants and candidates, as well as consulting with different diocesan marriage tribunals.His research interests include the integration of Catholic thought into psychotherapy, child and family development issues, and integrated models of assessment of candidates for the priesthood and religious life. Frank is published in Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Human Services, Adolescence, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Edification, and the Journal of Psychology and Christianity, as well as contributing to several book chapters on children, families, and religious issues.Since 2010, Dr. Moncher has worked for the Diocese of Arlington and Catholic Charities as a psychologist and consultant.  His…
    • Steve Soukup – Fellow in Culture and Economy Steve Soukup is the Vice President and Publisher of The Political Forum, an “independent research provider” that delivers research and consulting services to the institutional investment community, with an emphasis on economic, social, political, and geopolitical events that are likely to have an impact on the financial markets in the United States and abroad. Mr. Soukup has followed politics and federal regulatory policy for the financial community since coming to Washington in 1996, when he joined Mark Melcher at the award-winning Washington-research office of Prudential Securities. While at Prudential, he was part of the Washington team that placed first in Institutional Investor magazine’s annual analyst survey for eight years in a row. Mr. Soukup left Prudential with Mr. Melcher to join Lehman Brothers in the fall of 2000 and stayed there for two years, before leaving early in 2003 to become a partner at The Political Forum. While at Lehman, Mr. Soukup authored macro-political commentary and followed policy developments in the Natural Resources sector group, focusing on agriculture and energy policy. He also headed Lehman’s industry-leading analysis of asbestos litigation reform efforts. At The Political Forum, Mr. Soukup was initially the editor and junior partner,…
    • Dr. Pilar Calva, M.D. – Dr. Calva is a medical doctor specializing in Human Genetics with a Cytogenetics subspecialty from The University of Paris, France. In Paris, she was the under-study to the world-renowned Professor Jerome Lejeune, who is considered by some to be the father of modern genetics. In 1958, Lejeune discovered that an extra 21st chromosome is responsible for Down syndrome, or Trisomy 21. Lejeune dedicated his life tirelessly and unfailingly to defend the unborn, especially those with Down syndrome, testifying before scientific conferences and lawmakers. He was appointed by Pope John Paul II as the first President of the Pontifical Academy for Life. In Dr. Calva’s own words: When I arrived in France, I lived a life divided between faith and reason. I thought that from Monday to Saturday, I put on my white coat for my scientific tasks, and Sunday was the day I took off the white coat, put on my crucifix and dedicated myself to my religious duties. Professor Lejeune truly converted me, making me see that one can wear the white coat and the cross, at the same time. That is, one can fly with the wing of faith and the wing of reason. Inspired by the life…
    • Elyse M. Smith – Elyse M. Smith is an associate attorney with a northern Virginia law firm working in nonprofit and church law, estate planning, and civil litigation. Ms. Smith graduated magna cum laude from Ave Maria School of Law in Naples, Florida, where she served on Law Review and was published in the Ave Maria International Law Journal. She was named “Most Dedicated Editor” for her work on Law Review. Ms. Smith earned her bachelor’s degree in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia.  
    • Close
  • Life
  • Human Sexuality
  • Marriage & Family
  • Bioethics
  • Religious Liberty
  • Blog
  • Contribute

How are we doing?
Subscribe
Thanks for signing up!

Contribute
  >  Issue Briefs  >  Blog

Blog

Remember Christmas?

Posted: December 22, 2018
By: Steve Soukup

The other day, I sat down to watch a little TV with my youngest child.  He was watching the “Phineas and Ferb” Christmas special.  I was surprised.  I’m not an enormous Disney fan – for a number of reasons – … Read

Read  
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

College Education, Ethics And Yardsigns

Posted: November 17, 2018
By: Steve Soukup

On Tuesday, November 6th – the day of the midterm elections – Melissa Link, is a publications specialist at the University of Georgia, and the Managing Editor of Ethics and the Environment, was filmed on the streets of Athens, Georgia taking and destroying campaign signs for Republican candidates. If you’re at all surprised that an “expert” in ethics at an institution of higher education would be caught doing something likely illegal and certainly unethical, then you haven’t been paying attention. Read

Read  
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

World Leaders And The Media

Posted: June 6, 2018
By: Steve Soukup

Pope Francis and President Trump walk into a bar. There’s a duck sitting on a stool watching the nightly news. The President and the Pope pull up stools on either side of the duck. “What are they saying about him?” the President asks the duck as he nods to the Pope. “They are praising him for upending Catholic orthodoxy,” says the duck. “And what are they saying about him?” the Pope asks the duck, pointing to the President. “They are condemning him for challenging liberal orthodoxy.” “And what do you think?” the two leaders ask the duck. “I think… Read

Read  
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

The #MeToo Movement And Sexual “Morality”

Posted: January 22, 2018
By: Steve Soukup

The men whose actions precipitated the “#Metoo” movement believed that no sexual behavior was off limit to them, because the Sexual Revolution had convinced them that no sexual behavior was immoral. Going forward, many innocent men, and indeed society itself, will pay a heavy price as the civil war of modern governance attempts to impose order, and does so arbitrarily, brutally and without remorse. It’s another win for the “Enlightenment.” Read

Read  
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Charlie Gard And The Utilitarian Utopia

Posted: July 10, 2017
By: Steve Soukup

In 1973, the science-fiction legend Ursula K. Le Guin published “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas.” In it, she describes the city of Omelas, a utopia filled with laughter, music, love, and, above all, happiness. Everyone in Omelas is joyous. They are content, absolutely, completely, and undeniably fulfilled. Well, almost everyone…. You see, locked in a small basement room with no window, little light, a damp dirt floor and foul air, lives a little child. Read

Read  
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

The Factions Of The West

Posted: June 7, 2017
By: Steve Soukup

Three years ago, the French Government banned a public service advertisement called “Dear Future Mom,” which was an attempt to convince Europeans not to abort children diagnosed in utero with Down Syndrome. Why? Because two viewers complained, one of whom had aborted a Down Syndrome child and found watching the ad “violent.” The ad ran unopposed in Great Britain and the U.S. That geographic dichotomy highlights one of the great divides in the West: the source of our rights. Who gets to decide what we can or cannot say or who should or should not live? God, or the Enlightened? Read

Read  
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Moral Chaos And Despair

Posted: April 11, 2017
By: Steve Soukup

Two years ago, economics professors at Princeton shocked the academic and political worlds with a ground-breaking study that showed the death rate among middle-aged, working-class whites has been increasing dramatically since the turn of the century. Last month, a follow-up study showed that those trends are increasing. What is it about our brave new world that is taking such a toll on this particular group of people? Read

Read  
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Italy Debates The Definition Of “Family”…A Half-Century Too Late

Posted: February 4, 2016
By: Steve Soukup

Last Thursday, Italy’s Senate began deliberations on the question of “civil unions.” I can’t help but wonder if the Italian people and even the Church are wasting their time bickering over the question of homosexuality’s role in defining the family, even as the basic family unit is collapsing in Italy and throughout Europe. In Italy – as in the rest of “Christendom” – the family was destroyed long ago and by forces that have nothing whatsoever to do with homosexuality or same-sex relationships. Rather, it was destroyed by selfishness, laziness, cultural apathy and, above all, antagonism to, and resentment of, traditional Judeo-Christian religious values. Read

Read  
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

As Americans March For Life, A Warning From China

Posted: January 19, 2016
By: Steve Soukup

This week, as American Pro-Lifers march in somber commemoration of the 43rd anniversary of Roe v Wade, the government of China has, however unwittingly, sent the United States and the rest of the West an urgent and fitting message: people are not the problem, and abortion is not the answer. Indeed, the construction of that equation has the variables precisely backward.
Read

Read  
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Heroic Doubling, Redux

Posted: January 7, 2016
By: Steve Soukup

The recent attack on a Planned Parenthood facility, unleashed more talk about gun control, the war on women’s health and religious fanatics. What it failed to unleash were thoughtful reflections on a far more serious phenomenon: In a world stripped of its meaning and purpose, Westerners are finding or creating meaning anywhere they can. And in the case of men unmoored from the traditional defining behaviors and beliefs of adulthood – manhood – this creation of meaning often manifests itself as violence, and “heroic” violence especially.

Read

Read  
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. »

Support Culture of Life Foundation

Share on Facebook
Contribute
How are we doing?
Subscribe
Thanks for signing up!

Contribute
Culture of Life Foundation
Contribute

About Us

  • Mission and Vision
  • History
  • Questions and Testimonials
  • Board of Directors
  • Board of Advisors
  • CLF Team

Issue Briefs

  • Most Viewed
  • Subscribe
  • Life
  • Human Sexuality
  • Marriage & Family
  • Bioethics
  • Religious Liberty

CLF Fellows Program

  • About the Fellows Program
  • Jennifer Kimball Watson, Be.L.
  • E. Christian Brugger, D.Phil.
  • Helen Alvaré, J.D.
  • Margaret Datiles Watts, J.D.
  • William E. May
  • Frank J. Moncher, Ph.D.
  • Steve Soukup
  • Dr. Pilar Calva, M.D.
  • Elyse M. Smith

Person and Polis Blog

  • About Steve Soukup
  • Most Viewed

Press Inquiries

P.O. Box 320637
Alexandria, VA 22320
(202) 289-2500
  • communications@cultureoflife.org

Culture of Life Foundation

PO Box 320637
Alexandria, VA 22320
(202) 289-2500

info@cultureoflife.org

Copyright © 2019 Culture of Life Foundation

 

Privacy Policy

Send this to friend