Radio Shows
2019
LA Catholic Morning Radio Interview Archives
Topics: Pushing Back Against Evil in Society; Same Sex Attraction
The Courage of Our Convictions. Our obligation as Christians and Catholics to push back against the evil that has permeated our society is becoming ever more important. Father Tad discusses practical situations where we may be called to give witness and to challenge those around us. He discusses the need for moral courage to be able to share and live out the radicalness of our beliefs and the fulness of the truth.
The Beauty of Chastity. Father Tad discusses the idea that same sex attraction could have genetic components as well as cultural and environmental origins. He notes the important role of chastity and the personal responsibility in the pursuit of an ordered sexual and interpersonal life.
Broadcast Date: November 20, 2019
Topics: Pain; Human Sexuality
Facing Our Struggles in End of Life Scenarios. Father Tad discusses our natural aversion to pain and suffering, and considers what types of situations might require the use of high dose pain medications near the end of life as well as the notion of "palliative sedation."
The Gift of Human Sexuality. What moral concerns arise around our human sexuality when married couples turn to contraception? Father Tad considers some of the practical harms that arise, as well as discussing the deeper structure and significance of human sexuality as a gift from God with its intrinsic structure and meaning in marriage.
Broadcast Date: October 23, 2019
Topics: Dignity of the Unborn; Abortion's Impact on Men
Democracies and the Respect Due to the Weakest. At the origins of our democracy stands a recognition that man should not be subject to arbitrary killings by the powerful or the elite, and democracies arose partially in response to such unjust practices. This has circled back upon us in a new form as we, now from a position of our own power and advantage, ignore the rights of the unborn through the legalization of abortion, propelling us into a new paradigm of radical injustice.
Abortion — Can It Impact Men? Even if few wish to acknowledge it, the reality of abortion's effects on men is a significant issue. Sometimes there may not be much culpability on the part of the man, as when he ends up being be kept in the dark about the fact that his partner became pregnant and independently pursued abortion. Sometimes men are told, and try to unsuccessfully deflect the woman's push for an abortion, and the devastating effect of having the gift of fatherhood taken from him under these trying circumstances is discussed.
Broadcast Date: September 08, 2019
Topics: Our Contradictory Suicide Messaging as a Society; Bringing Christ into the Clinic as a Health Care Worker.
Is Suicide Being Conveyed as "Good" or "Bad" in Our Cultural Messaging? Father Tad addresses the various moral implications of aiding someone's suicide as well as the dangers that arise when health care providers and other care givers assume the role of God in end of life situations.
The Unique Position of Health Care Professionals in Witnessing to the Lord. A discussion of the role of the doctor or nurse in ministering spiritually as well as physically when it comes to bringing healing to an individual in their care.
Broadcast Date: August 21, 2019
Topics: Authentic Children’s Rights; Passive Euthanasia
The Need to Secure Authentic Children’s Rights. Securing the authentic rights of children will mean taking steps like forbidding anonymous sperm donors to “father” offspring through IVF or artificial insemination, a process that leaves them effectively fatherless. These authentic rights will extend to include the right of the child to both a mother and a father in their life. Father Tad and the hosts consider some testimonies of those who are now adults who were raised by same sex couples and the problems that entailed, concluding that the particular vulnerability of children means they have rights that come ahead of and take precedence over the desires of adults for children.
The Order of Dying and the Mysterious Wisdom of Death NOT Entirely on Our Own Terms. A good death will often involve a strong element of personal surrender in difficult circumstances. When we accompany those who manifest this full and beautiful acceptance of their own death, it affects and readies us for that time when our own death draws near. Father Tad and the hosts also discuss the story of Kate Adamson, who was in a vegetative state due to a stroke, and had her feeding tube turned off for 8 days before it was restored. She later described how painfully hungry and thirsty she had been during that time of neglect. The show concludes by considering the need for a greater dose of humanity in the way we treat each other in the midst of increasing vulnerability at the end of life.
Broadcast Date: July 24 , 2019
Topics: The Corpse Raiders; When Did We Receive Our Immortal Soul?
Selling of Human Body Parts. Father Tad addresses the disturbing case of a funeral home selling the remains of those whose families had requested they be cremated. The story segues into a discussion on the Church’s teachings in regard to organ and body donation after death. The hosts and Father Tad also take up the problem of the broad disregard for aborted fetuses, who are not given the same respect as other deceased individuals. They also consider how to eliminate the use of abortion-derived fetal tissues in research.
Do We Know When the Soul is Infused into the Embryo? Father Tad and the hosts of the show discuss our understanding of when the soul originates in the early human being, a topic that raises some challenges when it comes to understanding the presence of the soul of two embryos merge or when an early embryo divides into identical twins. Father discusses how the timing of ensoulment of the embryo is ultimately not relevant to the moral affirmation that it is always wrong to destroy embryonic humans.
Broadcast Date: June 12, 2019
Topics: Transgenderism; Cooperating in Evil
Part 1: Man and Woman He Created them. In the first segment Father Tad discusses gender dysphoria. The medical community finds itself on the horns of a dilemma, as it engages in activities that damage or destroy healthy bodily systems like the reproductive and urogenital systems of those who request such interventions as a means of “addressing” their dysphoria. These concerns are exacerbated as pressure continues to mount to allow children to undergo sex change surgeries. Father Tad attributes some of the newfound eagerness to promote transgenderism to the broad societal success of the contraception movement. That movement has been telling women for decades that their femininity and fruitfulness is not as important as effectively “neutering” themselves through contraception so they can compete with men and “become men” in the marketplace and elsewhere. As womanhood and motherhood and femininity are culturally denigrated, transgenderism arises with a certain logical necessity and force of its own.
Part 2: Courage and the Difficult Decision to Steer Clear of Cooperation in Evil. In the second segment Father Tad shares the story of a man who, even after being out of work for a long time as an electrician, turned down a well-paying job offer that involved doing electrical work during the construction of a Planned Parenthood clinic. His determination to avoid making any causal contribution to the evil of abortion was a costly one in the face of his unemployment, and the hosts and Father Tad discuss our duty to avoid cooperating in evil in a world where many opportunities to do so present themselves
Broadcast Date: May 22, 2019
Topics: IVF; Abortion Pill Reversal
Part 1: In vitro Fertilization. In today’s show, Father Tad describes for listeners the various steps and procedures involved in carrying out IVF, from the superovulatory drugs used to stimulate the woman ovaries to release eggs, to the freezing or discarding of the “extra” embryos produced. One of the show’s hosts shares her testimony about going to an IFV clinic when she and her husband encountered infertility. The hosts and Father Tad discuss how IVF does not actually address infertility, with the couple remaining as infertilie after the treatment as before, but rather circumvents completely the marital reality of procreation and offers a technical substitution in its place.
Part 2: Can Chemical Abortions be Reversed? In the second segment, Father Tad looks at the very hopeful development allowing for the early stages of a chemical abortion process to be reversed. When the mother quickly comes to regret having initiated the abortion, and assuming a sufficiently early intervention following the ingestion of the first of two abortion-inducing pills typically used, it will oftentimes be possible to save the unborn child’s life with the help of progesterone.
Broadcast Date: April 17, 2019
Topics: Exceptions and the Undermining of the Moral Law; Violinists & Abortion
The Unassailable Nature of the Rules of Morality. If we are willing to make an exception to the rule that direct killing of an innocent human being is always wrong, it quickly becomes only a matter of “haggling over the price.” Father Tad and the hosts discuss how the difficult circumstances of suffering elderly persons provided emotional “grounds” for allowing the “exception” of euthanasia to take off in the Netherlands, and now the country is contending with expanding calls for euthanasia for an ever wider array of reasons. Similarly, the highly emotional “exception” of abortion for cases of rape has been used as a justification for the massive international expansion of abortion for virtually any reason. Emotional responses cannot serve as a substitute for moral reasoning and judgment, and when they are permitted to do so, they open up false “exceptions” that serve as the basis for the near complete undermining of moral clarity and consistency.
The Moral Dilemma of the Famous Violinist. The hosts and Father Tad discuss and deconstruct “The Famous Violinist Problem” originally put forward by Judith Jarvis Thomson in an attempt to argue that abortion ought to be morally justified whenever a pregnancy arises from sexual assault.
Broadcast Date: March 13, 2019
Topics: Perinatal Hospice; Alternative Medicine
Part 1: An Adverse Diagnosis in Pregnancy. In the first segment of today’s show Father Tad introduces the idea of perinatal hospice, and discusses how this is becoming an important part of neonatal medicine today. From receiving the child fully and affirming his or her dignity, no matter how long or short a life, to allowing the family to have an opportunity to bond, even briefly with their new member following birth, perinatal hospice provides an invaluable help in the face of a terminal diagnosis for the unborn child.
Part 2: Ethics of New Age Medicine. In the second segment, Father Tad discusses new age medicine and its effectiveness. He notes the urgent need for in depth testing to verify claims of efficacy, no matter how apparently “natural” a practice may be. He discusses FDA approval as a fitting and proper step for such novel forms of treatment. Some of the concerns surrounding new age approaches include the temptation to forego standard treatments that are proven to be helpful, along with the risks of consuming unknown substances which could themselves be harmful to the patient at high dosages. Particular ethical and spiritual concerns surrounding the practice of Reiki are also discussed.
Broadcast Date: February 13, 2019
Topics: IVF; The Talk
What is In Vitro Fertilization? Father Tad and the hosts briefly review IVF and its history, beginning in 1978 when the first test-tube baby was born in England. After discussing some of the moral concerns, they also look at morally acceptable ways to address infertility. They conclude with a remarkable story from a nurse and her encounter with IVF illustrating how the wrongness of IVF is not something specifically “Catholic,” but a truth that can be known and understood by the light of reason.
Reclaiming the Sanctuary of the Home. Father Tad addresses an authentic understanding of sexuality and how parents should play a primary role in forming their children, rather than the sex-ed program at the local school. The importance of protecting families from the toxic influences of modern media, the internet, and the world at large, as well as the key role that parental authority, carefully exercised, can play in the life of a child, are also discussed.
Broadcast Date: January 16, 2019
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