Tobias Winright is professor of moral theology at St. Patrick's Pontifical University in Maynooth, Ireland, and he is an associate member of Las Casas Institute for Social Justice at Blackfriars Hall, Oxford University, England. Among his recent publications is Serve and Protect: Selected Essays on Just Policing (Cascade, 2020).
The No. 1 reason Americans give for owning a gun is defense. But Catholics should question the "stand your ground" justification for deadly force, says ethicist and former law enforcement officer Tobias Winright.
"There is a lockdown right now. It's not a drill, I don't think. I hear yelling. I love you all so much." My wife and I received this text message from our daughter at 9:12 a.m. on Oct. 24.
Commentary: There may be a moral obligation to be vaccinated for COVID-19 unless one has a medical contraindication. Such an obligation is grounded in the Gospel's call to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.
Perspective: Policing as we know it today is but a mirror reflection of much of the wider U.S. culture. Few nations have police as armed as ours; few nations have citizens as armed as ours.
