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Is the Church a force for good? Fr. Richard John Neuhaus answered this question in 2007 debate

Fr. Tim Finnigan posts at The Hermeneutic of Continuity a link to letters to the editor in The Catholic Herald that followed a debate between Stephen Fry and Christopher Hitchens vs Ann Widdecombe and Archbishop Onaiyekan on the topic: "Is the Church a force for good?" in which the theists "lost".

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/letters/index.shtml#l06112009"

Aside from the excellent points made in these letters, I was reminded of a debate in New York sponsored by The Economist Magazine (2007) on a the related topic: "Religion and Politics should always be kept seperate" in which my late friend, Fr. Richard Neuhaus bested his opponents.

I participated in a CBC television program that was inspired by his performance. A link to an abridged Youtube posting this 15 minute documentary is posted below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFwMZKtHiaE

Further, here is a link to a text article which summarizes RJN's argument:

http://www.politicsandchristianity.com/2007/11/richard-john-neuhaus-on-religion-and.html

A biographical article on Fr. Neuhaus can be found at the following site:

http://www.bwog.net/publicate/index.php?page=post&article_id=3656
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