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RE: Hopeful

From First Thoughts

I’m with you, Amanda . A yes vote on California’s Proposition 8 would ban gay marriage and would trump the court’s imposition of gay marriage on the people of California. The final tallies are not in, but it looks like the attempt to legalize gay marriage has been narrowly . . . . Continue Reading »

Colonel John W. Ripley, USMC, RIP

From First Thoughts

Colonel John W. Ripley , USMC died this past week. We throw around the word hero a bit too casually these days and as a result we too often miss the real deal. Colonel Ripley was the real deal. He was the real deal even apart from the single event for which his is renown. In late March 1972 twenty . . . . Continue Reading »

Comfort Music

From First Thoughts

A few weeks ago Nathaniel Peters asked : Do any other blog contributors turn to particular books or music for consolation or jubilation? Do people find a generational difference between those who choose books or those who choose music? Any thoughts? I’ve already weighed in here with a book . . . . Continue Reading »

And The Winner Is …

From First Thoughts

If you missed the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) this past weekend, you are most likely not aware that Prof. Wendy Doniger received an award. Doniger, Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions in the University of Chicago Divinity School, . . . . Continue Reading »

Holocaust Tourism and Just War

From First Thoughts

David P. Gushee is Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics at McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University. Writing in the magazine Prism , a publication of Evangelicals for Social Action, Prof. Gushee tells us about a “Holocaust travel course” he took this past summer . . . . Continue Reading »

Islam and Human Rights

From First Thoughts

A few excerpts from the UN’s Report of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran : Amputation and corporal punishment, although justified by the authorities as Islamic punishments, remain a serious cause for concern. The death penalty is imposed . . . . Continue Reading »

Moral Complicity With an Evil Act

From First Thoughts

Ryan T. Anderson has already noted George Weigel’s exchange with Obama’s ostensible pro-life Catholic supporters. Weigel’s most recent rejoinder is, indeed, simply devastating. But there was one particular attack on Weigel that was not addressed, but is worth highlighting: Weigel . . . . Continue Reading »

The War over Words

From First Thoughts

Earlier this year the Departments of State and Homeland Security received wide criticism for politically correct memos prohibiting the use of certain language in referring to Islamic terrorists. The diplomatic and intelligence communities were urged to “never use the terms jihadist or . . . . Continue Reading »

“The Nastiest Regimes in the World”

From First Thoughts

Christian Human Rights organizations are justly praising British foreign secretary David Miliband for condemning the Iranian Parliament for their draft apostasy bill: [W]e deplore the way in which the Iranian Parliament is also now discussing a draft penal code that would set out a mandatory death . . . . Continue Reading »