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An O.P. on Hauerwas’ Pacifism

From First Thoughts

Dominica , the publication of the Dominican students of the St. Joseph Province, features Br. Bonaventure Chapman, O.P. weighing in on Stanley Hauerwas’ pacifism:  Although I am not a pacifist, there are certainly compelling reasons for being one. In the first place, Jesus seems to . . . . Continue Reading »

Einstein on Prayer

From First Thoughts

From Letters of Note , a 6th grader named Phyllis wrote to Albert Einstein on behalf of her Sunday school class, asking “Do scientists pray?” The Riverside Church January 19, 1936 My dear Dr. Einstein, We have brought up the question: Do scientists pray? in our Sunday school class. It . . . . Continue Reading »

Healing the Mind and the Soul

From First Thoughts

Christian author and speaker Dawn Eden recently interviewed on Fox News about her new book My Peace I Give You: Healing Sexual Wounds with the Help of the Saints . The book explores the effectiveness of grace and prayer to heal deep emotional wounds caused by sexual abuse, reminding that “the . . . . Continue Reading »

Reparative Therapy in California

From First Thoughts

The Associated Press reported last night that a first-of-its-kind ban on the rather controversial method of psychotherapy intended to eliminate same-sex attraction, or reparative therapy, is making its way through the California statehouse. Plenty of conservative religious groups are upset about . . . . Continue Reading »

Naomi Schaefer Riley’s Racism?

From First Thoughts

Naomi Schaefer Riley has been bumped from the Chronicle of Higher Education ’s group blog for sharing her thoughts on black studies scholarships: You’ll have to forgive the lateness but I just got around to reading  The Chronicle’ s recent  piece  on the young guns of . . . . Continue Reading »

Anthropomorphic Aslan is a Blasphemy

From First Thoughts

From Letters of Note , a letter of C.S. Lewis’ to BBC producer Lance Sieveking about the possibility of adapting his Chronicles of Narnia to the big screen: The Kilns, Headington Quarry, Oxford 18 Dec. 1959 Dear Sieveking (Why do you ‘Dr.’ me? Had we not dropped the honorifics?) As . . . . Continue Reading »

Catholics and Commencement Speakers

From First Thoughts

Libby A. Nelson at  Inside Higher Ed  weighs in on the conflict and compromise that many Catholic universities are increasingly faced with today. The article covers much more, but mentions the controversies involved in institutional recognition of public figures whose moral commitments . . . . Continue Reading »

What We Read, 1962-2012

From First Thoughts

The social media website Squidoo has produced an info-graph about the most read books in the past fifty years. Who knows whether it’s better that more copies of Dan Brown were sold than copies of the Twilight Saga, but it’s encouraging to know that the Bible beat out the rest by over 3 . . . . Continue Reading »

Ethics in the NFL

From First Thoughts

Junior Seau, arguably one of the NFL’s greatest linebackers ever to play the game, shot himself in the chest yesterday. This follows on a series of recent suicides of NFL players Dave Duerson, Terry Long, and Andre Waters. To this, Charles Camosy at Catholic Moral Theology asks: “When . . . . Continue Reading »