Support First Things by turning your adblocker off or by making a  donation. Thanks!

Gosnell and Shamelessness

Pete, Gosnell was merely doing what he was paid to do; getting rid of unwanted children.  That’s why his trial is not a major story and is not of interest to the media, save, perhaps, for what happened to those few women harmed, which is a local story of criminal malfeasance or rather, . . . . Continue Reading »

Guns and Race

Yesterday, I read Juan Williams in the WSJ, Race and the Gun Debate.    Williams is looking at where the gun problem is in the United States.  He notes, “Gun-related violence and murders are concentrated among blacks and Latinos in big cities. Murders with guns are the No. 1 . . . . Continue Reading »

The Bible is a Huge Hit, I Hear

This is just my two cents on the pop culture scene. I am guilty of not watching television and being routinely clueless about the pop culture scene. Here, I lurk in wonder at who the hell has time to watch TV programs regularly.  What I will do is catch up with some show friends rave . . . . Continue Reading »

No, Please, Anything but God.

Andrew Ferguson informs and amuses at The Weekly Standard about that other orthodoxy in, “The Heretic: Who is Thomas Nagel and why are so many of his fellow academics condemning him?” It is longish, but I liked it and for possibly unnatural reasons, thought some of you might like it, . . . . Continue Reading »

Must we be Racist?

American liberals need conservatives to be racist as justification for resisting change to the status quo of our government in terms of social programs and “entitlement” spending. Does it follow that conservatives must be racist? Funny, I don’t feel racist. What brings this up? At . . . . Continue Reading »

Senator Portman and Relativism

Ohio Senator Portman, a supporter of DOMA, has come out in favor of gay marriage. This reversal of principle about marriage is apparently rooted in the relative in that his change of mind comes about because of a relative: his son. He also suggests that Republicans cannot hope to attract the votes . . . . Continue Reading »

Mark Judge on Two Kinds of Cultural Ignorance

On one hand, boomer-age cultured (i.e., liberally-educated) conservatives who don’t know contemporary pop culture and are too lazy about learning anything about it; on the other, young liberals who know it but are unashamedly un-cultured (i.e., rejecting the canonical distinctions that genuine . . . . Continue Reading »

Dogmatic Straussians

1. First off, I call your attention to Carl’s fine statement in the thread. It’s the outline of the big book of Carlism that would be the equivalent of the big book of Ralphism (Hancockism) that appeared not so long ago. Carl needs to turn that into a separate post. 2. Next, I want to . . . . Continue Reading »

The Right to Die in Massachusetts

Massachusetts voters are considering an assisted suicide law.  I do not deny the right of the states to create this type of legislation; better there than through federal law or mandate.  I can be an American citizen and remain one while moving from a state whose laws I do not condone to . . . . Continue Reading »

Filter Culture Articles