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David Mills is former executive editor of First Things.

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Greek Archbishop Speaks, Doesn’t Help

From First Thoughts

The Archbishop of Piraeus, Seraphim, has called for the excommunication of Greek MPs who vote for same-sex partnerships, which the European Court of Human Rights has required the country to implement. The news stories I found were uniformly critical to hostile, and none quoted him at any length, so . . . . Continue Reading »

No Francis Effect? Of Course Not

From First Thoughts

“New Pew Research Analysis Finds No Clear ‘Pope Francis Effect’ Among U.S. Catholics” reads the headline of a press release from the Pew Research Center’s Religion and Public Life Project. The release explains that though 79% of American Catholics rate the pope . . . . Continue Reading »

Why Worlds Cave In

From First Thoughts

Excellent advice for pastors, and for the rest of us: Paul Levy writing on Reformation 21 on When Your World Caves in , writing in response to two pastor friends who’d “fallen morally” and lost their positions and families. For example: Online life is a killer . This isn’t . . . . Continue Reading »

A Profanation Protesting Profanation

From First Thoughts

Members of the Society of St. Pius X have distinguished themselves by disrupting a service commemorating Kristallnacht, a service held in the cathedral in Buenos Aires and previously hosted by the man who is now pope. The service they declared a “profanation” because a rabbi was leading . . . . Continue Reading »

Ryan Anderson, The Young Buckley

From First Thoughts

Well, winner of the Buckley Award , anyway. Ryan, a former assistant editor and now a member of our Advisory Council, was one of the five people awarded the Young Conservative Coalition’s award for young conservative leaders. The biography included mentions his “influence and . . . . Continue Reading »

Sexy, Beautiful Women

From First Thoughts

The little metal shed at the corner near the office sells candy,  soft drinks, and magazines, with the magazines—mostly People and its peers—on a shelf sticking out from the corner of the shed so that the passersby notice them. I pick up something about popular culture from scanning . . . . Continue Reading »

A Dog-Eat-Dog Business World

From First Thoughts

For New York area readers: the Crossroads Cultural Center is sponsoring the author of The Pope and the CEO , Andreas Widmer, speaking on Doing Business in a possibly dog-eat-dog world. He’ll be speaking at the American Bible Society (just up Broadway from Columbus Circle) two Fridays hence at . . . . Continue Reading »

What a Veteran Knows

From First Thoughts

A kind of   On the Square  classic, our former webmaster Joe Carter’s What a Veteran Knows , published on Veteran’s Day four years ago. (Leon and Amy Kass selected it for the Veterans Day section of their  American Calendar .) It begins: “Thank you for your . . . . Continue Reading »