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Relevant Religion and Human Desires

From First Thoughts

Sometimes it takes a nonbeliever to speak truth to believers. This time it comes from the “not even religious” George Jonas in Canada’s National Post : Searching for one-size-fits-all religion . Amidst calls from some Roman Catholics that the new Pope toe their own line rather . . . . Continue Reading »

Roe Plus Forty: Where Now?

From First Thoughts

Last week marked the fortieth anniversary of Roe vs. Wade . In the absence of a consensus favoring legal protection of the unborn, what are the alternatives available to us in the short term? In my most recent Capital Commentary piece , I make four suggestions: First, we always do well to assume . . . . Continue Reading »

Religious Freedom Day

From First Thoughts

Some of us may have missed it, but President Obama declared yesterday Religious Freedom Day in the United States. Here is an excerpt from the presidential proclamation on the White House’s website: Today, we also remember that religious liberty is not just an American right; it is a universal . . . . Continue Reading »

Setting Political Philosophy to Music

From First Thoughts

This is almost worth crossing the pond to see: John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice: The Musical . In order to draw inspiration for his magnum opus, John Rawls travels back through time to converse (in song) with a selection of political philosophers, including Plato, Locke, Rousseau and Mill. . . . . Continue Reading »

The Sexual Revolution: A Change of Mind

From First Thoughts

Andrew Norman Wilson, better known by his initials, A. N. Wilson, is an on-again, off-again atheist who has written books on C. S. Lewis, Leo Tolstoy, the Victorians, and many other subjects. At the beginning of a new year, the Daily Mail has published Wilson’s retrospective on the sexual . . . . Continue Reading »

Giving Up on the Constitution?

From First Thoughts

For many years now I’ve been teaching my students that a constitution is more than a scrap of paper but is to be found in the deeper principles and commitments of a particular political community. Here in Canada in recent decades we have embraced the notion that our constitution is identical . . . . Continue Reading »