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David Mills is former executive editor of First Things.

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“Other Responsibilities”

From First Thoughts

One of the junior fellows passed on the link to a Republican congressional candidate’s comments on  her primary opponent’s six children : With little to distinguish her on issues or experince with her opponent, lawyer Keith Rothfus, she has settled on making the case that he has . . . . Continue Reading »

Contracepting the Passions

From First Thoughts

Something a little old but perhaps of interest to some of you who missed it as I did: Michael New’s How Red States Reduce the Abortion Rate . Among the claims he addresses is the common one that government should promote contraception as a way to reduce the abortion rate. He notes that . . . . Continue Reading »

Governor Christie: Model for Bishops

From First Thoughts

The new governor of New Jersey offers a blunt, but not rude or defensive, response to a reporter’s question about his “tone.” He is right that the political press’s furrow-browed concern with “tone” and working bipartisanly and their unctuous worries about the . . . . Continue Reading »

Austrian Bishop Makes Usual Remarks

From First Thoughts

A soon (we hope) to retire Austrian bishop says all the usual things, according to Austrian Bishop Questions Celibacy (the link is to a shorter version of the story than the one I received). Let priests marry, ordain women (maybe), let divorced and remarried couples receive communion, and be nice . . . . Continue Reading »

Wright the Failed Moralist

From First Thoughts

Writing about morality is dangerous because you might reveal that you don’t have a very good grasp of the subject. In Ethics for Extraterrestrials , Robert Wright asks what the morality of aliens might be like and answers the question by imagining man meeting another being in space. He thinks . . . . Continue Reading »

Empire Beats Godfather

From First Thoughts

Empire Strikes Back named greatest movie sequel , reports the Daily Telegraph , in one of those stories that makes you question the insight, or at least the age, of the respondents. Better than The Godfather Part II , which ranked third, behind , get ready for this, Terminator 2 ? . . . . Continue Reading »

It’s the Parents Who Need Pacifying

From First Thoughts

“Remember that a baby that has a dummy [pacifier] is like a tiger that has tasted blood,” warned an English health pamphlet from of about 100 years ago. Perversions were thought likely to follow, explains Nicholas Day in an article titled (an editor’s dream)  Babies Suck . . . . . Continue Reading »

Anatomy of Conversion

From First Thoughts

For those who are interested in this sort of thing, here is an article of mine on the  Anatomy of Conversion , attempting to discern what is happening when one moves toward something new. It describes a Catholic conversion for obvious reasons, but I’m thinking it should apply to other . . . . Continue Reading »

Captive to Westminster

From First Thoughts

Dale Coulter, who contributed to Not So Easy to Identify an Evangelical , has written a related piece on The Westminster Captivity of Evangelicalism on his weblog Renewal Dynamics. He is a member of the Evangelicals and Catholics Together consultation and the co-editor of Pneuma: The Journal of the . . . . Continue Reading »