Matthew J. Franck

In general I agree with Jon Shields (in his post below ) about the absurdity of marking birth as the decisive moment when a child acquires moral worth under our laws. And I admired his powerful Weekly Standard article very much. But I want to make two comments by way of mild dissent on a . . . . Continue Reading »

I’m glad that Matthew Schmitz posted excerpts yesterday from the statement released by Southern Baptist leaders regarding recent reports about religious freedom in the military. Russell Moore (familiar to FT readers), president-elect of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the . . . . Continue Reading »

Somehow I have dropped the habit of reading the comics in our daily paper, and I really should try to re-acquire it. (Now there’s a suggestion for summer reading to add to Collin Garbarino’s list: read the comics! But do it all year ‘round.) I do usually catch the color . . . . Continue Reading »

Our recent discussions around here about the ” Stepping on Jesus ” exercise in some college classrooms reminded me of an occasion when the power of a symbol hit me hard and left a mark. A half dozen years ago, when my wife and I lived in a small town in rural Virginia, our little . . . . Continue Reading »

The higher ed press has been abuzz lately with a story out of Florida Atlantic University, which began with a student claiming that he had been “suspended” for his refusal to take part in a classroom exercise. The student, a Mormon, was enrolled in a course in intercultural . . . . Continue Reading »

The other day here at First Thoughts, Matthew Schmitz commented on ” Jay Michaelson’s Error-Riddled Conspiracy Theory ” about present-day campaigns to defend religious freedom. A closer examination revealed that maybe there was a whole lot more to be said on this tendentious . . . . Continue Reading »

Ryan Anderson, editor of the Witherspoon Institute’s Public Discourse and a fellow at the Heritage Foundation, has done yeoman service in providing an overview of some of the many arguments made by amici curiae in briefs submitted to the Supreme Court in its two upcoming marriage . . . . Continue Reading »

The Witherspoon Institute’s William E. and Carol G. Simon Center on Religion and the Constitution, which I have the honor to direct, will again sponsor its annual summer seminar this year, “The Moral Foundations of Law.”  Held August 5 to 9, 2013, on the campus of Princeton . . . . Continue Reading »

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights will hold a hearing next month on religious liberty, and will solicit comments for a month after that.  Here’s a Commission press release: The United States Commission on Civil Rights announces that it will hold a briefing to examine recent legal . . . . Continue Reading »

Over at dotCommonweal, Grant Gallicho replied late last week to my long post here the weekend before. First Thoughts readers are probably tired of the exchange by now, and I am almost content to let Gallicho have the last word, because his last installment is so repetitive of what he has said . . . . Continue Reading »