Matthew Schmitz is senior editor of First Things. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Spectator, the Catholic Herald, and other publications. He holds an A.B. in English from Princeton University. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
As the Berlin Wall fell, Francis Fukuyama proclaimed the end of history—“the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government.” Richard John Neuhaus wasn’t so sure. In a 1996 symposium on judicial overreach, he questioned the . . . . Continue Reading »
Pets are replacing America’s children. According to the marketing research firm Mintel, two-thirds of American pet owners treat their pets as “part of the family.” One-third say that their pets understand their feelings better than most humans. Half care as much about the . . . . Continue Reading »
The Paris Statement decries the faux Christendom of democracy, but we will need more than local patriotism and recollection of Christian roots to combat it. Continue Reading »
When I last visited New Orleans, the Robert E. Lee Monument was being used as an altar. Two voodoo priestesses, turbans atop their heads, scattered gunpowder and grave dirt on the granite plinth. With splendid indifference to those who had erected the memorial, they summoned their gods through an . . . . Continue Reading »