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Marriage in Church and State

From First Thoughts

Our former assistant editor Ryan T. Anderson writes in National Review Online that the solution to the marriage debate is not to privatize marriage because marriage is not just a religious issue. Instead, supporters of measures like Proposition 8 are looking to maintain marriage as the best, and . . . . Continue Reading »

Bad Ethics, Bad Science, and Bad Politics

From First Thoughts

Over at the Weekly Standard our former colleague Ryan T. Anderson shows how Obama’s recent decision on stem cells is a bad move politically, ethically, and scientifically. He gives a thorough case for why embryo-destructive research is not only unnecessary and more expensive, but less likely . . . . Continue Reading »

Nothing New Under the Sun

From First Thoughts

One recent vanity is the potential revival of the “Fairness Doctrine,” which mandates that radio stations give opposing viewpoints equal airtime. Fr. Neuhaus noted a previous attempt and the protests of Evangelical broadcasters in the February 1994 Public Square : [Evangelicals’] . . . . Continue Reading »

Alligators and Drinking

From First Thoughts

As we clean up formatting errors in the archives, occasionally we find amusing tidbits. Here’s another one, this time from the August/September 2006 Public Square : This is, I suppose, a Louisiana turn on Hilaire Belloc’s little rhyme: “Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine, / . . . . Continue Reading »

William Byrd on Film

From First Thoughts

Thanks to the New Liturgical Movement , I found a beautiful film called Playing Elizabeth’s Tune—The Life of William Byrd . It tells the story of how one of Britain’s greatest composers, a Catholic, kept the favor of Queen Elizabeth in a time of religious upheaval. Narrated in an . . . . Continue Reading »

Where Have All the Traddies Gone?

From First Thoughts

In today’s Wall Street Journal, Steven Waldman looks at the data that John C. Green gathered for ” What Happened to the Values Voter? ” in our March issue. The big question for him was why the traditional Catholics voted for Obama more than Kerry. Green said that economic factors . . . . Continue Reading »

Babies Are People?

From First Thoughts

Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. They just help make us people and not other primates, reports the New York Times : In the view of the primatologist Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, the extraordinary social skills of an infant are at the heart of what makes us human. Through its ability to solicit . . . . Continue Reading »

Lenten Things

From First Thoughts

I posted this last year , but it’s so good I wanted to put it up again. A few years ago a friend of mine sent me these lyrics, which can be sung to the tune of “These Are a Few of My Favorite Things.” Sackcloth and ashes and days without eating, Mortification and wailing and . . . . Continue Reading »

More Re: Treasure Hunt

From First Thoughts

My find of the day was in the March 2005 Public Square—a William James poem that captures one difference between the sexes: Hogamous, higamous Man is polygamous Higamous, hogamous Woman monogamous. The poem may not have been James’ and he may not have been sober when composing it, but, . . . . Continue Reading »