Richard John Neuhaus

There is a definite risk in giving a book a title such as American Babylon: Notes of a Christian Exile . That’s the book I’m working on at present. I expect it will be out from Basic Books some time next spring. The title very deliberately aims at stealing some of the thunder, so to speak, . . . . Continue Reading »

I admit to being more impressed than most commentators, including those with whom I usually agree, with the Wednesday night debate between Senators Obama and McCain. Political punditry is not my main shtick, and I have no idea whether the debate will contribute significantly to, as the pundits say, . . . . Continue Reading »

The Tuesday debate between Senators McCain and Obama was, it must be admitted, something of a bore. If the outcome is called a draw, it is hard to resist the conclusion that it was a win for Obama. It seems that all he has to do for the next few weeks is to keep his cool and not frighten the . . . . Continue Reading »

The argument of these last several Friday postings is that the no-establishment provision of the first freedom of the First Amendment is entirely in the service of the free exercise provision. I should note, at least in passing, that those devoted to the “original meaning” of the First . . . . Continue Reading »

What Happened at Vatican II by John W. O’Malley Harvard University Press, 372 pages, $29.95 Vatican II: Renewal Within Tradition edited by Matthew Lamb and Matthew Levering Oxford University Press, 462 pages, $29.95 When asked what he thought about the French Revolution, Zhou Enlai, . . . . Continue Reading »

The Public SquareThat April 8, 1966, cover of Time magazine became something of a cultural marker. It was completely black, except for the three words in bold red, “Is God Dead?” The subject, of course, was the “death of God” movement with which some theologians had excited public interest . . . . Continue Reading »

The argument is that religious freedom is itself an achievement of religious freedom. Then too, protecting the rights of those with whom we disagree is in the self-interest of all. On most controverted issues in our public life, there is no stable majority, only ever shifting convergences and . . . . Continue Reading »

At least since Ronald Reagan vs. Jimmy Carter in 1980, the question of religion in public life and, more specifically, the meaning of “the separation of church and state,” has surfaced in presidential elections. Sen. Obama has been working hard to overcome the perception that his party is . . . . Continue Reading »

“Oh look, the sun is rising again.” Most of us manage to contain our surprise. As predictable as the rising of the sun is the emergence of religion in our political contests¯and the feigned surprise of much of our political class. Or maybe the surprise is not feigned. For some it is a . . . . Continue Reading »

American Babylon: Notes of a Christian Exile . I really like the title of the book I’m writing, in the hope of having it ready for publication in the first part of 2009. That can be a problem in writing books. You fall in love with a title and then labor to build a book around it. But I’m . . . . Continue Reading »