Richard John Neuhaus

Considering that for more than forty years there was no larger public concern than the concern about the threat of communism, one continues to be amazed at the insouciance with which most of us in the West have taken its demise. There were no parades, no dancing in the streets, few memorable . . . . Continue Reading »

Richard John Neuhaus In October 1993, Pope John Paul II issued his tenth encyclical, Veritatis Splendor (The Splendor of Truth). The tabloids blazoned that the Pope is clamping down on sexual ethics. And yes, it turns out that he hasn't changed his mind on fornication and adultery, but . . . . Continue Reading »

The Public Square Stephen Carter’s The Culture of Disbelief: How American Law and Politics Trivialize Religious Devotion (Basic Books) has received mixed, although generally favorable, reviews (see the review by Phillip E. Johnson in this issue). Our friend Peter Berger praised it highly in . . . . Continue Reading »

The Public Square Receiving no attention that we noticed in the general press, and slight attention in the church press, was a statement issued in June that is titled “The Common Good: Old Idea, New Urgency.” It deserves some attention. It was issued by the general secretaries of three . . . . Continue Reading »

The Public Square The Nation is ecstatic. Its cover story “The Gay Moment” evinces high confidence that the media is right in declaring that we are now in “the gay nineties.” “Ten years ago there might have been one gay issue in the news every month or so,” says The Nation . “Now . . . . Continue Reading »

The Public Square Like many American Jews, Martin Peretz, editor in chief of The New Republic, had until now a deep inhibition about ever, ever visiting Germany. But he took the plunge and returns with some instructive observations about that country, and ours. Germans, he suggests, have almost gone . . . . Continue Reading »

The Public Square So it has come to this. Fifty-two years ago, the great Reinhold Niebuhr and a few associates launched Christianity & Crisis in order to counter what they viewed as the liberal sentimentalism of American Protestantism, a sentimentalism that was unwilling or unable to face up to the . . . . Continue Reading »

In response to many inquiries, we are pleased to report that Father Neuhaus continues to recover very satisfactorily from early January’s emergency surgery for colon cancer. As this issue goes to press, the usual battery of tests, plus exploration during surgery for the reversal of a temporary . . . . Continue Reading »

The Public Square At Boston University’s Institute for the Study of Economic Culture, headed by sociologist Peter Berger, a recent conference asked what the end of socialism means for Christian ethics. One paper given was Berger’s “Social Ethics in a Post-Socialist World” (FT, February). . . . . Continue Reading »

The Public Square Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the retired pathologist who, as of this writing, has helped put eight women and one man to death, addressed the National Press Club. When it comes to the prudent use of body parts, he suggested, we are a wasteful society. “We use what’s around us to do what . . . . Continue Reading »