Richard John Neuhaus

The Public Square Some writers on the First Amendment, including this editor, have long made the argument that there is but one religion clause. The purpose of the clause is to protect the “free exercise” of religion, and the “no establishment” provision is in the service of that purpose . . . . Continue Reading »

The Public Square Donahue, Oprah, and Geraldo have all had a grand time weighing in on the subject, and Father Andrew Greeley has been writing up a storm denouncing “the silence” of the Church about it. In the foreword to a new hook, Greeley says that priestly pedophilia is “perhaps the most . . . . Continue Reading »

The Venerable” is not a title used among Presbyterians, but it fits few people better than John H. Leith, the highly respected professor of theology at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. Dr. Leith attended the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) this summer in Milwaukee. His . . . . Continue Reading »

Civilization, it has been observed, depends upon obedience to the unenforceable. Similarly, it depends upon the observance of the unexamined. The Lutheran ethicist Gilbert Meilaender once wrote a brilliant essay titled “The Examined Life Is Not Worth Living” (in The Theory and Practice of . . . . Continue Reading »

The contention is advanced, with some persuasive force, that the churches lag behind the progress that society has made in recent years with respect to the role of women. In this view, the admission of women to the ordained ministry is a sine qua non of credibility in respecting women’s rights. In . . . . Continue Reading »

After two full years of publication, we thought it time to survey our subscribers and the findings are now in. Of course such a survey cannot tell us who you are in all your irreducible uniqueness, but it does offer a profile of subscribers to First Things. We thought you might be as interested in . . . . Continue Reading »

We get these letters saying that we should not refer to “radical feminism” since all feminism is radical. Not quite. We refer such readers to “The Feminist Revelation” (December 1991), where we noted Christina Sommers’ useful distinction between “liberal feminism” and “gender . . . . Continue Reading »

Christian groups called “Adventist” trace their roots to 1844, the year that some had fixed for the advent, or Second Coming, of Christ. Although now more cautious about setting definite dates, Adventists still live in expectation of an imminent return, and it perhaps follows that they do not . . . . Continue Reading »

In the January issue, this section carried a commentary titled “The Catholic Church as Interest Group.” Among the points made was that, despite the bishops’ declared intention, a statement such as “Political Responsibility,” issued by the United States Catholic Conference (USCC), is in . . . . Continue Reading »

There are numerous obstacles to making the connections between religion and public life. For some moderns, a quasi-religious commitment to secularism produces an overt hostility to religion in all its manifestations. For many others, religion is self-evidently a purely private phenomenon. In that . . . . Continue Reading »