On the Square Today

From First Thoughts

Leroy Huizenga on the evangelical family : Take a look at your family photos going back to your grandparents and great-grandparents, if you happen to have them. I have a nice one of my late father’s family when he was a little boy of three, circa 1939, taken on the family farm in North Dakota. . . . . Continue Reading »

On the Square Today

From First Thoughts

George Weigel on the Aparecida Document : Prior to an April visit to Argentina, I read the “Aparecida Document,” the final report of the Fifth General Assembly of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean (CELAM), which was held in Brazil in 2007. This master plan for the New . . . . Continue Reading »

On the Square Today

From First Thoughts

Elizabeth Scalia on being bored beyond endurance : I am bored by the same people saying the same things, week after week, and by their dismaying contempt for curiosity, and by my own, too. A few days ago, the gaffe-prone (far more than the press will admit) President Obama said, “the private . . . . Continue Reading »

On the Square Today

From First Thoughts

R.R. Reno on income inequality : Sometimes the editors at the New York Times get it right, even when they’re wrong. In a May 26 editorial they opined that Democratic attacks on Mitt Romney’s career as head of Bain Capital are fair game: “Private equity, rarely by design, has created . . . . Continue Reading »

On the Square Today

From First Thoughts

Elmer Thiessen on the offensiveness of evangelism : The topic of evangelism made national headlines in Canada recently. It all started with a twelfth grade student in Nova Scotia wearing a T-shirt boldly emblazoned with the words, “Life is wasted without Jesus.” William Swinimer continued . . . . Continue Reading »

On the Square Today

From First Thoughts

Russell E. Saltzman on shopping with the poor : All my clothing comes from stores with names like “Community Thrift Store,” “Family Thrift,” and “Vintage Value.” These are places several retail notches below Macy’s or Target, and even further down the retail chain . . . . Continue Reading »

On the Square Today

From First Thoughts

Patrick J. Deneen on E.J. Dionne and the contradiction of Progressive Catholicism : Dionne has been lambasting the Catholic leadership for its “conservative” positions, and praising the Church’s “moderate and liberal” elements, whether bishops, religious, or lay. He has . . . . Continue Reading »

On the Square Today

From First Thoughts

James R. Rogers on rights you can’t give away : Most Americans know the Declaration of Independence states that God endows people with certain “unalienable” rights. When I ask my students what it means for a right to be inalienable, they respond that it means that government cannot . . . . Continue Reading »

On the Square Today

From First Thoughts

William Doino Jr. on why Christianity is not for quitters : At his famous Harvard Commencement address in 1978, Alexander Solzhenitsyn remarked, “A decline in courage may be the most striking feature which an outside observer notices in the West.” Thirty-five years later, one could add: . . . . Continue Reading »

On the Square Today

From First Thoughts

Peter J. Leithart on the ecumenism of communion : It is common in every branch of the church for some believers to exclude other believers from the Lord’s table. Some Lutherans will commune only with Christians who hold to a Lutheran view of the real presence. Some Reformed churches require . . . . Continue Reading »