Thomas F. Farr

High in the catalogue of social pathologies afflicting marriage and the family in America stands our system of family law, the central purpose of which is to enforce no-fault divorce. In a letter to the Holy Father and the recent Extraordinary Synod on the Family, almost fifty international scholars and religious leaders joined us in urging the Church to consider the effects of no-fault divorce, along with other barriers to faithful, lifelong marriage. Continue Reading »

Tomorrow we mark the 13th anniversary of the Islamist terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. What we are facing in Iraq and Syria today has deeply troubling similarities to 9/11, both in its origins and its threat to American national security. Continue Reading »

The religious freedom policy mandated by the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act has now been in operation for fifteen years. Not with standing the hard work of the State Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom, it would be difficult to name a single country where that policy . . . . Continue Reading »

Seventy percent of the world’s population lives in countries that severely restrict religious freedom. Though largely ignored by the media, scholars, and policymakers, there is a global crisis in religious liberty, and it is getting worse. Outside the West, religious minorities and disfavored . . . . Continue Reading »

Religion and American Foreign Policy, 1945“1960: The Soul of Containment by William Inboden Cambridge University Press, 368 pages, $80 A few years ago the new American ambassador to Beijing was asked for his thoughts about China’s persecution of underground Protestant house churches. . . . . Continue Reading »

The many strands of Islamist radicalism are a terrible threat to vital American interests. The dangers include transnational terrorism fueled by jihad and the growth of extreme Shari’a law in such key Muslim states as Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia—all while the Iranian . . . . Continue Reading »

Diplomacy may be the art of letting someone else have your way, but, these days, disagreements over what constitutes the American way in foreign affairs are profound. There are several reasons for our divided house, but a major source is the suspicion that religion is driving the United . . . . Continue Reading »