Various

The Diversity Machine: The Drive to Change the “White Male Workplace” By Frederick R. Lynch Free Press, 416 pages, $27.50 Affirmative action has sustained some severe blows recently, but its commercial cousin, the diversity movement, has escaped close scrutiny until now. With this . . . . Continue Reading »

The Catholic Vote I respectfully disagree with Bishop James T. McHughs diagnosis of and prescription for the Catholic vote in the 1996 elections (“Catholics and the 1996 Election,” February). His Excellency has a truncated view of the bishops admitted failure, despite great efforts, to . . . . Continue Reading »

The Lord By Romano Guardini Translated by Elinor Castendyk Briefs Regnery, 629 pages, $14.95 paper These meditations on the person and life of Jesus Christ were originally published in 1937, and translated in 1954. They are “spiritual commentaries of some four years of Sunday services,” . . . . Continue Reading »

The End of Democracy? (Cont.) The editors of First Things have performed a great service in publishing the two symposia (November 1996 and January 1997) on the judicial usurpation of politics, even though their action has been misconstrued by some. If they are in any way to blame for the . . . . Continue Reading »

Doctors of Conscience: The Struggle to Provide Abortion Before and After Roe v. Wade By Carole Joffe Beacon, 250 pages, $24 It is refreshing to read a book on abortion that refuses any pretension of neutrality, and the sociologist Carole Joffe has composed an unapologetic paean to the abortionists . . . . Continue Reading »

The Hubris of Abortion Though I found Judge Robert Bork’s arguments on abortion in “Inconvenient Lives” (December 1996) mostly persuasive, I wondered at his lack of reference to God. The omission is especially glaring when he asks what characteristic entitles one to sufficient moral . . . . Continue Reading »

The Index of Leading Spiritual Indicators By George Barna Word, 140 pages, $10.99 This is a fascinating if somewhat predictable account of recent trends in American religion by the evangelical pollster George Barna. Among other things, Barna found that Americans are searching for a personalized . . . . Continue Reading »

“The End of Democracy?” Your symposium “The End of Democracy? The Judicial Usurpation of Politics” (November 1996) did a great service by sounding the alarm about the risks and costs associated with the farce that is modern American constitutional law. Judges have claimed . . . . Continue Reading »

An Illegitimate Regime? While I do not retract a word of my criticism of the judiciary’s usurpation of democratic powers ( “Our Judicial Oligarchy,” November 1996 ) , I wish that my remarks had not been preceded by the Editors’ suggestion that we may “have reached or are . . . . Continue Reading »

Thomas Aquinas and Karl Barth: Sacred Doctrine and the Natural Knowledge of God By Eugene Rogers, Jr. University of Notre Dame Press, 248 pages, $34.95 This is a splendid example of the close reading of classical texts taught”or formerly taught”in the theological graduate schools of . . . . Continue Reading »