“Forgive, and You Will Be Forgiven.”

A day after South Korean immigrant Dong Yun Yoon lost his two young daughters, his wife, and his mother-in-law when a military jet crashed into their house in San Diego, the bereaved man prayed for the well-being of the pilot: “Nobody expected such a horrible thing to happen, especially right . . . . Continue Reading »

Once and Future Human Rights

December 10, 1948—sixty years ago today—the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was born. Promulgated as the smoke of the death camps still lingered, the document was a stunned world’s attempt to enshrine human rights and dignity, to ensure that such “contempt for human . . . . Continue Reading »

Lost in Translation

Over at Catholic Culture “Diogenes” has picked up on an amusing blunder: According to the official Vatican translation, in a message about the Christian heritage of European culture, Pope Benedict XVI encouraged reflection upon “the ancient roots in which abundant lymph has flowed . . . . Continue Reading »

Suicide Makes Primetime

Remember the outcries late last month when a nineteen-year-old in Florida committed suicide in front of a webcam? “What will this lead to? Where is this headed?” many of us asked. Unfortunately, in Britain, it looks like it’s headed to primetime . . . . . Continue Reading »

Asceticism, Satire, God, and Gaslights

"I hold that life is intensely painful but that the good man does not complain." "I suppose you read that in a book?" "No, sir. It struck me quite personally." "Then your idea of perfect happiness is to meet the maximum of pain with the minimum of complaint?" . . . . Continue Reading »

Libertarianism Goes Up in Cigarette Smoke

When anyone writes anything positive about smoking, I can predict with deterministic confidence that some commenter with a dead or dying grandparent will appear to tell his story in the comments section. A wag would compare it to the deterministic confidence with which I can predict the increased . . . . Continue Reading »

No Contradiction Here

Commenting on the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, Michael Rubin over at National Review got it exactly right : While it’s fashionable to argue that terrorists in Mumbai do not act out of religion, but are simply misguided, the fact of the matter is that they justify their actions in Islam. For . . . . Continue Reading »

“Where Was Her Editor?”

I was going to say something about Lisa Miller’s Newsweek cover story advocating for same-sex marriage on religious grounds. But I simply could not improve on Mollie Ziegler’s comments over at the indispensable GetReligion : It is no exaggeration to say the piece was an embarrassment. . . . . Continue Reading »