Santorum as the Anti-Paul and the Anti-Romney

by Peter Lawler

Here’s my BIG THINK version. . . . . Continue Reading »

6 Jan 2012 0

Catholic Schools In Name Only

by David Mills

An English Catholic bishop makes what to some of us is an obvious point: Bishop asks if church should stop funding schools that are ‘Catholic in name only” . The Bishop of Lancaster, Michael Campbell, wrote in his new year’s day pastoral letter that parishes needed to . . . . Continue Reading »

6 Jan 2012 0

The Religious Vote in Iowa and Beyond

by Joseph Knippenberg

The headline of this story —“majority of evangelicals pick Santorum in Iowa”—is misleading.  Last I checked, 32% wasn’t a majority.   After Santorum’s 32%, Ron Paul received 18% of the evangelical vote, and Gingrich, Perry, and Romney each received . . . . Continue Reading »

6 Jan 2012 0

On the Square Today

by The Editors

Kathryn Walker reviews  Raised Right : Sometimes it’s hard to understand why young people deviate from the conservative mentalities of their parents during their young adult years, but  Raised Right: How I Untangled my Faith from Politics  offers an explanation for the switch. . . . . Continue Reading »

6 Jan 2012 0

Meditation on a Paragraph by E.J. Dionne

by Matthew J. Franck

In his latest Washington Post column , E.J. Dionne considers the newly surging candidacy of Rick Santorum.  It is not a particularly memorable or insightful column—in other words, par for the course—but there is one paragraph that makes one’s hair stand on end: Santorum is a . . . . Continue Reading »

6 Jan 2012 0

Circling the Wagons

by R. R. Reno

The National Catholic Reporter is almost always predictable, and their choice for 2011’s “person of the year” was true to form: Elizabeth Johnson . Johnson, a professor of theology at Fordham University, is a standard issue Catholic Theological Society of America theologian, which . . . . Continue Reading »

6 Jan 2012 0

Banning Smokers from Jobs Is Social Fascism

by Wesley J. Smith

I get banning smoking at the workplace.  But employers should not have the power to control what people do in their private time.  But USA Today has an interesting story out in which so many companies ban smoking by their workers wherever it happens, that to the point that they . . . . Continue Reading »

6 Jan 2012 0

Paul and Christian Reconstructionism

by Joseph Knippenberg

Reacting to a typically oversimplified and alarmist piece by Michelle Goldberg (who has been worrying about this for years ), my friend Jordan J. Ballor has an excellent post on the connections between the Paul camp and the fringe Reconstructionist (or theonomist) camp. Here’s the crux of his . . . . Continue Reading »

6 Jan 2012 0

Joe Carter vs. Those Wacky Porchers in Their Lifestyle and Tyrannical Modes

by Peter Lawler

Here’s Mr. Carter. I really do have a real job, and so I have only time to quote Joe on the pretentiousness of the Porchers through his reporting on what he learned at their recent conference: For example, one professor (they were almost all professors) presented his localist bona fides by . . . . Continue Reading »

6 Jan 2012 0

First Links — 1.6.12

by Matthew Schmitz

The Fight over Bullying Laws Andy Sher, Chattanooga Times Free Press What Will You Tell Your Grandchildren? Luis Tellez, Public Discourse Christopher Hitchens’ Challenge to Catholics John Haldane, Catholic Herald Epiphany & the Persecution of Christ’s Faithful Leroy Huizenga, . . . . Continue Reading »

6 Jan 2012 0