Wesley J. Smith on freedom of worships assault on freedom of religion :
Whats the difference? Under freedom of worship, the Catholic and Orthodox churches both remain perfectly free to teach that the Eucharistic bread and wine transform into the body and blood of Christ. Muslims can continue to require women to be segregated from men at the mosque. But outside worship contexts, the state may compel the faithful to violate their faith by acting in accord with secular morality rather than consistently with their dogmatic precepts.
Also today, John Wilson on Ray Bradbury, the pedestrian :
Why didnt Bradbury drive? In 2011, the University of Illinois Press published a fascinating book by Jonathan R. Eller, Becoming Ray Bradbury . Eller, the co-founder of the Center for Ray Bradbury Studies at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, probably knows more about Bradbury than any other living person. Oddly, in a book that leans heavily toward the psychological, Eller touches only glancingly on the subject. He repeats, in passing, the lore about Bradburys abiding fear of automobilesthe multiple-fatality accident he had witnessed shortly after moving to Los Angeles in 1934 remained a recurring nightmare.
While I have you, can I ask you something? I’ll be quick.
Twenty-five thousand people subscribe to First Things. Why can’t that be fifty thousand? Three million people read First Things online like you are right now. Why can’t that be four million?
Let’s stop saying “can’t.” Because it can. And your year-end gift of just $50, $100, or even $250 or more will make it possible.
How much would you give to introduce just one new person to First Things? What about ten people, or even a hundred? That’s the power of your charitable support.
Make your year-end gift now using this secure link or the button below.