First Thoughts

Mideast Christians and Authoritarian Regimes

Message to the West: Don't Judge Continue Reading »

In Praise of Missionary Dating

You haven’t kissed her yet?” A classmate furrows his brow, as if trying to understand some antiquarian cultural rite. “And you’ve been dating how long?” As a conservative Christian within a libertine college environment, I have heard variations of this same conversation played out . . . . Continue Reading »

#LoveWins—Or Else

In the aftermath of Friday’s Supreme Court decision, attention is turning toward the future of religious liberty. And if you read Justice Kennedy’s opinion on the ruling, you’ll quickly learn that if there’s to be any semblance of our historic understanding of religious liberty, there . . . . Continue Reading »

The Benedict Option for Evangelicals

If American evangelicals are to succeed at Christian formation under the new cultural regime that the Supreme Court has just instituted in law, they must re-learn the Gospel of Christ as the word of an external authority worth loving, not the inner voice of their experience.  Continue Reading »

First Links—6.30.15

Thanks for Everything, Justice Kennedy
Matthew J. Franck, Public Discourse

Archbishop Kurtz on Same Sex Marriage Ruling, and Where the Church Goes from Here
Joseph Kurtz, Our Sunday Visitor

A North Dakota Oil Boom Goes Bust
Mara Van Ells, The Atlantic

The ACLU Abandons Support of Religious Freedom
Daniel Allott, Washington Examiner

As the Culture Shifts on Marriage, Evangelicals Stand Firm
Russell Moore, National Review

Antonin Scalia as the Measure of How Far We Have to Go
Edward Peters, In the Light of the Law

Barbarians Inside the Gates

The danger of domestic terrorism looms large today because of young Americans finding purpose in life through radical Islam. Continue Reading »

Reading Romans 1 & 2 on the Feast of St. Paul

This has been a wild weekend. The Supreme Court handing down its decisive ruling that marriage is malleable was not surprising, but it created an air of certainty and solemnity to the fact that proponents of a traditional society—Christians, Jews, Muslims, and non-religious alike—have lost . . . . Continue Reading »

Some Words Against Despair

Many social conservatives are rightly disappointed and dismayed by the Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which effectively legalized same sex marriage in all 50 states. Many pundits—even those who disagree with the decision—are already advising conservatives to . . . . Continue Reading »

First Links—6.26.15

Who is the Philosopher Who Holds So Much Influence Over Pope Francis?
Matthew Schmitz, Washington Post

Confessions of a Catholic Novelist
William Giraldi, New Republic

The Incomprehensible Witness of Forgiveness
John Inazu, Hedgehog Review

The Dignity of Charleston Flies in the Face of the Left's Uninformed, Anti-South Bigotry
Jonah Goldberg, National Review

Three Headed Hydra
Michael Barone, Richard Epstein, R. R. Reno, Ricochet Podcast

First Links—6.29.15

Why the Church Should Neither Cave Nor Panic About the Gay Marriage Decision.
Russell Moore, Washington Post

How to Protect Your Ministry from Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Lawsuits.
The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission

The Moral Case for Gentrification
Stephen Bayley, The Spectator

Judicial Activism on Marriage isn't the End—Here's What to Do Now.
Ryan T. Anderson, The Boston Globe

Supreme Court Decision On Marriage “A Tragic Error” 
Joseph Kurtz, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops