Joseph Bottum is the former editor of First Things.

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Organ Grinder

Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, has written an op-ed in the Daily Telegraph announcing his support for organ donation without consent. Or, rather, “implied consent,” meaning that patients and their legal representatives will have to register their refusal to donate, via some . . . . Continue Reading »

13 Jan 2008

A Koranic Da Vinci Code?

My friend, the pseudonymous author Spengler , sends this note for posting on the First Things blog : Andrew Higgins’ January 11 report in the Wall Street Journal of the re-discovery of a Koranic manuscript archive long thought lost has prompted hundreds of blog comments. It is a momentous . . . . Continue Reading »

13 Jan 2008

Liturgy & Politics

“There is a definite battle being waged within the Catholic Church. It is the same ‘culture war’ being waged by secular moderns against those who uphold traditional morality, it is pro-life vs. pro-choice. But within the Catholic Church the same battle is fought along liturgical . . . . Continue Reading »

11 Jan 2008

Israeli Women Aren’t Women

I can’t remember Ms. magazine receiving this much attention since about 1978, but the magazine is back in the news—this time for turning down an ad from the American Jewish Congress . You can see the pro-woman ad here . It shows photographs of Tzipi Livni (Israel’s foreign . . . . Continue Reading »

11 Jan 2008

Campaign Standard

Over at the Weekly Standard , Matthew Continetti is running a blog that has become must-reading for election junkies, campaign activists, and political journalists. The rest of America, too. And this, despite the fact that I sometimes contribute small notes on items that seem off-topic for the . . . . Continue Reading »

10 Jan 2008

Brave Artists

So brave, our transgressive artists who stand up against the oppression of religion. So brave—except when, you know, it might take actual bravery. Over at Pajamas Media, David Rusin notes the case of Grayson Perry: A Turner Prize recipient and England’s most famous cross-dressing potter, . . . . Continue Reading »

10 Jan 2008

Changing for Change

Dave Barry provides the best report on the primary season so far: ” The voters of New Hampshire have made their decision,” he writes, “and the big winner is: Change. Here’s the final vote tally: Change—43 percent; Hope—28 percent; Hope For Change—17 percent; . . . . Continue Reading »

10 Jan 2008

Servants and Immigration

I was just speaking on the phone to a Washington lawyer who wants to contribute a piece to First Things , and in the course of our rambling conversation he proposed a thesis about the current struggles over immigration. It was one of those nonce theses—proposed in a conversation just to test . . . . Continue Reading »

7 Jan 2008

First Iowa, Then the World!

Victory! We win! In Iowa! A triumph for, um, somebody! The results of the caucus in Iowa are in, but what they mean is hard to say. Some Republicans friends are insisting it’s an enormous victory for McCain, who skipped Iowa and thus wasn’t damaged there, while his clearest rivals, . . . . Continue Reading »

4 Jan 2008

Defaming Religion

“Peace is a communist plot,” Irving Kristol once declared. It’s one of my favorites of his many good lines—overstated, overheated, and overdue; forcing us to notice, in a way no softer phrasing would, that nearly every organization during the Cold War with the word peace in . . . . Continue Reading »

4 Jan 2008