I am all for the revival of the humanities in our universities, but The Globe and Mail’s John Allemang may be expecting too much: Can the liberal arts cure jihadists? If not, they might at least persuade moderate terrorists to settle for incremental . . . . Continue Reading »
The pro assisted suicide group Compassion and Choices, along with a compliant media, continues to romanticize self destruction as an answer to the problem of human suffering. Latest example: In Montana, a man murdered his wife, who had cerebral palsy, set his house on fire, and then, shot . . . . Continue Reading »
The Thomas Nelson company sent me AmSpec alumnus Jeremy Lott’sWilliam F. Buckley. I will write a full review later, but I have just begun the book and can already tell that Lott is going to bring attention to some underappreciated territory.His hook is that Bill Buckley was more or less . . . . Continue Reading »
1. The Bookshelf as Memory Theater What concerns me about the literary apocalypse that everybody now expectsthe at least partial elimination of paper books in favor of digital alternativesis not chiefly the books themselves, but the bookshelf. My fear is for the eclectic, personal . . . . Continue Reading »
What are the cool kids reading after Harry Potter? Well, okay, the “cool kids” never read anything, so it is better to ask: What are the future leaders of America reading after Harry Potter? One answer to this question is a series on Olympus starring one Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon . . . . Continue Reading »
I was bored with Hawking’s statement about God before he even made it, but this zinger from Richard Lea at The Guardian is worth sharing. Reminding us that Hawking has far outsold his fellow scientists who have tried their hand at trade books precisely because of “his willingness to . . . . Continue Reading »
The Economist carries two stories that may or may not be related to each other. First, in a story about beer consumption in Asia, we find a nifty map showing the levels of beer-drinking per capita for several countries around the world. Second, in an article on Europe’s irreligious, there is a . . . . Continue Reading »
The always compelling Christopher Hitchens has a terrific piece out in Vanity Fair ( “Unanswerable Prayers” ) about being an atheist with serious cancer, who is the subject of prayers. And that got me to thinking, should believers tell atheists that they are praying for . . . . Continue Reading »
In today’s second “On the Square” article, Catholic Persecution, Muslim Acceptance , Georgetown’s Chester Gillis tells the story of the prejudice Catholics suffered in America from the early settlements till at least World War II, as a cautionary tale about prejudice against . . . . Continue Reading »
In a long posting at Public Discourse, ” The Mosque’s Lesson in Loyalty ,” Carson Holloway provides helpful analysis of the legitimate human impulse to love one’s own. Beginning with family and clan, radiating outward to neighborhood, community, and nation, we have a native impulse toward . . . . Continue Reading »