Reflections on Father Neuhaus at Commentary

Over at Commentary, Seth Mandel pays tribute to the late (and much missed) Richard John Neuhaus by writing a little about Neuhaus’ last book, American Babylon:My preference among Neuhaus’s works for American Babylon is because it grapples with the subject of living in religious exile and . . . . Continue Reading »

Charity for Unbelievers

A friend called my attention to this piece, asserting the waning of “fundamentalism.” Or is it the growth of atheism? Here’s how it begins: Days may be dark right now—after all, as the memes proclaim,  axial tilt is the reason for the season. But things are looking . . . . Continue Reading »

Tocqueville on Our Civilizing Churches

Here I defend the autonomy of our religious institutions against traditionalist establishmentarians.  My Tocquevillian observations include with a brief comment on the film Philomena.  If you read the book on which the film is based, you can see that the facts damn Irish clericalism well . . . . Continue Reading »

Sentimental Rounding & the Hall of Fame

“In cases like Craig Biggio’s (74.8% of the vote) should the Hall of Fame round up to the required 75%?” asked an ESPN poll of its readers. And as you may have guessed, a big majority of 69% said yes. Which only proves that 69% of people who vote on baseball matters on the ESPN . . . . Continue Reading »

The Future in God’s Good Word

God’s word to the woman in Genesis 3:16 continues to fascinate me. Yesterday I argued that in contrast to rationalist projects like Plato’s, it aims to deepen the difference between male and female rather than minimize it. For in Scripture difference and otherness are not things to be regretted . . . . Continue Reading »

The Demons of African Pentecostalism

At the end of December the New York Times and Foreign Policy published pieces on African Pentecostalism, deliverance, and the demonic. Co-authoring the Foreign Policy article, Jill Filipovic and Ty McCormick focused on the relationship between Pentecostalism, witchcraft, and traditional African . . . . Continue Reading »

The Ice Is Breaking

They think the way you solve things is by electing the right people. It’s nice to elect the right people, but that isn’t how you solve things. The way you solve things is by making it politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing. -Milton FriedmanLet me share some . . . . Continue Reading »

Standards

 Most of the talk about the Robert Gates memoir has been about his criticism of Obama and Clinton. Fair enough, but it is striking that Gates is much more harshly critical of Congress and yet these attacks on Congress have not produced much surprise, outrage, or even pushback.  Our . . . . Continue Reading »