First Thoughts

Upcoming Events—3.9.16

From NYC's March for Life to the Elm Institute summer seminars, we've got your covered for events in NYC and beyond.

CPAC’s Pro-Life Panel

On Friday afternoon, the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) hosted a panel on pro-life issues. It was moderated by Julie Hocker of the American Conservative Union Foundation. Panelists included Congressional candidate Lenny McAllister, abortion survivor and pro-life activist Gianna . . . . Continue Reading »

The End of Democracy?

Social media tend to magnify the expansive self, encouraging participants to stake out a virtual identity within the ethereal territory of the world wide web: “This is who I am, like it or not!” “My political beliefs are part of my identity; to call them into question is to call my very identity into question.” Continue Reading »

The Myth of the Evangelical Trump Voters

There has been much handwringing in the evangelical world over the seemingly high levels of support for Donald Trump among self-proclaimed evangelical voters in Republican primaries. Likewise this phenomenon has drawn much attention from the mainstream media, who seem eager to point out the apparent . . . . Continue Reading »

The Age of Outrage

We are living in an age of outreach. The rise of Trump is evidence enough. But Trump and his followers are the symptom of a much deeper problem: a diseased culture facing the death of reasoned discourse and civil disagreement. Continue Reading »

Justice Scalia and Religious Conservatives

Religious conservatives never thought they would need accommodations. The culture was theirs. Continue Reading »

First Links — 3.4.16

What Wouldn't Jesus Do?
Peter Wehner, New York Times

Character, Flourishing, and the Good Life
David Brooks and Miroslav Volf, Yale Center for Faith and Culture

A Paleocon, an Otherkin, and a Saint Walk Into a Bar
Kate Havard, Washington Free Beacon

The Lost Hope of Self-Help
Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen, Aeon

Out in the Fields with God
Eve Tushnet, American Conservative

Academic Freedom in Conformist Times
Roger Scruton, Spiked

Embracing Our Pagan Heritage
Chase Padusniak, Patheos

No Longer Calm, But Alive: Robert Royal's Catholic Humanism
R. J. Snell, Public Discourse

Canadian Culture of Death: An Open Letter

Continue Reading »

The Man From Kempis

As a matter of fact, he was actually the man from Kempen, but the author of the world’s most cherished Christian devotional would not have cared whether we knew the details of his life. Instead, Thomas à Kempis made it his chief endeavor to direct all attention to Christ. The constant theme of . . . . Continue Reading »

Hurrah for Baronius!

As someone raised in the scripture-centered precincts of Evangelical Protestantism who later found his way to Rome, I am particularly susceptible to frustration and shame at the state of the Catholic bible. It's not just the use of terrible translations like the NAB that grates, but also the low . . . . Continue Reading »