I am seeking contributions for an anthology by Catholics who have continued to practice their faith despite mistreatment by their churches or by Catholic communities or institutions. We hear a lot about what it feels like to leave a church after mistreatment, and we hear some things about what . . . . Continue Reading »
Ross Douthat’s Erasmus lecture, “A Crisis of Conservative Catholicism,” and Carl Trueman’s column, “Is There A Crisis in Conservative Protestantism?” put me in mind to think about the American Church. That said, I’m more of a “not-with-a-bang-but-a-whimper” kind of guy, not that . . . . Continue Reading »
In which I both challenge the trans community to face up to the implications of their own logic and, in honor of the season of goodwill, selflessly offer the New Left a helping hand by coining a term for a novel and pernicious form of oppression. Continue Reading »
Last year I posted in this space a reading plan of my own devising for working through all of Shakespeare's works. I made some work for myself when I created this plan, because I settled on reading plays Monday through Friday, and sonnets and other poems on weekends. Thus it needs annual . . . . Continue Reading »
Here is an item about a new research project that will interest many First Things readers. As reported in this story, the Center for Law and Religion at St. John’s University School of Law has received a major grant from the Bradley Foundation to launch the Tradition Project, a new, . . . . Continue Reading »
The following four letters regarding the situation of refugees in Germany were sent from a German observer to a curious American. They are re-printed here with the permission of the correspondents.September 11, 2015Dear American Friend: Thank you for asking about the mounting waves of refugees in . . . . Continue Reading »
If Ross Douthat is right about a crisis in conservative Catholicism, what is the equivalent in conservative Protestantism? A lethal cocktail of sharp practice, kitsch, and superficiality, perhaps? Continue Reading »
How is it acceptable to tell religious minorities that things are comparatively good for them because they can “choose” to accept oppressive and demeaning treatment and manage to survive? Continue Reading »
Continuing arguments over gun rights and violence brought to mind Tocqueville’s observation that he knew “no country where there prevails, in general, less independence of mind and less true freedom of discussion than in America.” This, for Tocqueville, occurred because “In America, the . . . . Continue Reading »