Writing in Anamnesis , Lee Trepanier explores the divide between Kant and Derrida on the issue of cosmopolitanism: The idea of the open city had been marginalized by the rise of the nation-state and Derrida wanted to recover it as a potential solution to the problem of European immigration. This . . . . Continue Reading »
Obama metaphorically tried to burn the right of public religious practice at the stake with his authoritarian Free Birth Control Rule. Now, the Catholic Church and scores of Catholic Institutions, including Notre Dame University, sueth. From the CNS story:The Archdiocese of New . . . . Continue Reading »
Gabriel Rossman, a sociologist at UCLA and Twitter pro, has compiled an amusing list of fake “First Things pitches” based on the immortal ” Slate pitches ” meme. Some of the jokes, I’ll admit, hit a little close to home. Check out Gabriel’s pitches below and . . . . Continue Reading »
William Doino Jr. on imaginary saints : We tend to love saints—provided they are safely dead. When they are alive, kicking up a storm, challenging us to live out the Gospel, they act like a thorn in our conscience. The saints inspire awe. There is nothing more holy—or terrifying—than . . . . Continue Reading »
America magazine, not generally known for its traditionalist sympathies, has an interesting feature on the resurgence of traditional church architecture . Michael E. Desanctis opens his piece, appearing in the May 28 issue, by asking: “are new church designs taking us backward?” His . . . . Continue Reading »
“Victim celebrities,” Ralph Nader calls them, by which he means, people who have been victimized by an abusive act or policy. They often make the best political activists against it because they bring the principle down to the personal level.But there are also “celebrity . . . . Continue Reading »
From Letters of Note , a 6th grader named Phyllis wrote to Albert Einstein on behalf of her Sunday school class, asking “Do scientists pray?” The Riverside Church January 19, 1936 My dear Dr. Einstein, We have brought up the question: Do scientists pray? in our Sunday school class. It . . . . Continue Reading »
Michael Sean Winters reads Sebelius’ speech at Georgetown: In her speech she, too, referred to JFK’s famous Houston speech, and quoted the single dumbest line of the entire text. Sebelius said: “In that talk to Protestant ministers, Kennedy talked about his vision of religion and . . . . Continue Reading »
‘Exorcist’ Author Prepares Canon Lawsuit Against Georgetown Michelle Bauman, Catholic News Service On Christianity & Social Darwinism Roger E. Olson, Patheos The Riddle of Gay Marriage Polling Ross Douthat, Evaluations A Catholic Looks at a Calvinist Looking at a Mormon Stephen H. . . . . Continue Reading »
Why do some life scientists insist on trying to reduce what we are as human beings to the lowest common biological denominator? Here I was minding my own business, reading the New York Times Book Review to raise my blood pressure, and there it is again: Humans are just pond . . . . Continue Reading »
Subscribe
Latest Issue
Support First Things
