Matthew Schmitz

A very insightful column this weeekend from Ross Douthat : Consider the secular vote, which has been growing swiftly and tilts heavily toward Democrats. The liberal image of a non-churchgoing American is probably the “spiritual but not religious” seeker, or the bright young atheist . . . . Continue Reading »

If you enjoy the writing of the delightful Dr. Boli , you may want to buy his new book  for yourself or a loved one. The story follows a man who sets out to live a life of wickedness and, it seems, has some trouble. Call it pince-nez pulp: The Crimes of Galahad  is a new novel destined to . . . . Continue Reading »

I hope readers have already taken note of George Weigel’s very striking suggestion in these pages yesterday that the Catholic Church should preemptively withdraw from involvement in civil marriage : It seems important to accelerate a serious debate within American Catholicism on whether the . . . . Continue Reading »

Wesley Hill takes up the theology of Rowan Williams in  Books and Culture : Lent is the moment in the church’s calendar in which Williams’ theology seems most at home. During the forty days leading up to Easter, we practice abstinence, we repent and discipline our desires, placing . . . . Continue Reading »

A friend sends this video with the comment, “‘stylish baptism’ is a combination of words that causes civilizations to crumble.” Some of the advice (“this is not the time to be boobalicious”) is quite sound, though. Update: A commenter below writes, “Of . . . . Continue Reading »

Gen. David Petraeus has resigned his post as Director of the CIA. He explains his reasons in a letter : Yesterday afternoon, I went to the White House and asked the President to be allowed, for personal reasons, to resign from my position as D/CIA. After being married for over 37 years, I showed . . . . Continue Reading »

Obama was slammed among white Catholics —- and the HHS mandate may have made the difference. My friend  Mark Movsesian suggests that the bishops’ highlighting of religious freedom had no effect in the election. I’m not sure he’s right. The University of Akron’s . . . . Continue Reading »

Not all religious conservatives are likely to lament the success of Colorado and Washington’s referenda legalizing the recreational use of marijuana. The noted English Catholic philosopher Peter Geach, for example, offered a Thomistic defense of toking in his book The   Virtues : We . . . . Continue Reading »

At NRO , Michael Walsh tells conservatives to “do what Democrats do” and “lay off the social issues.” I’ve already argued against this in a previous post , but there’s another problem: Social issues outperformed Romney nationwide, with the exception of . . . . Continue Reading »

Tom , I doubt Christie’s actions had any measurable influence on yesterday’s vote. As for Hurricane Sandy, it was an act of God in precisely the sense that all of creation is. No more, no less. I do very much agree with your closing suggestion that yesterday’s results should cause . . . . Continue Reading »