Matthew Schmitz

A colleague has sent me  a post  from Lydia McGrew replying to my case against anti-Sharia laws. McGrew has written some very helpful things in the past (I think in particular of this post ), but I take strong exception when she writes: We need to fuel precisely the concerns that Schmitz . . . . Continue Reading »

I’ve been mixing it up at the Corner over the merits of the anti-Sharia movement . In addition to the replies I’ve received there from Andrew Bostom, David French, Andrew McCarthy, and David Yerushalmi, I’ve received another reply from David Goldman, a former editor here at First . . . . Continue Reading »

Andrew Sullivan gleefully notes that New York City had only one diocesan priest ordained this year and gleefully blames traditionalism: The brilliant campaign of the current hierarchy to alienate their own flocks with political posturing, moral baseness, intellectual  rigor mortis , and . . . . Continue Reading »

Today in National Review Online , I have a piece on why fears of “creeping Sharia” are not only misplaced but dangerous: Unhinged rhetoric, if long enough tolerated, will eventually impose real costs. The National Conference of State Legislatures says anti-Sharia measures already have . . . . Continue Reading »

Focus on the Family is gaining notice for its new willingness to speak about immigration reform: One of the most eyebrow-raising names  to join  a group of evangelical leaders to release an “Evangelical Statement of Principles for Immigration Reform” was Jim Daly, president of . . . . Continue Reading »

A group of Southern Baptists has issued a statement pushing back against the prominent strain of Calvinism in the denomination: Every generation of Southern Baptists has the duty to articulate the truths of its faith with particular attention to the issues that are impacting contemporary mission . . . . Continue Reading »

Commenter Peter Speckhard left an intriguing comment on Russ Saltzman’s “On the Square” article today: I have nothing against Walmart. In fact, I find it to be the only place here in Green Bay where I might truly bump into anyone. There are no (or very few) restaurants, stores, . . . . Continue Reading »

Michael J. New explains why it has abortion advocates worried: What Guttmacher must find frustrating is that this research is significantly better than most of the other studies which analyze the impact of abortion policy on maternal mortality. The other studies simply compare mortality rates in . . . . Continue Reading »

Ray Bradbury, the master of science fiction, died this Tuesday in Southern California ( New York Times  obituary here ). In the December 2008 issue, John Wilson recalled the moment he met Bradbury . They shared a love for walking: I remember—decades ago, while I was working at . . . . Continue Reading »

Harold James, an economic historian at Princeton University and senior fellow of the Witherspoon Institute, warns of a hyper-splintering of Europe if the crisis of the Euro is not soon resolved: If European integration shifts into reverse, the outcome will not be a series of happy and prosperous . . . . Continue Reading »