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Matthew Schmitz is a former senior editor of First Things. 

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Race and Same-Sex Marriage

From First Thoughts

Last week Joe highlighted Matt Franck’s Public Discourse article ” Is Sex Just Like Race? ” Matt was responding to the law professor who claims that the Catholic University of America is practicing segregation by returning to single-sex dormitories. But readers should also take . . . . Continue Reading »

A New Movement for Marriage

From Web Exclusives

The approval of same-sex civil marriage by the New York state legislature did not bring on the end of the world, or of history. It did not even mark, as Michael Potemra claimed in a post at National Review, “the end of the long road” for those who advocated it. The path to same-sex civil marriage still must go through many more states that are far less susceptible to the emotional bullying of the SSM lobby than was New York, and it is by no means certain that advocates will ever reach their destination. More importantly, it is far from clear”even to them”what that destination is… . Continue Reading »

National Review’s Marriage Editorial

From First Thoughts

Many of my friends have been disappointed with the response to the NY marriage vote at some conservative outlets, and I can hardly blame them. It’s difficult to imagine a similar response if one of the other legs of the conservative “stool” suffered such a setback. That said, . . . . Continue Reading »

Chastity and the Cosmo Girl

From First Thoughts

CosmoGirl magazine was founded in 1999 in order to advance female empowerment (and, of course, sell ad space) by promoting a sexually assertive femininity that was stripped of scruple. Well, CosmoGirl folded in 2008, less than a decade after its founding, and in today’s column , David Mills . . . . Continue Reading »

First Things on Facebook

From First Thoughts

Not yet a fan of  First Things on Facebook? Didn’t know First Things was on Facebook? Well, it is, and you can become a fan  here . You also can become a fan of Richard John Neuhaus and some members of the First Things family: Robert P. George John Haldane David Bentley Hart Richard . . . . Continue Reading »

Is Economics a Science?

From First Thoughts

Today Public Discourse publishes the first installment of a two-part review-essay in which Ryan T. Anderson takes up Redeeming Economics , a new book by John D. Mueller. There’s a lot to chew on in this review, but I want to highlight just one of the interesting things Anderson . . . . Continue Reading »

The Errors of Michael Sean Winters

From First Thoughts

Yesterday I highlighted the distortions and errors in Michael Sean Winters’ reporting on Archbishop Charles J. Chaput’s recent address at Notre Dame. Now the author of the original news report , Ann Carey, has commented on my post. Carey points out that in his rush to criticize Chaput, . . . . Continue Reading »

The “Mormon Seder”

From First Thoughts

Sit down to the traditional Passover meal at Brigham Young University and things may seem a little strange: Inside the student center, the tables were set with all of the Passover staples: bitter herbs,  haroset , parsley sprigs and salt water, a Haggadah at each place setting. By 6:15 on a . . . . Continue Reading »

The Problem With Eugenics

From First Thoughts

Today  Public Discourse has published the second half of an interview that Joe referred to on Wednesday. The interview, conducted by Sherif Girgis, is a conversation between Robert P. George and Arthur Caplan, two of the nations most prominent bioethicists. Here’s a taste: . . . the . . . . Continue Reading »