Matthew Schmitz

  Same-sex marriage will be a nightmare for the basic liberties and public privileges of religious groups. And not just for Christians : Sikh temples have been advised to halt all civil marriage ceremonies on their premises to protect them from possible legal challenges for refusing to conduct . . . . Continue Reading »

From the press release: WASHINGTON, D.C. – Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University and a Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School, was elected today as Chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).  Professor . . . . Continue Reading »

Tim Powers In our August/September issue , Randy Boyagoda expresses a fatigue that many avid readers can relate to: “I’m sick of Flannery O’Connor. I’m also sick of Walker Percy, G. K. Chesterton, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, T. S. Eliot, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and . . . . Continue Reading »

Even as the rest of the country has grown more accepting of same-sex marriage, Evangelicals have held firm. Over the past ten years, Evangelical opposition to same-sex marriage has stayed constant—-even slightly increased - —according to a new report from the Barna Group : In 2003, 12 . . . . Continue Reading »

One-hundred and fifty years ago today, Gen. John F. Reynolds made the crucial tactical decisions that would start the Battle of Gettysburg, then became one of its first fatalities. Reynolds was widely admired for his personal qualities and military skill—-we have found no recorded negative . . . . Continue Reading »

In recent days Ryan T. Anderson has emerged as perhaps our most prominent and articulate defender of marriage. He’s been especially ubiquitous after the Supreme Court’s rulings on DOMA and Prop 8, his written responses to which are gathered below: ” Marriage, the Court, and Where . . . . Continue Reading »

Polygamists are celebrating the Supreme Court’s marriage rulings, Buzzfeed reports : The Supreme Court’s rulings in favor of same-sex marriage Wednesday were greeted with excitement by polygamists across the country, who viewed the gay rights victory as a crucial step toward the . . . . Continue Reading »

In a press release today, the Catholic Bishops led by Timothy Cardinal Dolan and Salvatore Cordileone call the Court’s DOMA ruling “tragic” and also lament that it failed to uphold Prop 8: Today is a tragic day for marriage and our nation. The Supreme Court has dealt a profound . . . . Continue Reading »

Steven Pinker (l) with stuffed panda (r). Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker has sent a letter of protest  regarding the University of Miami’s dismissal of Colin McGinn for harassing a female graduate student. “Such an action,” says Pinker, “would put a chill on . . . . Continue Reading »

At the five-minute mark of this video, we see a sort of ersatz secular liturgy done with all the intelligence of Richard Dawkins and all the taste of Charles Saatchi. Next time your church music director’s choices tempt you to atheism, remember the sort of liturgy that awaits you on the other . . . . Continue Reading »