Wesley J. Smith is a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute’s Center on Human Exceptionalism, and consults for the Patients Rights Council.
Assisted suicide is not really about a “safety valve” against intractable suffering—that is just an assertion intended to soften the political ground, a cynical tactic intended to panic the public into supporting killing as an acceptable answer to human suffering. Scotland is the . . . . Continue Reading »
Which event in bioethics/human exceptionalism is most likely to happen in 2009? ( . . . . Continue Reading »
An Ironic Illustration of how "Nature Rights" Could Bring Human Thriving to a Screeching Halt
From First ThoughtsWell, this is rich: The President of Ecuador is one of the first to be on the receiving end of the ridiculous granting of “rights” to nature that he put in Ecuador’s new constitution. It seems Correa wants to open up some of the country to mining, which would increase the . . . . Continue Reading »
I am not sure why some materialists are so fervently anti human exceptionalism. I suspect they believe that by humbling us into believing our lives are no more important than that of animals, it would undermine Judeo/Christiam moral philosophy in general and theism in particular. Some too, I think, . . . . Continue Reading »
Ever wonder why print media is sinking beneath the waves? Here’s an example. The Village Voice has laid off Nat Hentoff, who has churned out thoughtful and even prescient columns there for fifty years. From the story : The troubled Village Voice laid off three employees Tuesday, including Nat . . . . Continue Reading »
More Thoughts on Conscience Clauses as Way to Protect Dissenting Health Care Professionals
From First ThoughtsI have written before—and no doubt will again—that the death culture brooks no dissent. I haven’t gotten my mind totally around why this is yet, but I have developed some theories. I think issues such as assisted suicide are part of a (partially unconscious) but clearly unfolding . . . . Continue Reading »
My best to . . . . Continue Reading »
Ever wonder why print media is sinking beneath the waves? Here’s an example. The Village Voice has laid off my pal Nat Hentoff, who has churned out thoughtful and even prescient columns there for 50 years. From the story:The troubled Village Voice laid off three employees Tuesday, including . . . . Continue Reading »
The next time you are tempted to scoff at folk with disabilities who worry that they many people think their lives are not worth living, remember this story. Two medical technicians from the UK have been arrested for allegedly deciding that the life of a man with disabilities wasn’t . . . . Continue Reading »
Writing in the latest First Things  magazine (” Abortion After Obama “), Joseph Bottum worries that federal law may soon require medical schools to provide mandatory abortion training and all hospitals to cooperate with pregnancy terminations. This isn’t . . . . Continue Reading »
influential
journal of
religion and
public life
Subscribe
Latest Issue
Support First Things