Wesley J. Smith

How did marriage lose most of its meaning? How has it gone from being regarded as an institution that formed the conjugal bond, established nuclear families, knit vital social ties across extended familial units, and forged the necessary social cohesion for the sheltering and rearing children to a more-or-less optional affirmation of love? … Continue Reading »

A few weeks ago, Matthew Schmitz posted a story on First Thoughts about a Kenyan lawyer bringing a case in the Hague against Israel and Italy. His legal claim? Jesus of Nazareth was unjustly executed and the modern states of Italy and Israel”the supposed successors in interest of the Roman Empire and Ancient Israel”should be accountable to “uphold the dignity of Jesus.”… The case is frivolous, of course. But the story got me thinking as a contemporary lawyer about the facts of the matter and the differing legal standards that apply now… . Continue Reading »

I was involved in one of those heated internet dustups last week. It started when Hank Campbell, creator of the Science 2.0, accused me of being “anti-science” and “hating biology,” which he claimed I see as a “tool of Lucifer.” … Continue Reading »

When I tell people I am a convert to Eastern Orthodoxy, I often get a puzzled reaction. “Eastern Orthodoxy?” some will say. “What’s that?” Others will ask whether I actually mean the Greek or the Russian Orthodox Church, mistakenly believing that they are different denominations. In fact, whether Greek, Russian, or Serbian, all are part of the same Church… Continue Reading »

We no longer perceive ourselves to be free people making good or bad personal choices from which we will either benefit or suffer. Instead, our personal problems are being medicalized”almost to the point that whenever we hurt ourselves, we are told it is actually a symptom of illness… . Continue Reading »

There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. (Revelation 21:4) Proselytizers for “transhumanism” claim that through the wonders of technology, you or your children will live forever. Not only that, but within decades you will be able to transform your body and consciousness into an infinite variety of designs and purpose … Continue Reading »

Pro-lifers continually pray for the reversal of Roe v. Wade. And with many on both sides of the abortion divide now agreeing that the decision is badly flawed, that could happen one day. But what if the overturn comes from the other direction? The potent possibility of a “reverse reversal” (if you will) hit me while listening to pro-life lawyers discuss the current status of abortion litigation … Continue Reading »

Scientists recently announced that they had successfully cloned human embryos for the first time, using the same process that produced Dolly the sheep. This news constitutes an ethical earthquake. Cloning is the essential technology in the development of a plethora of other unprecedented and morally dubious technologies … Continue Reading »

Americans have lost the art of honest debate. Perhaps better stated, we have thrown it away. Advocates on all sides of political and cultural spectrums cynically manipulate public opinion through focus group“tested obfuscating words and phrases rather than persuade through candid and accurate descriptions of advocacy agendas… . Continue Reading »

We are becoming a society in which “choice” and self-defined identities trump once-common values and traditional beliefs. But contrary to the rhetoric of its defenders, this shift is not a simple advance for freedom. The privileging of “choice” above all else in fact requires re-engineering the human person and society as a whole, and this will inevitably involve a great deal of coercion… . Continue Reading »