First Things RSS Feed - Carlos Eire https://www.firstthings.com/author/carlos-eire en-us Copyright 2025 First Things. All Rights Reserved. ft@firstthings.com (The Editors) ft@firstthings.com (The Editors) Mon, 20 Jan 2025 16:56:01 -0500 https://d2201k5v4hmrsv.cloudfront.net/img/favicon-196.png First Things RSS Feed Image https://www.firstthings.com/rss/author/carlos-eire 60 War Cries in Cuba https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2021/07/war-cries-in-cuba https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2021/07/war-cries-in-cuba Thu, 15 Jul 2021 11:55:00 -0400 The military junta that rules Cuba has just received a great shock. For the first time since Fidel Castro created a totalitarian communist dictatorship six decades ago, thousands of Cubans have taken to the streets from one end of the island to the other, chanting “liberty,” “down with the dictatorship,” and “down with communism.” They chant rhythmically and with fervor, much like participants in a religious procession. Before Cuba's ruling dictatorship shut off the Internet, they could also be seen and heard on YouTube and social media shouting a challenge to their rulers: “We are not afraid.” That chant doesn’t sound like a prayer at all. It’s a taunt, a war cry, a rebel yell. And it is coming mostly from young Cubans, the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the so-called revolution. 

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]]> Forged in Fire https://www.firstthings.com/article/2019/11/forged-in-fire https://www.firstthings.com/article/2019/11/forged-in-fire Fri, 01 Nov 2019 00:00:00 -0400 Liberty in the Things of God:
The Christian Origins of Religious Freedom
 by robert louis wilken
yale, 248 pages, $26

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]]> Martin Luther: The Wrath of God https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2017/10/martin-luther-the-wrath-of-god https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2017/10/martin-luther-the-wrath-of-god Tue, 31 Oct 2017 11:10:00 -0400 This year marks the five hundredth anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation—traditionally pegged to October 31, 1517, the day Luther posted his Ninety-Five Theses—and the celebration has been intense. Germany has had a Lutherdekade (Luther Decade) full of commemorations since 2007. In Europe and North America, we are now in the thick of the Lutherjahr (Luther Year), featuring countless lectures and conferences. No fewer than a dozen Luther biographies have been published in this Lutherjahr, causing Lutherjahrmüdigkeit (Luther Year fatigue) and Lutherjahrgeistesgestörtheit (Luther Year derangement) among Reformation specialists.

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]]> Requiem for a Despot https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2016/12/requiem-for-a-despot https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2016/12/requiem-for-a-despot Fri, 02 Dec 2016 12:20:00 -0500 Dead at last, dead at last. Fidel Castro has shuffled off this mortal coil, at the age of ninety. Unfortunately, his death comes a bit too late—about sixty years too late. Millions of his people had been awaiting this moment for well over half a century. And as we Cubans rejoice, we weep. Our losses over the past six decades have been far too great, and so our glee is far from unbridled.

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]]> When Francis Came to Cuba https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2015/09/when-francis-came-to-cuba https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2015/09/when-francis-came-to-cuba Thu, 24 Sep 2015 00:00:00 -0400 We should cheer any time a pope mingles with sinners. It’s what Jesus did, and what his vicar on earth is supposed to do, too. Sin and evil need to be confronted, not ignored, and those who are unjust should be urged to repent and mend their ways. Unfortunately, there is little to cheer about when it comes to the mingling Pope Francis did with the Castro brothers in Cuba, and with other heads of state in Latin America who praise and emulate their dictatorship. Pope Francis seems much too comfortable with Latin American dictators and with their symbols of repression.

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]]> Paradoxical Francis https://www.firstthings.com/article/2012/08/paradoxical-francis https://www.firstthings.com/article/2012/08/paradoxical-francis Wed, 01 Aug 2012 00:00:00 -0400 Francis of Assisi: A New Biography
by Augustine Thompson, O.P.
Cornell, 312 pages, $29.95

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]]> Waking Up to Death https://www.firstthings.com/article/2011/10/waking-up-to-death https://www.firstthings.com/article/2011/10/waking-up-to-death Sat, 01 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0400 In the Valley of the Shadow:
On the Foundations of Religious Belief
by James l. Kugel
Free Press, 256 pages, $26

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