First Things RSS Feed - James Kalb https://www.firstthings.com/author/james-kalb en-us Copyright 2025 First Things. All Rights Reserved. ft@firstthings.com (The Editors) ft@firstthings.com (The Editors) Mon, 20 Jan 2025 16:55:32 -0500 https://d2201k5v4hmrsv.cloudfront.net/img/favicon-196.png First Things RSS Feed Image https://www.firstthings.com/rss/author/james-kalb 60 Technocracy Now https://www.firstthings.com/article/2015/08/technocracy-now https://www.firstthings.com/article/2015/08/technocracy-now Sat, 01 Aug 2015 00:00:00 -0400 The recently revised New York City Health Department form for parents requesting birth certificates asks the “woman giving birth” whether she is female or male. The question is obviously absurd. But why do absurdities of this sort keep popping up? And why do most people fall in line, pretending—at least in public—that they are perfectly sensible? The natural reaction is to roll our eyes: These things cannot be serious, and they will go away if we ignore them. But they do not go away, and the absurdities become more common, extreme, and compulsory.

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]]> Sex and the Religion of Me https://www.firstthings.com/article/2014/12/sex-and-the-religion-of-me https://www.firstthings.com/article/2014/12/sex-and-the-religion-of-me Mon, 01 Dec 2014 00:00:00 -0500

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]]> Libertarian Limits https://www.firstthings.com/article/2012/01/libertarian-limits https://www.firstthings.com/article/2012/01/libertarian-limits Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0500 On Tolerance: ? A Defence of Moral Independence
by Frank Furedi
Continuum, 224 pages, $22.95

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]]> Squaring the Circle https://www.firstthings.com/article/2011/02/squaring-the-circle https://www.firstthings.com/article/2011/02/squaring-the-circle Tue, 01 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0500 The Conservative Foundations of the Liberal Order:
Defending Democracy Against Its Modern Enemies and Immoderate Friends
by Daniel J. Mahoney
ISI, 240 pages, $26.95

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