One detects in some quarters a sense of inevitability about momentous changes in the ordering¯or disordering, as the case may be¯of society. Forty years, one may be inclined to think, is not a long time in the history of a culture and its foundational institutions. Forty years ago in the . . . . Continue Reading »
As we approach George Washington’s birthday¯so often lost these days in the good shopping bargains of a long holiday weekend¯it seems fitting to celebrate the whole man Washington was in light of the hottest issue in the world just now, religion. Most historians of the last hundred . . . . Continue Reading »
The March issue of First Things is now available¯at newsstands and here, online, for subscribers.Look, I think every issue we put out is great. Truly great. Documents for the ages that ought, were the world rightly ordered, to be inscribed in stone for ages to contemplate in awe. Or, maybe, . . . . Continue Reading »
“I fear schism," Rowan Williams told the BBC , and with good reason. Today the annual meeting of the Anglican Communion officially begins in Tanzania, and it is not at all clear that the communion will last the week. No fewer than thirty-seven Anglican archbishops have assembled at a . . . . Continue Reading »
"Are atheists discriminated against in America?" That’s the question a CNN journalist recently asked me during an interview for the Paula Zahn NOW show. I must confess that, at first, I wasn’t sure how to answer, never having considered the question.In my twelve years at a . . . . Continue Reading »
“Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab . . . ” ( Num. 22:21ff )Alexandra Pelosi, who took her handheld camcorder on the campaign trails of George W. Bush in 2000 ( Journeys with George , nominated for six Emmy Awards) and Democratic . . . . Continue Reading »
Here’s a very sad story from Great Britain . Twenty-two-year-old Nick Wallis suffers from Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which leaves him physically but not mentally disabled and which will probably kill him sometime in his thirties. Mr. Wallis, quite naturally, tries to lead as full a life as . . . . Continue Reading »
Some Muslims in America are unhappy with us. And apparently they know something I don’t. This from The American Muslim : "The most extreme and most sophisticated example of patronizing intolerance in contemporary America, because it most starkly illustrates the reversal of truth and . . . . Continue Reading »
The Swiss Supreme Court has ruled that people with mental illnesses can be legally assisted in suicide. The case came about when a member of Dignitas, an organization that, for a fee, provides a safe house for, and assistance with, suicide, brought a lawsuit seeking the right to have his death . . . . Continue Reading »
Overweening moralism is, if you believe most of what you read in the newspapers, the unique sin of conservative religious people. Of course, it isn’t actually true¯as witness this latest example of moralism, a secular-liberal moralism imposed by law, from Great Britain. At issue was . . . . Continue Reading »
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