This week was the annual meeting of the editorial council of First Things . In addition to taking care of the business that magazines have to attend to, the custom at these meetings is to take up a major subject or two. This year, Wilfred McClay of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga led the . . . . Continue Reading »
Every other year, the Whitney Museums Biennial Exhibition promises to put its finger on the pulse of contemporary American art. Curators look for the latest and the greatest, the up-and-coming work, the cutting-edge stuff. Its then gathered and put on display at the Whitneys . . . . Continue Reading »
Forty years ago this month, Bobby Kennedy was still alive and running for the Democratic party’s 1968 presidential nomination. I was a seminarian in Washington, D.C. I was also an active volunteer in Kennedy’s campaign. I can still remember helping with secretarial work in the same room where . . . . Continue Reading »
Stay tuned. You may yet see a Father Michael Pfleger reality show. I work in Hollywood and can say¯with tongue far from cheek¯that, right now, some one is either working on or has already made that pitch. Of course, finding a way to work in such genre staples as hot tubs and underdressed . . . . Continue Reading »
Among the destructive myths of modernity is the idea that Christianity caused the Holocaust. Though refuted many times, it continues to circulate. Among its chief recent proponents is James Carroll, whose 2001 book, Constantines Sword , was a mammoth effort to breathe new life into the old . . . . Continue Reading »