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Conceding Good Faith

Meeting friends and family is part of the universally recognized progression of any relationship, and so it was for me while dating a fellow law student in Washington, D.C. Beyond our common career path, we shared very little”I was a conservative, Republican Catholic from the Midwest and she a liberal, atheist Democrat from Massachusetts… . Continue Reading »

Finding God in the Gaps of Country Music

In “This is Country Music””the eighth most popular country song in America this week”Brad Paisley admits what every country fan already knows: You’re not supposed to say the word “cancer” in a song. And tellin’ folks Jesus is the answer can rub ‘em wrong… . Continue Reading »

Christian Number-Crunching

For 27 years, the International Bulletin of Missionary Research has published an annual “Status of Global Mission” report, which attempts to quantify the world Christian reality, comparing Christianity’s circumstances to those of other faiths … Continue Reading »

The Eclipsing Vagueness of Egypt

As Egypt continues to transition from an ill-defined quasi-secular diplomatically-skilled dictatorship into an ill-imagined-no-one-yet-knows-what, following the story is like trying to watch a film or read a book through a yard of waxed paper; nothing is clear. On January 25, as the Egyptian people took to the streets over food supplies, the American president and the world’s diplomatic community seemed … Continue Reading »

Too Often Prophetic

Several of the respondents to R. R. Reno’s First Thoughts item “When Reality is Unspoofable,” which offered the program for last year’s meeting of the Catholic Theological Society, noted how often the theologians used”invoked might be the better term”the word “prophetic.” … Continue Reading »

Velázquez’ Two Maids

For over seventy years The Education of the Virgin languished in storage at the Yale University Art Gallery. In 2004, curator John Marciari first encountered the damaged painting. But it was not until last summer, after six years of research and scholarly consultation, that Marciari published an article in the journal … Continue Reading »

Our Egalitarian Elitism

Americans everywhere are now preparing for the festivities of the Super Bowl. Even tepid sports fans will probably watch the game, or at least the commercials. More so than the commemorations of the victims of the shootings in Tucson, let alone any religious observance, this is the most shared experience Americans will have all year… . Continue Reading »

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