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No Tears for Exodus

Some years ago, I read Alan Medinger’s book Growth into Manhood, written for Christians with unwanted same-sex attractions. Medinger, a giant in ex-gay circles, was the first Executive Director of Exodus International, the ex-gay umbrella group that has grown to almost three hundred ministries in eighteen countries, but announced it was closing operations this week with a letter of apology to the LGBT community widely circulated on the internet… . Continue Reading »

An Odd Report on the Humanities

On Wednesday, the Academy of Arts and Sciences published its report on the state and value of the humanities and social sciences. The “Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences,” as it is called, was formed two years ago in response to Congress’s request to know how “to maintain national excellence in humanities and social scientific scholarship and education … Continue Reading »

On the Road

My youngest son and I just finished a road trip. We revved up our overloaded Toyota Camry in Idaho, stopped in Sheridan, Sioux Falls, Chicago, Columbus, and Pittsburgh, and continued across Pennsylvania to New York City before taking a sharp right to Philadelphia and Washington on our way to Birmingham. Sixteen states, eight hotels, and over 3,800 miles in two weeks, and only one lost piece of electronics… . Continue Reading »

A Compassionate Case Against the Immigration Bill

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a news release in support of the Gang of Eight’s immigration proposal. The problem is that the Gang of Eight proposal fails by the standards enunciated by the bishops and for other reasons too. At a press conference, Archbishop Gomez said: “Each day in our parishes, social service programs, hospitals, and schools we witness the human consequences of a broken immigration system… . Continue Reading »

Richard Land’s Southern Baptist Quarter Century

After twenty-five years Richard Land has retired as president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). Representing the public policy voice of America’s largest Protestant body, he was a consistently faithful voice on matters of Christian moral witness such as abortion, marriage, and religious liberty… . Continue Reading »

Moral Debate, Secular Correctness, and Judge Edith Jones

Is moral argument, particularly morality flowing from religious beliefs, taboo in criminal justice? A recent controversy highlights how some lawyers shun the moral reasoning at the foundation of the American legal system. In February, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Edith Jones gave a controversial speech defending and endorsing the American system of capital punishment… . Continue Reading »

Pastors Are Not Interchangeable Parts

A few weeks ago I came upon the odd fact that, before and during World War II, the Royal Navy built battleships with fourteen-inch main battery guns, whereas Britain’s principal naval rivals, Germany and Japan, were building ships with fifteen- and eighteen-inch main batteries; moreover, the RN’s chief ally, the United States, had been building battleships mounting sixteen-inch guns for decades… . Continue Reading »

Gay Marriage: Whose Yes, Whose No?

I recently received the following message from a stranger: “So basically, the ‘orthodox Catholic’ game you all play is just that … a game?” It was in reference to a Catholic man with whom I am friendly, and like very much. She had apparently read on social media that this man was planning to marry another man… . Continue Reading »

In Reluctant Praise of Father’s Day

Father’s Day is the perfect American invention: equal parts moralism and money-making. Early in the twentieth century the dominant forms of Protestantism urged temperance and campaigned, successfully, for Prohibition. This famous episode in American history was part of a larger moral project, one very concerned with reinforcing what we now call family values… . Continue Reading »

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