Some years ago, I read Alan Medingers 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»
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 Congresss request to know how to maintain national excellence in humanities and social scientific scholarship and education … Continue Reading»
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»
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a news release in support of the Gang of Eights 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»
After twenty-five years Richard Land has retired as president of the Southern Baptist Conventions Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). Representing the public policy voice of Americas largest Protestant body, he was a consistently faithful voice on matters of Christian moral witness such as abortion, marriage, and religious liberty… . Continue Reading»
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»
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 Britains principal naval rivals, Germany and Japan, were building ships with fifteen- and eighteen-inch main batteries; moreover, the RNs chief ally, the United States, had been building battleships mounting sixteen-inch guns for decades… . Continue Reading»
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»
When considering the pastoral language the Church should use in speaking about homosexuality, the guiding principle must be what then Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger wrote about the subject in 1986, writing as the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: Only what is true can ultimately be pastoral. … Continue Reading»
Fathers 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»