I learned much from the late Robert Bellah. His widely discussed (and widely criticized) 1967 essay on civil religion chastened me for my habit of issuing unnuanced condemnations of civil religion as such. And Habits of the Heart, written by team of scholars led by Bellah and published in 1985, has been a continuing resource for me on a variety of subjects”especially worship… . Continue Reading »
In the wake of late-term abortionist Kermit Gosnell’s homicide convictions this past May, several state legislatures began crafting laws that would protect unborn life at earlier stages of gestation while shutting down horror houses like Gosnell’s Philadelphia “clinic.” Whether these laws will stand constitutional scrutiny remains to be seen; what is worth noting now is the degree to which deeply-entrenched supporters of the unrestricted abortion license created by the Supreme Court in 1973 still don’t get it … Continue Reading »
If you have been following Bob Dylan’s Never Ending Tour, online or in person, you’ll notice that a lot of people, even some who are self-professed Dylanologists, have been complaining about the roughness of his voice. To these critics I say: Complaining about Dylan’s voice is like complaining that your scotch tastes too peaty. If you want something sweet, get a colorless spirit that easily surrenders to the overwhelming invasion of fruit juice. Otherwise, let his voice burn your ears just as it sounds like it is blistering his throat when he sings… . Continue Reading »
Catholic theologians speak of a “hierarchy of truths”, a phrase found in Vatican II’s Decree on Ecumenism (Unitatis redintegratio, 11). This concept does not mean that some truths are truer than others, or that the Catholic faithful are free to pick and choose among the teachings of their church as they please… . Continue Reading »
Some books are great: Middlemarch by George Eliot, for example, or Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. They’re historically important, influential, and seminal. But the monuments of Western culture are not the same as personal touchstones. It’s not just the intrinsic value of certain books”their “greatness””that makes them existentially arresting; it’s also the time and place when they happen to fall into our hands… . Continue Reading »
I was involved in one of those heated internet dustups last week. It started when Hank Campbell, creator of the Science 2.0, accused me of being “anti-science” and “hating biology,” which he claimed I see as a “tool of Lucifer.” … Continue Reading »
Support for the Senate’s immigration bill within both parties is puzzling. The bill would vastly increase low-skill immigration even as the unemployment rate among low-skill current residents is 11 percent and the labor force participation rate is only 45 percent. A further increase in low-skill workers would tend to drive down the wages of a population that is already struggling… . Continue Reading »
In March of 2013, a debate began here about Alister McGrath’s claim that C. S. Lewis wrongly dated his own conversion to Theism. Since then, an unpublished autobiographical manuscript about that conversion has come to light, establishing with some precision the time period when that conversion actually took place… . Continue Reading »
Given the ruckus over Pope Francis’ comments on homosexuality, one could make the mistake of thinking he had announced a revolutionary change, not restated basic Christian doctrine … . Continue Reading »
When I began columnizing, in the Paleolithic Period when a correcting IBM Selectric II typewriter seemed the ne plus ultra of technology-for-scribes, I collected quotable quotes in a plastic box, for possible insertion into columns in the manner of my friend, Dr. George F. Will. Rooting around the yellowing scraps in that box recently, I came across a gaggle of zingers that went unused, but which it seems a shame not to share with readers and posterity. So, for a little summer levity, here we go … . Continue Reading »
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