Catholics today are encouraged to give up for Lent “favorite things” that are often less tangible than “whiskers on kittens” and “warm woollen mittens.” But there is something important to be said for the traditional practice of giving up meat. I have been abstaining from meat on Fridays and through Lent for about five years and have discovered … Continue Reading »
On March 20, or Adar II 14 on the Jewish calendar, Jews around the world will observe Purim, a joyous celebration of the deliverance of the Jews of the Persian Empire from annihilation more than 2,400 years ago. However, for the Jews of modern Persia … Continue Reading »
It annoys me to no end, church leaders occasionally given to touting political influence within the circles of government. Hubristic self-service is a phrase that comes uncharitably to mind. Put not your trust in princes is another. So there was a press release some little while back in early February from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America announcing the coming appointment of Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson to the Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships… . Continue Reading »
It seems everyone would like to be Irish in the month of March. The celebration of St. Patrick’s Day has, with the help of Hallmark and the local pub, become a monthlong event. Even beer and bagels”two things that should never be green”become miraculously emerald in hue around the 17th of March… . Continue Reading »
If you were asked to name the technologies whose proliferation inadvertently threatens the human race, what would you include? Landmines? Assault rifles? Nuclear warheads? Add this one to your list: the sonogram machine. The widespread use of sonogram technology”coupled with liberal abortion laws”has made it easier than ever for women to identify the sex of their child so that those without a Y chromosome can be killed before they’re even born. … Continue Reading »
Something quite remarkable happened recently: Cardinal William Wakefield Baum”emeritus Archbishop of Washington, emeritus Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, emeritus Major Penitentiary of the Catholic Church”passed the late Cardinal James Gibbons of Baltimore (who died in 1921) to become the longest-serving American cardinal in history. … Continue Reading »
In 2006, James Frey rocked the literary world with A Million Little Pieces, the supposedly autobiographical chronicle of a substance-abusing criminal life so fraught with emotion-grabbing high drama that it earned the Oprah Book Club Imprimatur and became a publishing phenomenon, right up until the moment people began to question just how autobiographical the story was, and Oprah publicly took Frey to task for “duping” her and a million little readers… . Continue Reading »
Just after my wife and I watched the new hit movie, “The King’s Speech,” a friend asked me if I enjoyed it. “No, I suffered through it. But it was a great movie.” I have been a stutterer since the age of six. Every time King George VI puffed his cheeks helplessly as he tried to get out a word, I felt the frustration and pain. … Continue Reading »
Though it was launched just eleven days ago, no one, judging from a google search of the title, is still talking about A Call for Intergenerational Justice, a new statement by the Evangelical Left, who are suddenly and for the first time worried about governmental debt. The statement, subtitled “A Christian Response for the American Debt Crisis,” has just 397 signatures as I write, and has added just two in the twelve hours since I first checked… . Continue Reading »
We come today to pray for a righteous man, the Honorable Shahbaz Bhatti, who died early, at age 42. The words of the Book of Wisdom comfort us: “Being perfected in a short time, he fulfilled long years.” He was “pleasing to the Lord [who] took him quickly from the midst of wickedness.” … Continue Reading »
Subscribe
Latest Issue
Support First Things
