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Bottum: Georgetown Catholic Again?

Georgetown University has rediscovered its Catholicism. The nation’s oldest Catholic school, the flagship of Jesuit education in America, has been a sad topic among American Catholics for some time now. Crucifixes removed from classrooms, a lay president, pro-abortion activity, a general . . . . Continue Reading »

Barr: Christianity’s Scientists

There is a template that many books on science or science history follow when they touch upon the relations of science and religion: Bold Scientist Persecuted by the Church for Thinking New Thoughts. The Galileo case does to a large extent fit the template, but few if any other cases do. Darwin was . . . . Continue Reading »

Douthat: Sex ed and abortion wars

In Sunday’s Times , Judith Shulevitz reviews Kristin Luker’s new book on the sex-ed wars, When Sex Goes to School , which argues . . . well, here’s how Shulevitz puts it: Only toward the end of a 300-odd page book about sex education in America does Kristin Luker permit herself a . . . . Continue Reading »

Allen: Plan B Betrayal

It’s hard to know what to make of the Food and Drug Administration’s sudden decision to let Plan B¯the “emergency contraceptive” pill¯be sold over the counter in pharmacies. Well, actually, it’s not hard to know what to make of it: It was a compromise struck . . . . Continue Reading »

McClay on Italians 2006

There was a welcome report on Wednesday that Italy had stepped into the vacuum created by the balking French, offering to serve as the lead country in supplying troops to man the multinational Lebanese peacekeeping force. This act of Italian leadership (two words you don’t often see together) . . . . Continue Reading »

Jason Byassee and female ordination

In a recent article in the Christian Century , Jason Byassee tells the stories of theologians who recently left their Protestant denominations and were received into the Catholic Church ( "Going Catholic: Six Journeys to Rome," August 22, 2006 ). Byassee does a fine and sympathetic job . . . . Continue Reading »

Embryonic stem cells

Recent reports of scientists creating "ethical" embryonic stem cells are false or misleading. And there is reason to be very concerned. Forbes described it as a "medical milestone" and a scientific "breakthrough" with a headline "Scientists Harvest Stem Cells . . . . Continue Reading »

Ole Anderson and Douglas Duncan

A while back, I referred here to a lengthy article in the Dallas Observer about Ole Anderson and asked prayers for that apparently driven and unhappy Christian leader. I received a thoughtful message in response from Douglas Duncan, who was involved with Anderson’s organization for many long . . . . Continue Reading »

August Nominalism

One of the great delusional fictions that bloggers operate under¯something I have discovered only when I started contributing to this page¯is that there are people out there who actually care what a blogger has to say! Speaking personally, I am not so naive as to think that, if I had the . . . . Continue Reading »

Bill Clinton and welfare reform

The year 2006 may for most people mark the tenth anniversary of the 1996 Welfare Act, signed by Bill Clinton, after he had vetoed two previous efforts, and just before crucial midterm elections that November. Some supporters apologized for him before his Democratic critics that he was forced into . . . . Continue Reading »

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