Archive
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Articles
Briefly Noted 230
Keepers of the Keys of Heaven: A History of the Papacy by Roger Collins Basic Books, 566 pages, $35 At the beginning of his preface, Roger Collins, a medievalist...
A Christmas Tree with Vices
Thanks to Nathaniel for sending me this, a neat overview of master filmmaker Orson Welles’ career —with an eye toward his spiritual sympathies. “I try to be a Christian....
Oklahoma Legislature Votes Unanimously to Outlaw All Human Cloning
The Oklahoma Legislature has voted unanimously to outlaw all human cloning from the state, and prohibit the importation of the product of human cloning. From the story : Legislation...
Briefly Noted 229
Getting the Blues: What Blues Music Teaches Us about Suffering and Salvation by Stephen J. Nichols Brazos, 192 pages, $17.99 How times change: Many of the blues musicians discussed...
Letters of Condolence
Richard John Neuhaus May 14, 1936“January 8, 2009 I am deeply touched by the death of the Reverend Father Richard John Neuhaus. I have known him for more than...
March Letters
Stem Cells Sell In “Stem Cells: A Political History” (November 2008), Joseph Bottum and Ryan T. Anderson make a plausible sounding case that the errors manifest in politicizing the...
Briefly Noted 226
Abortion Under State Constitutions by Paul Benjamin Linton Carolina Academic, 610 pages, $75 As Rodney Dangerfield might have put it, state constitutions get no respect. In our best law...
Rational Control
We learned last night that Timothy Geithner was confirmed as the Obama administration’s Secretary of the Treasury. While this outcome was never in real doubt, the revelation that he...
Family: Haven in a Heartless World, or Baby’s First Polis?
When I suggested on this blog that “all politics is tribal,” Conor Friedersdorf, Daniel Larison, and Andrew Sullivan all slapped me down like I’d talked about their mothers. Which...
The “Proper Place of Science” and Politics
One of the most telling but least commented upon lines in President Obama’s inaugural speech was his promise to “restore science to its proper place”. Since he doesn’t expand...
Heating Up
This one will stir up a hornet’s nest . . . . The words “global warming” may have achieved Pavlovian status. Like the ringing of the bell that accompanied...
The End of the Tocquevillean Moment? Reflections on Deneen on Obama
Mr. Deneen’s take (post just before this one) on the Inaugural is the most penetrating I’ve seen, or expect to see. The collusion between Kantianism and Machiavellianism is a...
Say Hello to the New Boss
A short time ago Barack Obama became the nation’s chief executive and the leader of the Free World. His inauguration as 44th President was historic and nation-altering: what was...
Sticking It
Not to revisit a debate that, by internet standards, is now ancient history – having taken place as a result of my posting last week in criticism of the...
Richard John Neuhaus (1936-2009)
Especially in his classic 1984 work The Naked Public Square , Neuhaus tackled important and still timely issues regarding the religious underpinnings of American life, the proper division between...
