David Mills

The fate of an Afghan imprisoned for converting to Christianity may be the subject of a meeting between General David Petraeus and President Karzai. The prosecutor says he and another convert face the death penalty or life imprisonment. Delaying having children leads to more stressful lives for men . . . . Continue Reading »

In today’s second “On the Square” article, James Kerian rejects Charity by the Sword , the contemporary version of the old and now universally rejected practice of “conversion by the sword.” The Christians who advocate it, and they include an ecumenical array of . . . . Continue Reading »

Writing in Policy Review , Mary Eberstadt reviews The End and the Beginning , George Weigel’s new biography of Pope John Paul II and offers a useful short summary of the pope’s long struggle with Communist authorities who knew how dangerous he was. Intelligence reports to KGB . . . . Continue Reading »

This is a little heavy-handed in its satire, but very funny anyway, but maybe I’m just a grumpy middle-aged guy who doesn’t have the energy to be post-anything. Though even if that’s true, the satire of hip Evangelicalism is still funny. My thanks to Joseph Knippenberg for . . . . Continue Reading »

A friend responding to my I Was Ignorant, and You Taught Me , Monday’s “On the Square” column, said he’d had a long correspondence with a friend who kept demanding to know why the Bible didn’t say anything about life on other planets. This is important for us to know, . . . . Continue Reading »

An interview with Matt Baglio , author of   The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist , made into a movie starring Anthony Hopkins. Claire Berlinski finds her financial salvation in GM’s example . Mark Blackham ponders the difference “between the instincts of ordinary people in a . . . . Continue Reading »

In today’s “On the Square” column, Rationing Bono and Other Gaia-Saving Ideas , Elizabeth Scalia describes the latest climate change gala and its plans for rearranging everyone else’s lives, and then look at one activist and his effect on the environment. Let them start with . . . . Continue Reading »

Today on “On the Square,” I Was Ignorant, and You Taught Me , a list of some lessons I’ve learned from years of responding to letters from strangers who wrote with religious questions. For example, Never rebuke or confront even the most obnoxious inquirer, unless you know him well . . . . Continue Reading »

Over the years, I have learned five things about the sort of people who write strangers to ask religious questions: 1) even a question about an apparently trivial matter or a wildly unfair criticism may reflect a real spiritual struggle; 2) most inquirers are looking more for confirmation or consolation than engagement and teaching; 3) many of those who honestly want to be taught do not want to be taught that much, beyond a “yes” or a “no” and a two sentence explanation … . Continue Reading »

A free Southern Sudan will be bad news for Darfur , according to Foreign Policy . Someday  Israel will have to say “no” to the United States and make an alliance with India, according to an Israeli academic and lawyer. Iraqi Christians are still fleeing the country , as Islamic . . . . Continue Reading »