David Mills

Sort of. Coming tomorrow in “On the Square”: Joe Carter reflects on the right way to teach teenagers about sex and sexual intimacy. He’s not much fonder of the “Just say no” approach as the “Just use a condom” one, and thinks they both fail in the same way. . . . . Continue Reading »

The editors of the Jewish Review of Books have kindly unlocked Jon Levinson’s “The Age of Abrahamic Religions,” discussed in today’s “On the Square” article, R. R. Reno’s Our Father Abraham . You can find the new link in the author biography. . . . . Continue Reading »

The Vicar of Bray is an old English song about a pastor who changes his views to fit the regime, his primary goal in life and fundamental principle being to remain the vicar of Bray. The man is often invoked in discussions of church affairs, for reasons you’ll guess. I’d never heard the . . . . Continue Reading »

In Our Father Abraham , R. R. Reno suggests that the common claim that Jews, Christians, and Muslims are all united in being “Abrahamic religions” isn’t very useful, since Abraham means different things to each of them. The figure of Abraham provides “a point of . . . . Continue Reading »

Earlier this afternoon, our senior editor R. R. Reno examined, with the analytical skill of a biblical scholar (a good biblical scholar), the bias of the New York Times ’ latest coverage of Benedict and his role in the sex abuse scandal. The title How Do You Spell Tendentious? gives you the . . . . Continue Reading »

For obvious reasons, cultural as much as or more than ideological, some of the people in the First Things circles are some form of Crunchy Con . Rod Dreher invented the term a few years ago to describe those who are socially and culturally conservative but as part of that conservatism value . . . . Continue Reading »

Today’s “On the Square” offers a preview of the next issue, now in the mail to subscribers , from the editor’s “Public Square.” In The Signpost at the Crossroads , Joseph Bottum examines “the signpost at the intersection of religion and American public . . . . Continue Reading »

A friend, writing about yesterday’s item, The Newly Canonized Great Byrd , sent me a message he’d sent a “progressive” friend who saw no problem with the bishop’s making a declaration way, way above his pay grade. Now, Virtually every funeral becomes a canonization. . . . . Continue Reading »

Christopher Barnekov, director of Scandinavia House in Fort Wayne, Indiana, sends a report on a new Swedish law restricting home schooling and thereby restricting religious freedom as well. He asks that I mention that this is “first look at a very complex development” and based on . . . . Continue Reading »

From You’ll Never Be Alone , an article on touring retirement communities: Meanwhile, the job of asking about construction, bylaws, monthly fees, and whether two people who never played golf would still be paying for the upkeep on a championship course fell to me. Only once did I come up with . . . . Continue Reading »