Greg Forster

That’s the headline of Anne Hendershott’s must-read piece in Crisis magazine on how Catholic schools across the country are overturning their curricula in the name of obedience to the Common Core initiative, which is nominally state-led but whose contents are effectively controlled by . . . . Continue Reading »

Over on NRO, Gilbert Sewall  takes many words to say what could be said in few: Education policymakers and reformers don’t champion the humanities chiefly because, for all the noise they make about keeping us aware of our higher purposes or enriching us with the noble and beautiful, the . . . . Continue Reading »

James , thanks for investing the effort to so thoroughly debunk the latest nonsense from Jim Wallis. But in addition to substituting ideology for theology, Wallis is also practicing a breathtaking hypocrisy. For years, Wallis has been sanctimoniously denouncing his opponents for their failures of . . . . Continue Reading »

California is about to open a litigation “window” that temporarily allows victims of sex abuse for whom the statute of limitations has run out to sue the employers of their abusers. The prime target is of course the Roman Catholic Church, with the Boy Scouts also on the radar. Over on . . . . Continue Reading »

Mark , I have to dissent from your assertion that “cluelessness” is unlikely to be a factor in A&F’s behavior. You write: “You don’t become a successful retailer by being clueless.” Maybe that’s true in most cases, even if it’s not a universal law. . . . . Continue Reading »

I’m very heartened by Mark Noll’s review of George Weigel’s Evangelical Catholicism , linked in today’s First Links . Other than the subject of politics ( I think the significance of political issues both inside and outside the church is a much bigger challenge for . . . . Continue Reading »

B.D. , while we may never get a musical version per your suggestion, the debate between Jefferson and Henry over religious freedom and church/state relations in early post-revolutionary America lives on—it’s reenacted every April at Colonial Williamsburg . Drop by any Wednesday afternoon . . . . Continue Reading »

Well, B.D. , I’m glad to have that settled. As I said at the time , I was open to being persuaded if more evidence or better arguments were presented. Now that new evidence has surfaced, I’m content. (Although I continue to think McGrath jumped the gun by demanding we change the date . . . . Continue Reading »

Joe , thanks for bringing this fascinating development to our attention. If faith-based dorms become a model that other schools emulate, it could lead a sea change in the way Americans (both believers and unbelievers) experience college. Given the increasing level of legal, . . . . Continue Reading »

Matthew , that 2008 Campbell study is only one in a long line of empirical studies looking at how religious education (and also secular private education) affect tolerance for the rights of others, as well as other democratic values and practices such as voter participation and volunteer work. The . . . . Continue Reading »