Joe Carter

A new study finds that the Golden Girls marathon you’ve been watching on Nick at Nite may prevent you from reaching your own golden years. According to the Wall Street Journal, television is killing us: In a provocative look at the impact of sedentary behavior on health, a new study links . . . . Continue Reading »

If you oppose government-mandated healthcare, there is a way you can opt-out: Become Amish. Federal health care reform will require most Northern New Yorkers — but not all, it turns out — to carry health insurance or risk a fine. Hundreds of Amish families in the region are likely to be . . . . Continue Reading »

A new study by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life reveals the depressing state of religious freedom around the globe: 64 nations—about one-third of the countries in the world—have high or very high restrictions on religion and nearly 70% of the . . . . Continue Reading »

Ross Douthat latest shows why he’s the best columnist at the New York Times : Liberal democracy offers religious believers a bargain. Accept, as a price of citizenship, that you may never impose your convictions on your neighbor, or use state power to compel belief. In return, you will be . . . . Continue Reading »

Some anthropologists and cross-cultural psychiatrists claim that mental illnesses have never been the same the world over but are distinctive to particular times and places. But because of globalization, Ethan Watters argues , we are Americanizing the world’s understanding of mental health and . . . . Continue Reading »

Recent science news from around our weird universe. The Styrofoam Planet In their search for a planet that looks like Earth — comfortably bathed in sunshine in a pleasant solar system where life would be easy come easy go — astronomers keep turning up the strangest things. They’ve . . . . Continue Reading »

[Note: Although I originally posted this on the First Thoughts blog, I thought I’d add it here too. We need something controversial to discuss that isn’t about torture and this seems likely to stir up debate.]The Associated Press reports on a peculiar incident in Malaysia:Eight churches . . . . Continue Reading »

In the Chronicle of Higher Education , Stephen T. Asma, a professor of philosophy who was raised Roman Catholic, makes an interesting argument that the driving force behind environmentalism is the Western Christian concept of guilt and indignation: Feeling unworthy is still a large part of Western . . . . Continue Reading »

The Associated Press reports on a peculiar incident in Malaysia : Eight churches have been attacked over three days amid a dispute over the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims, sparking fresh political instability that is denting Malaysia’s image as a moderate and stable . . . . Continue Reading »

Each year the Edge Foundation asks a select group of “scientists and other thinkers in the empirical world” to respond to a particular question. Invariably the answers—even when they are wrong or misguided—are fascinating and worthy of reflection. I’m still working my . . . . Continue Reading »