Joseph Bottum

In a CNN money report today, there’s a list of the ten real-estate markets expected to post the biggest declines over the next year. Among them: #1) Miami, Fla., 12-month forecast: -24.9% #2) Fort Lauderdale, Fla., 12-month forecast: -22.2% #3) Orlando, Fla., 12-month forecast: -21% #6) West . . . . Continue Reading »

The May issue of First Things is now on the newsstands. And what an issue it is. You want serious? We can do serious. Here’s Avery Cardinal Dulles speaking magisterially in “ The Freedom of Theology ”: Although the functions of the magisterium and of the theologians are distinct, each . . . . Continue Reading »

Last week Jonathan Last pointed to an article on Church music in the Washington Post . It’s a great find, all about the generational change from the older Catholics to the new. The ” Swallows of Capistrano ” are what I’ve come to call this younger generation of Catholics, . . . . Continue Reading »

In her New York Times column this morning , Maureen Dowd sets out to defend Senator Obama against the claim that he is an elitist snob. Along the way, though, she admits he has some problems relating to the common man: “Asked about his friendly relationship with the former Weather Underground . . . . Continue Reading »

If we never mention the New Atheists again— they’re atheists! and they’re new! —I’d be just as glad. They always seem to me giddy with the fumes of a dying worldview, and there’s little in them that wasn’t said more forcefully by Robert G. Ingersoll. . . . . Continue Reading »

In the New York Sun today, John Merriman reviews a new book on Napoleon. It’s a nice review, but this line caught my eye: “Napoleon modestly portrayed himself as ‘the savior,’ and, although not a religious person, encouraged comparisons with Jesus Christ.” Isn’t . . . . Continue Reading »

We should start raising money for a secret Christian commando force¯the special-action arm of the Poor Clares, maybe, or the rapid-response team of Beeson Divinity School.Well, probably not. But why, in fact, shouldn’t we? Violence works, after all. The mere threat of violence . . . . Continue Reading »

With the April issue of First Things about to appear on the newsstands, we have unlocked the February issue ¯making the text available online even to non-subscribers. Of course, the sheer existence of non-subscribers is something of a mystery, one of those things that make us scratch our heads . . . . Continue Reading »

A reminder, for those in the Washington area: I’ll be lecturing this Monday, March 17, at Georgetown University. Called “Living with the Dead: Why Cities Need Cemeteries and Nations Need Memorials,” the talk is at 7:00 pm in the ICC auditorium . Cosponsored by the Tocqueville . . . . Continue Reading »

“I don’t propose to revisit the question of whether what we call the Sixties was in fact born in the Fifties, or whether it unfolded its full plumage in that low decade, the Seventies,” writes George Weigel. “Rather, I want to examine six crucial moments in the Sixties with an . . . . Continue Reading »