Joseph Bottum

“There is a definite battle being waged within the Catholic Church. It is the same ‘culture war’ being waged by secular moderns against those who uphold traditional morality, it is pro-life vs. pro-choice. But within the Catholic Church the same battle is fought along liturgical . . . . Continue Reading »

I can’t remember Ms. magazine receiving this much attention since about 1978, but the magazine is back in the news—this time for turning down an ad from the American Jewish Congress . You can see the pro-woman ad here . It shows photographs of Tzipi Livni (Israel’s foreign . . . . Continue Reading »

Over at the Weekly Standard , Matthew Continetti is running a blog that has become must-reading for election junkies, campaign activists, and political journalists. The rest of America, too. And this, despite the fact that I sometimes contribute small notes on items that seem off-topic for the . . . . Continue Reading »

So brave, our transgressive artists who stand up against the oppression of religion. So brave—except when, you know, it might take actual bravery. Over at Pajamas Media, David Rusin notes the case of Grayson Perry: A Turner Prize recipient and England’s most famous cross-dressing potter, . . . . Continue Reading »

Dave Barry provides the best report on the primary season so far: ” The voters of New Hampshire have made their decision,” he writes, “and the big winner is: Change. Here’s the final vote tally: Change—43 percent; Hope—28 percent; Hope For Change—17 percent; . . . . Continue Reading »

We’re in the middle on annual fundraising drive here at First Things . Our work really does need your support , particularly this year, with our daily article , our new blog , and the ongoing publication of the magazine , in many ways the only journal of its kind being published today.So if you . . . . Continue Reading »

I was just speaking on the phone to a Washington lawyer who wants to contribute a piece to First Things , and in the course of our rambling conversation he proposed a thesis about the current struggles over immigration. It was one of those nonce theses—proposed in a conversation just to test . . . . Continue Reading »

Victory! We win! In Iowa! A triumph for, um, somebody! The results of the caucus in Iowa are in, but what they mean is hard to say. Some Republicans friends are insisting it’s an enormous victory for McCain, who skipped Iowa and thus wasn’t damaged there, while his clearest rivals, . . . . Continue Reading »

“Peace is a communist plot,” Irving Kristol once declared. It’s one of my favorites of his many good lines—overstated, overheated, and overdue; forcing us to notice, in a way no softer phrasing would, that nearly every organization during the Cold War with the word peace in . . . . Continue Reading »

I don’t know, Mike. You’re a composer , and you actually know how musicians and the bookers of orchestras think. So I take your point, when you swat down young Santiago Ramos for his defense of the New York Philharmonic’s February trip to North Korea. Beautiful music can be put to . . . . Continue Reading »