Nathaniel Peters

If you’ve ever wondered just what happens behind the scenes of an opera company, especially one as grand as the Metropolitan, check out Judith H. Dobrzynski’s article in the Wall Street Journal . A sample: If you have never understood why an old saying calls opera “the most . . . . Continue Reading »

Is the East Coast more lustful than the West? Greedier? When you look at the seven deadly sins mapped across the country , the East Coast and the South turn out to be the most prideful, which in these charts meant the most sinful, period. But the charts only factor in reported crimes, which might . . . . Continue Reading »

Earlier I mentioned part I of Daniel Patrick Maloney’s series at Public Discourse on reducing poverty by reducing the number of poor children. In part II, Maloney, a former FT associate editor, looks at transcripts from Senate Finance Committee hearings in the 1970s and argues that the . . . . Continue Reading »

According to a recent Pew Forum poll , the level of support for abortion has dropped: Between August and late October 2008, the proportion supporting legal abortion ranged from 57 percent (in mid-October) to 53 percent (in late October), before declining to 46 percent currently. Though opinion . . . . Continue Reading »

In the first of what will be a three-part series of articles, Daniel Patrick Moloney at Public Discourse examines the thinking common to both major political parties: that an important way to reduce poverty is to reduce the number of poor children. This viewpoint was most recently articulated by . . . . Continue Reading »

Justin Cardinal Rigali shoots straight from the hip. When Doug Kmiec published a column entitled “New ethically sensitive stem-cell guidance from the Obama administration,” the Cardinal replied with a column of his own . It began: On April 17 the National Institutes of Health released . . . . Continue Reading »

Fetching, no? That’s how Bill Murchison describes much of mainline Protestantism today: The present presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori, when asked by Time magazine a few years back to specify her focus as head of the church, replied, “Our focus needs to . . . . Continue Reading »

It looks like the the search for a new winner of the Laetare Medal has begun . (via American Papist ) . . . . Continue Reading »

Judging by Timothy Dolan’s interview in the New York Post today, the new Archbishop of New York is the eager teacher of the faith he was expected to be. Dolan tackled clerical celibacy, traditional marriage, Obama’s commencement address at Notre Dame, and the Church’s pro-life . . . . Continue Reading »

Wondering how to spice up the Easter liturgy next year? You could try musical additions. Or you could take a cue from the Greeks and fire rockets at the neighboring church that is firing rockets back at you. During the liturgy. (via Shrine of the Holy Whapping ) . . . . Continue Reading »