Richard John Neuhaus

“In Strong Terms, Rome Is to Ban Gays as Priests.” That’s the front page headline in today’s New York Times . The headline and the story is a mix of fact and mendacity of a low order. The long-awaited instruction from the Congregation for Catholic Education, leaked a few . . . . Continue Reading »

As Allen Hertzke spelled out recently in FIRST THINGS (see "The Shame of Darfur," October), one of the great changes of recent years has been the determination of evangelical Protestants in this country to get serious about human rights, and about religious freedom in particular. Michael . . . . Continue Reading »

Monday I was down in Washington, having joined a working study group for an ambitious new project on “Religion and U.S. Foreign Policy.” This is a joint endeavor of the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life and the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations. Under the leadership of Luis . . . . Continue Reading »

The New York Times regularly serves up a target-rich supply of news and commentary and, as with shooting fish in a barrel, pointing out its gaffs is a sport of which one can quickly tire. Yet from time to time there is an item that makes irresistible the question, “What on earth do these . . . . Continue Reading »

The phone call came on Saturday saying that Fred had died. He was the oldest of the six Neuhaus boys and I the youngest. He died at home in Thousand Oaks, California. It was cancer and, after the usual treatments, the last month was devoted simply to making him as comfortable as possible. He is the . . . . Continue Reading »

For the record: Wal-Mart has apologized for what it describes as “the inappropriate and inflammatory comments” to which I called attention a couple of days ago. The comments had to do with a rather bizarre account of the history and meaning of Christmas. A threatened boycott by the . . . . Continue Reading »

Nobody has revealed the details, but Judith Miller declares herself “very satisfied” with the severance package she got from the New York Times . In an interview, she described herself as a “free woman.” Then there is this interesting line on what she means by that. She said . . . . Continue Reading »

If once having shaken hands is meeting, I have met Philip Rieff. But he has been much more than that in the shaping of my mind. The Triumph of the Therapeutic , published in 1966, is still a brilliant analysis of our cultural habits, it seems to me. Although, if I went back to read it now, I might . . . . Continue Reading »

It’s election day also in New York City and it is unanimously expected that Michael Bloomberg will receive something like a coronation, which is probably just as well. Bloomberg is a billionaire and there is grumbling about his “buying” his reelection, but the complaint is more or . . . . Continue Reading »

It happened again yesterday. I can’t imagine that any author is not pleased when people come up and say that one of his books “changed my life.” But it is only every great once in a while that the book mentioned is In Defense of People . Published in 1971, it was, I believe, the . . . . Continue Reading »