Support First Things by turning your adblocker off or by making a  donation. Thanks!

Is Gosnell Really So Shocking?

From First Thoughts

Honestly, is it so hard to understand Kermit Gosnell? If respectable and influential people—-cultural and political leaders—-spend decades trying to persuade the public that “it’s not really a baby, it just looks like a baby,” are we shocked—- shocked . . . . Continue Reading »

What Few Deny Gay Marriage Will Do

From First Thoughts

Masha Gessen is a talented writer. Her widely praised (and sharply critical) biography of Vladimir Putin is only the most recent of her books across a range of subjects from Russian history, to mathematics, to the social implications of modern genetics. On top of her exertions . . . . Continue Reading »

Slate Writer Argues for Polygamy

From First Thoughts

“You are resorting to scare tactics!” “No one is arguing for the legal recognition of polygamous or polyamorous relationships as marriages!” “Recognizing same-sex partnerships does not open the door to changing fundamental marital norms. It will not change the nature . . . . Continue Reading »

A Plea for Mercy for Kermit Gosnell

From First Thoughts

Abortionist Kermit Gosnell is facing the death penalty if he is convicted of the murders for which he is being tried in Philadelphia. Surely, the heinous acts of which he stands accused are depraved. They probably meet the criteria for capital punishment under Pennsylvania law. However, in the . . . . Continue Reading »

NARAL Recycles Pre-Roe Myths

From First Thoughts

Rick Garnett and others have taken note of the “media blackout” of the homidice trial of Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell. Grassroot efforts to shame the journalistic establishment into at least mentioning the trial seem to be working, however. Now, in a rather transparently . . . . Continue Reading »

Ruling to Serve

From the April 2013 Print Edition

Those of us who are citizens of liberal democratic regimes do not refer to those who govern as “rulers.” It is our boast that we rule ourselves. We prefer to speak of those who govern as public servants, but the extraordinary prestige and trappings attached to public office, in just about all . . . . Continue Reading »

Finnis Festshcrift

From First Thoughts

I’m pleased to announce the publication by Oxford University Press of Reason, Morality, and Law: The Philosophy of John Finnis  (edited by John Keown and Robert P. George). This volume of original essays on the thought of the great Oxford (and Notre Dame) legal, political, and moral . . . . Continue Reading »