Stephen M. Barr

The conversation between science and religion has suffered two sad losses recently, with the deaths of Peter E. Hodgson, the English physicist, on December 8, and Fr. Stanley L. Jaki, the historian and philosopher of science, on April 7. I never met either, but the news of their deaths, coming so . . . . Continue Reading »

I would like to second what Spengler says in reply to David Brooks on the subject of genius. It is obvious that Brooks has never met any true geniuses and has no idea what he is talking about on this subject.  There is at least one person alive today in my own field of theoretical particle . . . . Continue Reading »

Well, Fr. Jenkins has finally decided to respond to his critics . It is a very lawyerly response, involving a careful parsing of the words of the statement of the U.S. Bishops conference entitled “Catholics in Political Life.” Jenkins asserts that he and the others who made decision to . . . . Continue Reading »

It is reported that Fr. Stanley Jaki, O.S.B., died today in Spain. Fr. Jaki was well-known for his writings on science and religion. He was selected to give the prestigious Gifford Lectures in the mid-1970s, and these lectures were published as The Road of Science and the Ways to God . For many . . . . Continue Reading »

I first came across the name of Richard John Neuhaus when he was writing religion columns for National Review in the 1980s. I vividly remember a day when I sat reading one of those columns and exclaimed to myself half-aloud, “Why can’t we have someone like this?”––by which I meant, “Why . . . . Continue Reading »

The passage Ryan quotes below from the article by Nathan Schneider represents my views and my words quite accurately. However, the juxtaposition of my statement about certain approaches being “stupid” and a reference to a book by Wiker and Witt [ A Meaningful World: How the Arts And . . . . Continue Reading »

Fr. Jenkins defends his decision to honor President Obama by saying that we should “engage” those who disagree with us. And yet, strangely, Fr. Jenkins has conspicuously failed to engage in a serious way the arguments of his own critics. Strong arguments against Fr. Jenkins’s . . . . Continue Reading »

My younger son will be graduating from the University of Notre Dame in May. Last Friday, he informed me that President Obama will be giving the commencement speech and will be awarded an honorary degree. I was, frankly, stunned. The joyful event of our son’s graduation has now been . . . . Continue Reading »

Ryan posted a link to an interesting article on the intelligence of pigeons and baboons. It seems that recent studies have shown these creatures to be smarter than was realized. This leads some researchers, such as University of Iowa professor Ed Wasserman, to conclude that there is no fundamental . . . . Continue Reading »

A dear friend of mine, Pastor Matt Hummel of St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church here in Delaware, sent me this in response to my Green Guru posting : “Steve, You missed the most obvious solution to the issue! Cap and trade!” . . . . Continue Reading »