A long article in today’s New York Times reports on some of the Vatican’s early responses to the sex-abuse crisis. The facts in the story, such as they are, appear good to know. But what the article tries to draw from it all . . . In fact, of Pope Benedict’s career as Cardinal . . . . Continue Reading »
The Huffington Post’s resident bioethicist, Jacob Appel, argued awhile back for cutting off care to patients in PVS in order to save resources for more “valuable” people. I didn’t post on it at the time. But an article at the Hastings Center Report rebutted Appel, . . . . Continue Reading »
Most advocates for legalizing assisted suicide, particularly in the USA, pretend that theirs is a limited agenda, designed for only the “terminally ill,” or the “hopelessly ill” to achieve “deliverance.” In actuality, assisted suicide ideology believes we . . . . Continue Reading »
Secondhand Smokette is now Tweeting and blogging at the SF Chronicle. I told her that made us Tweetie . . . . Continue Reading »
Today’s “On the Square” offers a preview of the next issue, now in the mail to subscribers , from the editor’s “Public Square.” In The Signpost at the Crossroads , Joseph Bottum examines “the signpost at the intersection of religion and American public . . . . Continue Reading »
At signandsight , a fine English language website out of Germany that covers the European scene, one can find all sorts of interesting material, including a recent interview with Olivier Roy, a French expert on Islam. Roy makes an observation that reinforces thoughts I’ve had for more than a . . . . Continue Reading »
[Note: Every Friday on First Thoughts we host a discussion about some aspect of pop culture. Today’s theme is childhood fads. Have a suggestion for a topic? Send them to me at jcarter@firstthings.com.] They were the best of fads, they were the worst of fads—all at the same time. The faddish . . . . Continue Reading »
The Library of Congress has announced that W.S. Merwin will be America’s next poet laureate. About his poetry, there is something to say—but less, perhaps, than you might think, given the prizes he’s won. Still, you remember poems like his one about the expatriate who realizes . . . . Continue Reading »
Is it time for change? Few of us need to be persuaded that our culture is due for significant social and spiritual renewal. It seems to me, though, that we have not taken seriously enough the magnitude of the challenge. We have especially not reckoned properly with the need for change among . . . . Continue Reading »
Two years ago I read Civilizing Authority: Society, State, and Church, edited by Patrick McKinley Brennan. It contains a number of noteworthy essays, the most intriguing of which is by J. Budziszewski, who writes on “How a Constitution May Undermine Constitutionalism.”Four years ago in . . . . Continue Reading »
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