First Thoughts

7 Habits of Highly Effective People

We need to cultivate good habits. Continue Reading »

First Links—8.10.15

The Futility of Their Minds
Bevil Bramwell, OMI, The Catholic Thing

A Year of Racial Tumult Brings Potent Lessons to the Classroom
Dan Berrett, The Chronicle of Higher Education

The Bizarre Tale of ‘ISIS Book Club'
Damaris Colhoun, Atlas Obscura

Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 70 Years Later
Benjamin Wiker, National Catholic Register

Reflection on Ascending Light

G-major, D-major. Amen. So be it.It is week two of the Festspiele here in Salzburg, where Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms echo through the streets every day. However, in a city filled with the world’s greatest musicians performing the stuff of musical legend, it is a relatively new piece of music that floods my mind. Continue Reading »

First Links—8.7.15

There Is No Pro-Life Case for Planned Parenthood
Ross Douthat, The New York Times

What Faith Is and What It Isn't
Editors, Dominicana

The Lost Promise of the Voting Rights Act
Ari Berman, The Atlantic

Almost Lovable
Sheila Fitzpatrick, London Review of Books

Gay Marriage and Religious Freedom

A great deal is at stake. The sexual revolution is just that, a revolution, and revolutions often pose a dire threat to liberty. The logic of the Supreme Court's discovery of a right to same-sex marriage poses a threat to anyone who dissents. It's not unreasonable to suppose that the next stage of the gay rights Jihad will involve political action to defund organizations that refuse to affirm gay marriage, or even to work to revoke their tax exempt status. Continue Reading »

On Marriage, Protect Freedom For All

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling on marriage, the question is: who deserves to be coerced by the government to embrace the Court’s new definition of marriage, or penalized for declining to do so? The answer: No one. The government is not justified in coercing or penalizing anyone or any institution that believes and acts on the belief that marriage is a union of husband and wife. Continue Reading »

‘You're Not Really Pro-Life Because . . .'

Since Cardinal Bernardin's death in 1996, his consistent life ethic has been (ab)used more often to deprecate pro-lifers than to expand their apparently narrow horizons. But charges of hypocrisy aimed at pro-lifers on this basis are unfounded.
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First Links—8.6.15

Contemplation of Beauty
Michael Rennier, Dappled Things

Encounters with the Posthuman
Sally Davies, Nautilus

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal Cancels Planned Parenthood Contract in Wake of Videos
Stephan Dinan, The Washington Times

What is the State of the American Mind? A Conversation with Mark Bauerlein
Mark Bauerlein, Library of Law and Liberty

First Links—8.5.15

A New Planned Parenthood Video and More Outrage
Krishnadev Calamur, The Atlantic

Dutch Offered ‘Euthanasia on Wheels'
Anna Holligan, BBC News

What is the Source of the Darkness of Our Times?
Msgr. Chalres Pope, National Catholic Register

Children's Song
Ronald Stuart Thomas, The Catholic Thing

Announcing New Multimillion Dollar Aid-for-Adjuncts Grant

In what is being hailed as a revolutionary solution to the overpopulation problem of adjuncts in higher education, the Bench Foundation has announced a multi-year program called Aid-for-Adjuncts. The program is the result of a ten-year study of the rapid proliferation of part-time instructors in college, university, and seminary classrooms. For the first time, administrative centers will be established across America, helping school officials formulate proper guidelines for the use and abuse of adjuncts. Continue Reading »