Sledgehammer Explosives: Evidence That Humans Are Not So Exceptional After All

by Wesley J. Smith

/cen>I am often accused of stacking the deck in favor of human exceptionalism. And now, for a contrary view—sledgehammer . . . . Continue Reading »

10 Jul 2009 0

Meatless Friday

by Sally Thomas

We have company coming for lunch today, and I’ve stopped counting the times somebody in the household has passed me here at my desk to ask what we’re having to eat. FOOD, all right? Now pick up that Q-tip and get back to dusting the settee.Being a Southerner, I generally have a ready . . . . Continue Reading »

10 Jul 2009 0

What’s a Culture Snob to Do?

by Ryan Sayre Patrico

If all of our cultural markers become digitized—if everyone starts reading books on Kindle and listening to music through the earbuds of an iPod—what happens to the camaraderie (or division) created by comparing our books to those of others? James Wolcott wants to know : We’ve all . . . . Continue Reading »

10 Jul 2009 0

What Was Roe v. Wade Really About?

by Ryan Sayre Patrico

At the time, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg apparently thought it was about eugenics and population control . From the New York Times Magazine : Q: If you were a lawyer again, what would you want to accomplish as a future feminist legal agenda? JUSTICE GINSBURG: Reproductive choice has . . . . Continue Reading »

10 Jul 2009 0

Our Postmodern Conservative Pope

by Peter Lawler

Here’s one example among many of the wise moderation of the new encyclical : In his Apostolic Letter Octogesima Adveniens of 1971, Paul VI reflected on the meaning of politics, and the danger constituted by utopian and ideological visions that place its ethical and human dimensions in . . . . Continue Reading »

10 Jul 2009 0

First Things is Looking for an Associate Editor

by Joe Carter

First Things seeks an associate editor to join its New York office. A qualified applicant must have familiarity with the magazine and a genuine interest in the magazine’s work on religion, culture, and public life. This is an editor’s position rather than a writer’s position. . . . . Continue Reading »

10 Jul 2009 0

Faith, Reason, and the Christian University: What John Paul II Can Teach Christian Academics

by Francis Beckwith

That’s the title of an article I just published in Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture 12.3 (Summer 2009): 53-67 . You can find it online on my website here . Here are some excerpts (endnotes omitted): John Paul is suggesting that a university as a whole cannot claim . . . . Continue Reading »

10 Jul 2009 0

A Glimpse of the Radical Anti-Humanism of Animal Rights

by Wesley J. Smith

Most people are unaware of how utterly unhinged some members of the animal rights movement are becoming.  That is why I occasionally provide a peek behind the curtain.  Today, over at my other blog RPDB (for short), I cover a thinly veiled murderous screed on one of the animal rights Web . . . . Continue Reading »

9 Jul 2009 0

First Thoughts on Caritas in Veritate, Conclusion

by Joseph Bottum

All right, I’ve finished, at last, a serious read through the new encyclical Caritas in Veritate , recording—for my own edification, though probably no one else’s—the first thoughts that occurred to me along the way. For what they’re worth, here the ten posts are: one , two . . . . Continue Reading »

9 Jul 2009 0

First Thoughts on Caritas in Veritate, #10

by Joseph Bottum

Chapter 7 begins with a complex analogy: As no one builds himself without the initial gift from God and influence from other persons, so no people or culture builds itself. The sheer assertion would probably have been better here. (A general rule of thumb for editors: If the metaphor is more . . . . Continue Reading »

9 Jul 2009 0