I think Obamacare has a significant constitutional defect—by requiring people to purchase a private service, e.g. health insurance, the law stretches the commerce clause beyond the breaking point. Consider: This isn’t merely regulating interstate commerce—it is forcing . . . . Continue Reading »
There has probably never been a time when the cry for renewal of the church has not been in the air. Although the periods of genuine reformation have been few, the church has never lacked her Luthers and Calvins, even when few people were willing to listen to them. What of the present? We seem to . . . . Continue Reading »
For anyone interested, you can access my Saturday interview on The John Batchelor Show—Jeff Bliss guest hosting—by hitting this link. The subjects are Final Exit Network in specific and the dangers of euthanasia/assisted suicide in . . . . Continue Reading »
Vatican preparing new document on effects of abortion on women The new president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Archbishop Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, announced that his dicastery is preparing a document on the effects of abortion on women, often called post-abortion syndrome. The document . . . . Continue Reading »
When I heard immortality researcher Aubrey de Gray make the hubristic claim that funding his work to end human death was more important than funding health care for destitute Africa, and indeed, that failing to do so was equivalent to terrorism (about which I wrote here), he lost me as someone to . . . . Continue Reading »
In “The Last Gasp” , Scott Christianson, the author of a new book on the history of the gas chamber, reflects on that subject and capital punishment in general, though not with as much detail as one would like. This claim surprised me: the gas chamber was invented in the twenties, . . . . Continue Reading »
In the Times Literary Supplement , Anthony Kenny reviews a new biography of John Henry Newman : . . . Newman’s own character is full of paradox. Here is a man who spent the first half of his life trying to persuade the Church of England to be more like the Church of Rome, and the second half . . . . Continue Reading »
How should we treat thinking machines and human-like robots? David Gelernter, is a professor of computer science at Yale University, says that Jewish thought offers us a way to proceed : One way to discuss the problem is in the terms developed by Martin Buber, who created an ethics and . . . . Continue Reading »
In his new book, Heavenly Merchandize , Mark Valeri, professor of church history at Union Theological Seminary, finds that the American economy as we know it emerged from a series of important shifts in the views of Puritan ministers : IDEAS: You’re saying that the market didn’t rise at . . . . Continue Reading »
Today in “On the Square,” Joseph Bottum reflects on Anne Rice’s dramatic rejection of Christianity. In Rice’s Release , he writes that she is Always a day behind the fair. Always a beat behind the crowd. Mind you, that can be a very profitable position to hold: You can catch . . . . Continue Reading »
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