The vicar of Collingbourne Ducis, UK, discovered a law left over from the Middle Ages that allowed her to s ummon the men of her village to archery practice . So she did: The Reverend Mary Edwards, of Collingbourne Ducis, near Marlborough, called residents to the village recreation ground on . . . . Continue Reading »
Joseph Bottum reflects on the forthcoming execution in Utah of double murderer Ronnie Lee Gardner, and wonders whether there is justification for this punishment. These paragraphs especially the sections I have put in boldface stand out for me:A government has two legitimate goals in . . . . Continue Reading »
Marc Guerra’s CHRISTIANS AS POLITICAL ANIMALS is now available from ISI Books. You can get it on amazon for $17.79. That’s right! A magnificently produced and beautifully written hardback for that low price. It’s THE pomocon treatise on theology and modern democracy. We can . . . . Continue Reading »
Wesley Smith has known for a long time that Jack Kevorkian was creepy. And thanks to Wesley and Rita L. Marker and others, First Things readers have come to know this as well. And now, to confirm their assessments on creepiness, comes Sanjay Gupta’s interview with Kevorkian on CCN. When . . . . Continue Reading »
Since Mr. Goldman has not done so, I’ll simply call everyone’s attention to a new Spengler column at http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/LF15Ak01.html(for some reason dated June 15).Another entry in the long-running “Ask Spengler” series.D. . . . . Continue Reading »
Can you imagine? An Aussie lives near a high cliff from which suicidal people jump. And he tries to stop them! From the story:In those bleak moments when the lost souls stood atop the cliff, wondering whether to jump, the sound of the wind and the waves was broken by a soft voice. . . . . Continue Reading »
Political journalists called 1992 the year of the woman because so many female candidates won Senate seats that year. With the rise of female candidates who oppose abortion, next year may be, says Ramesh Ponnuru in the Washington Post , the year of the “pro-life woman” : The . . . . Continue Reading »
Take a look at this version of the program for the recent Catholic Theological Society of America meeting. Preliminary Program 2010 It’s very funny because so very believable, and sad too, for the same reason. . . . . Continue Reading »
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Dutch intellectual and former Muslim who is under a fatwa for her writings criticizing Islam, argues that Christians should try to convert Muslims : Q: One of your more startling arguments in Nomad is that Christian churches should proselytize in immigrant communities to try to . . . . Continue Reading »
There is a strange rhetorical asymmetry in the so-called culture wars. (I don’t much like that term, but it’s the one that’s current.) It’s most salient in the marriage question, and it goes like this. Compare I’m for same-sex marriage with the opposing, I’m for . . . . Continue Reading »