In the current edition of The Atlantic , Pamela Paul pens an unsettling essay disputing social science evidence on the unique role of fathers, and advocates a gender-neutral approach to child-rearing, highlighting a recent study on lesbian parenting. Its hard not to connect . . . . Continue Reading »
The nonsense many college students are taught “takes three forms: condescension, literature taught as a crossword puzzle, and historicism,” writes Fr. Edward Oakes in Nonsense Drives Them Away , today’s “On the Square” feature. He is describing a new book review . . . . Continue Reading »
[Note: Every Friday on First Thoughts we host a discussion about some aspect of pop culture. Todays theme is animated films. Have a suggestion for a topic? Send them to me at jcarter@firstthings.com.] The first movie I ever watched in a theater was the animated films, Bednobs and Broomsticks . . . . Continue Reading »
Justin Taylor, our fellow blogger at Evangel, has already posted a blog that brought attention to J. Ligon Duncan’s address at Together for the Gospel 2010 conference, “Did the Church Fathers Know the Gospel?” At the risk of redundancy, I am compelled to bring further attention to . . . . Continue Reading »
The CBC asked me to comment on the ethical implications of the recent scientific announcement that they have implanted an artificially created genome into a bacteria. My main take is that the time to regulate this emerging field is now, not later, while we have time to deliberate and create . . . . Continue Reading »
An interesting exercise in church-state relations: Amish Farming Draws Rare Government Scrutiny . Their cows generate heaps of manure that easily washes into streams and flows onward into the Chesapeake Bay. And the Environmental Protection Agency . . . is determined to crack down. The farmers . . . . Continue Reading »
The always interesting economics writer Megan McArdle notes that she is getting married on Saturday: We are finally on the brink of that happy moment that every girl dreams of: a qualified change in family status under section 125 of the tax code. See why I like her? Our congratulations and . . . . Continue Reading »
“You can be an agnostic or an atheist when it comes to religion but its much more difficult when were talking about the World Cup,” notes CCN editor Dave Schechter in The Religion of Football . He goes on to make the usual comparisons and ends with the platitude “Just . . . . Continue Reading »
Thanks to all for making last week’s event with Michael Wyschogrod a success! We had quite an engaging discussion about Prof. Wyschogrod’s proposal in his recent article published in the May issue of FIRST THINGS: ” A King in Israel .” Keep reading FT Online to hear about . . . . Continue Reading »
In an important and insightful essay over at The New Republic , David Rieff makes some particularly astute observations about larger implications of the diplomatic crisis that erupted in the wake of the Israeli confrontation at sea with the Free Gaza flotilla. There is little doubt that, as a . . . . Continue Reading »