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The Year of the (Pro-Life) Woman

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 »

When Reality is Unspoofable

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 »

A Former Muslim Who Favors Christian Proselytism

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 »

Rhetorical Asymmetries

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 »

Blood for Blood

Appearing tomorrow “On the Square”: Joseph Bottum reflects on the expected execution of Ronnie Lee Gardner this coming Friday as “a strong example of why we don’t need to use the death penalty—and why, as a consequence, we need not to use the death penalty.” . . . . Continue Reading »

When Seals Sue

One of the primary agenda items in animal rights advocacy is obtaining for animals the right to sue in their own names.  Known as “animal standing,”  allowing animals to sue would empower activists to bring animal industries to their knees, as I describe more . . . . Continue Reading »

Turning from faith

Last year I wrote of the sad case of Philip Wentworth, who lost his Christian faith at Harvard in the early years of the last century. While I suggested that his reasons for rejecting Christianity were pretty superficial, others walk away from faith for more weighty reasons. Among these are:1. . . . . Continue Reading »

Radical Animal Rights: A Sea Lion Sues

One of the biggest—yet little known—agenda items of the animal rights movement is what is known as animal standing, that is, granting animals the right to bring lawsuits (discussed in detail in my book and in this article on NRO).  (Of course, the real litigants would be animal . . . . Continue Reading »

Sons and Slaves

It’s rare that I post on something I encounter that I have almost nothing to say about, but I was just catching up on Mark Heath’s blog, and this post struck me as brilliant. Mark notices all the slave language and son language in the New Testament for believers and wonders . . . . Continue Reading »

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