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The Revolutionary Manger

I commend to you Ross Douthat’s latest column, Ideas From a Manger . The classic manger scene is “an entire worldview in a compact narrative,” he writes. It’s about the vertical link between God and man — the angels, the star, the creator stooping to enter his creation. . . . . Continue Reading »

A Shepherd of the Jobless

While recent economic indicators have been positive, a significant percentage of those seeking work remain unable to find it. Analysts on both the left and the right  have proposed solutions to the plight of those out of work six months or more, who face particular difficulty in . . . . Continue Reading »

The Serpent Bites the Dust

The sequence of three speeches of God in Genesis 3:14-19 (to the serpent, the woman, and the man) illustrates biblical justice, which is to say a justice that does more than punish ; it sets things right and corrects what is wrong. The sequence begins with the only curse God directs at a living . . . . Continue Reading »

Making Phil Moral

Whatever one thinks of Duck Commander Phil Robertson’s recent remarks (and let’s be honest, his references to human anatomy could have used some nuance and his comments on race were rashly insensitive), there’s at least one element in this hubbub that’s going . . . . Continue Reading »

White Trash and Christmas

So I was pretty moved by Ross Douthat’s observation that the first meaning of Christmas is something like the holiness of ordinary lives.  It would bizarrely anachronistic to say Jesus was born into a “white trash” family.  But the meaning of being born in a . . . . Continue Reading »

Papal Distinctions

Along with being named person of the year by  Time , Pope Francis has gained a similar accolade from a zeitschrift of more rarified interest, namely,  The Advocate , the nation’s largest gay magazine. The Advocate describes the search for its favorite as strongly flavored . . . . Continue Reading »

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