From my inbox, a press release about a new book: Everyone loves to wonder ‘what if,’ but it took one very creative writer to take it to the next level and imagine what would happen if a modern-day Jesus became a judge on a famous TV talent show a ‘sacred’ Simon Cowell! Please . . . . Continue Reading »
I will be out for observance of the feast of Shavuot until after sundown Thursday. Hag Sameach to all our Jewish . . . . Continue Reading »
Peter Beinart, the former editor of The New Republic , laments the failure of the American Jewish establishment to present the universalizing, leftist, secular side of Israel to young Americans whose interest in Israel is small compared to that of their elders. His New York Review of Books . . . . Continue Reading »
When the Church of Saint Paul the Apostle was completed in 1885, it fulfilled the dream of the founder of the Paulist Fathers—Servant of God Fr. Isaac Thomas Hecker—to build a noble basilica. The Gothic exterior reflected European influence and continuity with the past, while the interior . . . . Continue Reading »
Free Inquiry is a magazine in whose title the word “free” seems to mean freedom from having to include God in their inquiries, but not the freedom to include Him. The magazine is published by the Council for Secular Humanism, and as their homepage says, “The Council promotes . . . . Continue Reading »
There must still be a few geniuses at The Onion —America’s finest news source, yes—and perhaps a few disaffected intellectuals as well. Mustering as much cynicism—but with humor—as the academic himself, a r ecent Onion musing on Noam Chomsky read: Describing himself as . . . . Continue Reading »
Sometimes its hard to not to despair for the lack of intellectual sophistication in our culture. Rather than making progress, it seems that we too often slide back into acceptance of scholarly fads that had previously been discarded for being inane. Consider, for example, the return of of scientism . . . . Continue Reading »
Pro assisted suiciders often claim that the only reasons to oppose euthanasia/self mercy killing are religious. They will claim that opponents see suffering as “redemptive” and thus desirable—intentionally misstating that doctrine— and oppose mercy killing on the basis . . . . Continue Reading »
1. So I took a few days off and now come back to this distinction, with a lot of fine comments in the thread. 2. Our Founders built better than they said. Is that because no theory can comprehend great practice? Or because there’s no theory adequate to the truth about who we are? In both . . . . Continue Reading »
Very long-term notice: A conference honoring Ralph McInerny, the late philosopher (novelist, poet, essayist, activist, journalist, etc.) and friend to this magazine and many of its editors and writers, and in fact a man who seems to have been a real friend of almost everyone he met. . . . . Continue Reading »
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