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Are Protestants to Blame for Atheists?

An intriguing claim that I think has a lot of merit: The historical debate about the genealogy of modern atheism continues amongst historians and theologians, blaming various figures such as Duns Scotus, Francisco Saurez, the deists, René Descartes, and many others. I don’t doubt that . . . . Continue Reading »

Quote of the Day

“We live in a society that wouldn’t dare pass judgment on even deviant sexual practices, but we can’t let women make their own decisions on how to diaper their children.” — Mollie Ziegler Hemingway in ” White Flag in the Mommy Wars .” . . . . Continue Reading »

For the Feast of the Holy Archangels

The Anchoress offers a meditation by Pope St. Gregory the Great: You should be aware that the word “angel” denotes a function rather than a nature. Those holy spirits of heaven have indeed always been spirits. They can only be called angels when they deliver some message. Moreover, those . . . . Continue Reading »

Talking About Suicide

I am never quite sure what to make of columns like this:  Joan Wickersham’s father committed suicide years ago, and his death clearly still cuts deep.  What to do? She writes in the Boston Globe that we need to “talk.” From the column:Suicide is so disturbing that most of . . . . Continue Reading »

Economics is Intuitive

Economist Bryan Caplan sets out to prove that basic economics is intuitive : To make my prima facie case, I’m going to present a few allegedly counterintuitive economic propositions, then explain them at a 6th-grade level. 1. Counterintuitive claim: Free trade makes countries richer, even if . . . . Continue Reading »

Ricky Gervais Takes on Christianity

Kyle Smith, film critic for The New York Post , notes that the new Ricky Gervais comedy isn’t what it seems: If you saw Ricky Gervais’s delightful romantic comedy “Ghost Town” last year and were looking forward to his new comedy, “The Invention of Lying,” be warned. . . . . Continue Reading »

A General Lack of Communication

On the campaign trail Barack Obama said that one of his heroes was Abraham Lincoln. Now that he is President, #44 seems to have forgotten the lessons of #16. Lincoln took the role of Commander-in-Chief extremely seriously, often directly supervising his generals during the war. Obama, on the other . . . . Continue Reading »

Here Comes Immortality?

From the U.K.’s Telegraph comes an article that is a four-course feast for thought. If scientist Ray Kurzweil is to be believed, we will all be capable of immortality within twenty years . How’s that for health care reform? The idea here is that through nanotechnology, we will swap the . . . . Continue Reading »

Adam Smith’s Nightmare

In response to Michael Moore’s new documentary,  Capitalism: A Love Story, the Acton Institute has produced a four-minute video rebuttal that makes the case that it was government meddling with the free market—not free markets—that led to the current financial crisis. . . . . Continue Reading »

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