Puritanism is still with us: It’s just that the behaviors to be disdained have changed.Here’s an illustration: John Chiang, the California Treasurer, and Harold Goldstein, the executive director of the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, have co-authored an opinion piece in the . . . . Continue Reading »
Politically correctness in the fight against AIDS costs lives. The much touted Uganda success story that used ABC—abstinence, be faithful, and only then condoms—to reduce HIV infection rates dramatically, has backslid. Is the contrary CNN strategy—condoms, needle sharing, . . . . Continue Reading »
Another excerpt from Caritas in Veritate : The challenge of development today is closely linked to technological progress , with its astounding applications in the field of biology. Technology — it is worth emphasizing — is a profoundly human reality, linked to the autonomy and . . . . Continue Reading »
I don’t think the Western media cover the catastrophe of African Aids nearly enough. And I think the lessons learned there are also ignored. First, when Uganda actively promoted ABC—abstinence, be faithful, but if if not those, use condoms—HIV infection rates plumetted. That makes . . . . Continue Reading »
Patrick Appel has a long, introspective roundup of reader reax to some posts on atheism at the Dish. He closes with a personal take, acknowledging there is a connection between pantheism, agnosticism and atheism. [ . . . ] Most of the tension between the terms does revolve around “God” . . . . Continue Reading »
Well, really from our comments forum. Reader Mark Gooley is looking for a painting of the Holy Trinity, which he describes thus: . . . a beautiful painting of the Trinity (perhaps being adored by the Blessed Virgin and/or other saints: I’m not sure). It shows the Father and the Son exhaling a . . . . Continue Reading »
Promoter, promote thyself! Amanda was so enthusiastic about Robert Miola’s piece that she forgot to direct readers to her own thoughtful and elegant review of Paul Mariani’s Gerard Manley Hopkins (subscribers only): Absent a biblical understanding of sacrifice, a biographer would be . . . . Continue Reading »
At The American Scene , John Schwenkler adds his suggestions to a growing list of bad books, this time in the children’s category. What does he deem worthy of such an ignoble rank? Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree and Chris Van Allsburg’s The Polar Express . Of course, First . . . . Continue Reading »
In the latest issue of First Things , associate editor David Goldman offers a helpful comparison between Faust’s wager and Job’s suffering: Critics often use the Bible to help explain literature, but, on rarer occasion, literature may help us to understand the Bible. Scores of studies . . . . Continue Reading »
It’s hard to know what to say about tambourines. On the one hand, they’re great for festive medieval music: “Gaudete! Gaudete! Christus est natus!” and so on. On the other hand, they’re so often not used for festive medieval music, and I think I’ll just leave it . . . . Continue Reading »
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