Public expressions of piety at civic events may tell us something about a culture, but they rarely disclose geopolitical ambitions or strategic designs. One exception to that general rule of religion and public life took place this past February, in Kiev, capital of Ukraine … Continue Reading »
The British cosmologist Fred Hoyle coined the term “the Big Bang” as a term of derision, but it quickly caught on with the public. He had handed his opponents the most vivid (if somewhat misleading) image for the theory that our universe began as an infinitely small and infinitely dense “singularity,” which then “exploded” … . Continue Reading »
The patient had pulmonary hypertension, a rare and often fatal condition in which a pregnancy can cause the death of the mother. Sister Margaret McBride was the on-call member of the Catholic hospital’s ethics committee. She was part of a group, including the patient and doctors, who approved the termination of the pregnancy… . Continue Reading »
For approving an abortion at an Arizona hospital late last year, Sr. Margaret McBride has incurred excommunication latae sententiae”meaning that her actions have caused her to excommunicate herself. Or so, at least, her bishop, Thomas Olmstead of Phoenix, has announced… . Continue Reading »
Two thousand years ago, at the dawn of the Imperial era, Livy wrote a history of Rome. He feared “the dark dawning of our modern day when we can neither endure our vices nor face the remedies needed to cure them.” He was not optimistic… . Continue Reading »
If there is truth to the Christian artist’s claim that fiction is incarnational”that the spiritual significances of things must be not just enshrouded by but wedded to the fleshly movements of human characters”then might it not also be true that the portrayal of religious-minded characters is very often problematic? … Continue Reading »
It used to be commonplace to say of Shakespeare that his vision of human affairs was so comprehensive as to make it impossible for us to ascribe to him any certain and stable view at all… . Continue Reading »
Many more sick people need kidneys, hearts, and livers than there are kidneys, hearts, and livers to go around. This shortage is the result of both decreased supply and increased demand. For example, public safety laws requiring that motorists wear seat belts and motorcyclists helmets have reduced the kind of catastrophic head injuries that often lead to organ donation… . Continue Reading »
Fair-minded Americans might not know what to make of the furor set off by Arizona’s recent law directed against illegal immigrants. The law requires state and local law enforcement officials to determine the immigration status of any individual whom they “stop, detain, or arrest” and about whose status they have a “reasonable suspicion.” This new law may not prove workable or effective, and it may not pass constitutional muster… . Continue Reading »
This issue marks, as you may have already noticed, the redesigned layout of First Things. The blame for all this belongs solely to me, the editor, for I’m the one who decided that the old layout had grown tired and stale. There has been, over the twenty years of the journal’s history, something self-assured and unapologetic about the purity of the unaesthetic presentation”a declaration that text is what matters and visual frills are a weakness for others to indulge… . Continue Reading »
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