Matthew Schmitz

Obama was slammed among white Catholics —- and the HHS mandate may have made the difference. My friend  Mark Movsesian suggests that the bishops’ highlighting of religious freedom had no effect in the election. I’m not sure he’s right. The University of Akron’s . . . . Continue Reading »

Not all religious conservatives are likely to lament the success of Colorado and Washington’s referenda legalizing the recreational use of marijuana. The noted English Catholic philosopher Peter Geach, for example, offered a Thomistic defense of toking in his book The   Virtues : We . . . . Continue Reading »

At NRO , Michael Walsh tells conservatives to “do what Democrats do” and “lay off the social issues.” I’ve already argued against this in a previous post , but there’s another problem: Social issues outperformed Romney nationwide, with the exception of . . . . Continue Reading »

Tom , I doubt Christie’s actions had any measurable influence on yesterday’s vote. As for Hurricane Sandy, it was an act of God in precisely the sense that all of creation is. No more, no less. I do very much agree with your closing suggestion that yesterday’s results should cause . . . . Continue Reading »

In the wake Barack Obama’s resounding victory on a socially liberal line and the unprecedented success of gay marriage in the referenda in Maine and Maryland, we’re going to hear calls for the abandonment of social issues. As a Christian, I do not think ceaseless talk about . . . . Continue Reading »

Barack Obama ran and won a vigorous social issues campaign. He is now the first man elected president to have endorsed same-sex unions or have made contraception a major campaign theme. (He was already the only man elected president to have voted in favor of partial-birth abortion.) Obama blurred . . . . Continue Reading »

Whatever the result tonight, one thing is certain: America’s embrace of drone attacks will go on unimpeded. Social conservatives have increasingly lined up to express reservations about the policy, with Princeton’s Robert P. George writing against President Obama’s . . . . Continue Reading »

Brandon Watson explains why the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact —-in which states assign their votes in the electoral college to whoever wins the most votes countrywide—- is sheer madhattery : The National Popular Vote idea . . .   is not a national popular vote . It is, . . . . Continue Reading »

In a review of Brad Gregory’s The Unintended Reformation , Archbishop Charles J. Chaput laments our current political alternatives: Elections are tough times for serious Catholics. If we believe in the encyclical tradition—from  Rerum Novarum  to  Evangelium Vitae ; . . . . Continue Reading »

Paul Ryan is making headlines in the campaign’s closing hours by saying that President Obama’s policies pose a threat to Judeo-Christian civilization. Ned Resnikoff reports : Two days before the election, Paul Ryan made an urgent appeal to evangelical supporters, claiming that President . . . . Continue Reading »