Matthew Schmitz

Looks like we’ll have to update our house bio: Alan Jacobs, Clyde S. Kilby professor of English at Wheaton College, has accepted a new post as Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Baylor University’s Honors College. A coup indeed for Baylor! . . . . Continue Reading »

Yes, says the head of the Hebrew Studies Department at Tanta University in Egypt, Muhammad Galaa Idris. In an interview on Egypt’s Al-Rahma TV, he  informs us that Pope Benedict XVI is either Jewish or has been “Judaized”: The Egyptian academic said this in . . . . Continue Reading »

Richard Williamson has been removed from the traditionalist Catholic splinter group Society of St. Pius X, according to the traditionalist blog  Rorate Caeli : Bishop Richard Williamson, one of the four bishops consecrated by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and co-consecrated by Bishop Antonio de . . . . Continue Reading »

In 2004 Michelle Obama wrote a campaign letter on behalf of her husband’s campaign saying that killing a child when it was halfway out of the womb was a “legitimate medical procedure” (thus clarifying her husband’s idea of what constitutes a “surgical” . . . . Continue Reading »

Last night Mitt Romney repeated a silly attack on Obama and failed to flank him on foreign policy. If we’re to consider truth in judging debates (and I certainly think we should), Romney lost. This is just what I predicted on Bloggingheads over the weekend: Many pundits have committed . . . . Continue Reading »

Watch out, America. Post-modern hero of the silver screen Nicholas Cage is in talks to star in a reboot of the  Left Behind  series: Nicolas Cage is in negotiations to topline “Left Behind,” a mainstream reboot of the Christian-themed movie trilogy that will mark the first . . . . Continue Reading »

A new poll suggests that a majority of parents in New York City oppose distribution of Plan B to high school students: Fifty-three percent of New Yorkers think that Department of Education should not be dispensing Plan B to high school students. A poll commissioned by the  Chiaroscuro . . . . Continue Reading »

The article is behind a paywall, but a short  news item from the  Tablet (where Haldane’s piece is published) gives the gist: A leading academic has said the Catholic Church urgently needs to overturn its centuries-old ban on ordaining married men to ease the shortage of priests and . . . . Continue Reading »

Many of my pro-life friends are passing around this video as evidence that Romney has betrayed them on the social issues. While it indeed does portray Romney as a squishy moderate on abortion, the position it argues for is  exactly that of  George W. Bush  and  John McCain : No . . . . Continue Reading »

Romney got in a couple of good lines about the President’s fraught relationship with the Catholic Church at last night’s Al Smith Dinner: The President has put his own stamp on relations with the Church. There have been some awkward moments. Like when the President pulled Pope Benedict . . . . Continue Reading »