Matthew Schmitz

Or so argues Fr. Ryan Erlenbush in a post at the New Theological Movement : There is nothing in the description of the figure of Job which would make us think that he was not an historical person. Indeed, though one may hold that the various dialogues and discussions in the book of Job are stylized . . . . Continue Reading »

Matt Franck has a good piece at Public Discourse today offering his thoughts on Obama’s announcement of his support for gay marriage and on the Richard Grenell controversy, part of which played out on these pages. You can find Matt’s piece here. . . . . Continue Reading »

Lest the president feel bad about my criticisms of his gay marriage stance , I hasten to add that I think he’s gotten too much flak for his youthful musing on T.S. Eliot. The young future president wrote to his then-girlfriend: I haven’t read “The Waste Land” for a year . . . . . . . Continue Reading »

President Obama has come out in support of gay marriage today in an interview with ABC news . Well, that’s not quite right. He actually was in support of it back in 1996  before his position then “evolved” toward opposition. Today the dissembling ended, which may be good for . . . . Continue Reading »

A man in North Carolina spent each month of last year trying out a new religion. Laughable religious tourism? Not so, says Peter Berger: “his story is emblematic of American religious pluralism and instructive for understanding the latter.” Berger continues: In the pluralistic situation . . . . Continue Reading »

Will outlawing abortion increase maternal mortality resulting from clandestine abortions? A study by a professor of family medicine at the University of Chile (the country has tight pro-life laws) suggests that the answer is no: From a public health view, restrictive laws are hypothesized to cause . . . . Continue Reading »

Democrats like cognac and Republicans enjoy light beers, Thomas B. Edsall reports: Who would have guessed that the most Democratic drink by a long shot is Cognac, or that such lite beers as Amstel Lite, Michelob Ultra, Miller Lite and Sam Adams Light tilt so far to the political right, while Bud, . . . . Continue Reading »

Ross Douthat on the Obama campaign’s telling “Julia” slideshow: The liberalism of “the Life of Julia” doesn’t envision government spending the way an older liberalism did — as a backstop for otherwise self-sufficient working families, providing insurance . . . . Continue Reading »

Peter Berger reports that more religious citizens are—-counter t0 many assumptions—- actually less likely to support the death penalty: Support for the death penalty correlates negatively with degree of religious involvement – 65% in favor among those who attend services weekly or . . . . Continue Reading »

Unlike Greg Forster , I find Matt Franck’s worries about the reshaping of our foreign policy to promote a very particular and controversial gay-rights agenda wholly understandable. The bending of American foreign policy to prosecute the culture war abroad has been taking place for some time, . . . . Continue Reading »