Matthew Schmitz

First Things is a magazine devoted to exploring issues of religion and public life, and like it or not the biggest such issue today is the debate over Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow. I’m not at all surprised that many his find his public displays of piety off-putting, but I have been struck by . . . . Continue Reading »

A North Carolina reproductive health program that once received wide elite support is under fire: Over all, about 70 percent of the North Carolina operations took place after 1945, and many of them were on poor young women and racial minorities. [ . . . ] The program, while not specifically devised . . . . Continue Reading »

Thomas More College now has posted the video of a recent talk R.R. Reno gave on the ancient roots of today’s liturgy: You can find related videos by people like Anthony Esolen and George Rutler on Thomas More College’s video channel . . . . . Continue Reading »

Readers of First Things may be interested in a new documentary on sperm donation called  Anonymous Father’s Day .  The film had drawn high praise from some diverse sources. Here’s Kathleen Sloan of the National Organization of Women: Anonymous Father’s Day  gives a . . . . Continue Reading »

A study by British researchers has found that men and women are unable to detect any difference between statements on women made by convicted rapists and those drawn from so-called “lads’ mags.” More from the University of Surrey: The research due to be published in the British . . . . Continue Reading »

In an interview with Terri Gross, Jimmy Fallon weighs in on liturgical innovations: GROSS: Do you still go to church? Mr. FALLON: I don’t go to – I tried to go back. When I was out in L.A. and I was kind of struggling for a bit. I went to church for a while, but it’s kind of, . . . . Continue Reading »

“The season of Advent often gets combined with Christmas, thanks to retail and academic calendars encroaching on the liturgical calendar and a general love for celebration and excess. Our duty as preachers and teachers, however, remains to remind our people that Advent is a time of quiet and . . . . Continue Reading »

The Christian Leadership Center at the University of Mary in North Dakota—-which is led by frequent On the Square contributor Leroy Huizenga—-is launching a new website on homiletics. An ecumenical endeavor involving Protestants and Catholics, it includes treatments of the Gospels, . . . . Continue Reading »

Today President Obama performs the annual light-hearted tradition of the turkey pardon. But behind the fluff is a chillingly stingy record of pardons for actual, you know, people . Brandon Watson lays it out: [T]he Office of the President has over the past several administrations been absurdly . . . . Continue Reading »

The Washington Post  has come out with a piece on Mitt Romney’s role as a leader in the Mormon Church (retreading an earlier piece in the Times ) that is already being picked up by modern-day anti-Mormon zealots. On Twitter, Chloe Angyal of Feministing describes it thus: In which Mitt . . . . Continue Reading »