In receiving the credentials of the Honorable Lindy Boggs as Ambassador to the Holy See on December 16, 1997, Pope John Paul II offered some pointed comments on the “credibility” of the United States and its world leadership. Herewith the complete text of a statement that bears close reading. . . . . Continue Reading »
This statement, originally titled “A Christian Women’s Declaration,” was issued on September 16, 1997 by the Ecumenical Coalition of Women and Society, a project of the Washington-based Institute on Religion and Democracy. It is reproduced here with the permission of IRD © . . . . Continue Reading »
We scratch where it itches and even the most casual observer of the Episcopal Church knows that homosexuality is where we itch. As a Deputy to the 1997 General Convention of the Episcopal Church held in Philadelphia, I got more than a passing view. The legislative committee responsible for a wide . . . . Continue Reading »
In the spring of 1994, a distinguished group of Roman Catholics and evangelical Protestants issued a much-discussed statement, “Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium” (FT, May 1994). That statement, commonly referred to as “ECT,” noted a growing . . . . Continue Reading »
In a retrospective essay on Carl Sagan in the January 9, 1997 New York Review of Books, Harvard Genetics Professor Richard Lewontin tells how he first met Sagan at a public debate in Arkansas in 1964. The two young scientists had been coaxed by senior colleagues to go to Little Rock to debate the . . . . Continue Reading »
The modern Episcopal Church is the oddest of churches: scrupulous about maintaining tradition in matters of worship and dress, feverish about rejecting tradition when a given religious belief contradicts the spirit of the times. The Episcopal descent into spiritual incoherence is one of the more . . . . Continue Reading »
The writers and filmmakers of science fiction have been bold in depicting what life will be like far into the third millennium. Their efforts frequently result in brilliant, and very profitable, popular entertainments. Millions of people are eager to pay to see their fantasies played out in a . . . . Continue Reading »
Josh Billings remarked profoundly that “the trouble with people is not that they don’t know but that they know so much as ain’t so.” There are those who know John Chrysostom said that “the image of God is not found in Woman.” (Actually, he said that “the image of God is not found in . . . . Continue Reading »
In Bob Dole’s remarkably inept campaign for the presidency, he could nonetheless count on one surefire applause line to rouse even the most dispirited audience: an attack on “the liberal media.” (He made a particular target of the New York Times.) Dole obviously enjoyed sticking it to the . . . . Continue Reading »
This month a hundred million Americans will watch a United States Supreme Court Justice once again ask a President-elect to place his hand upon a Christian Bible and swear an oath of allegiance to the Constitution of the United States. The candidate will end his oath with “so help me God,” and . . . . Continue Reading »
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