May 14 is Israel’s Independence Day (celebrated according to the Jewish rather than the Gregorian calendar), recalling the declaration of the State of Israel in 1948. For Palestinian Arabs the following day, May 15, is a day of mourning, “Disaster ( Naqba ) Day.” It has gone . . . . Continue Reading »
A nice treat came in the mail a couple of days ago: David Hart’s new book, Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies (Yale Press). I’m a complete sucker for the great avalanches of Hart’s long, elegant Ciceronian sentences. And his take-no-prisoners . . . . Continue Reading »
There were feminists prior to the early twentieth century, that is, before women’s suffrage. This may come as a surprise, and indeed, very little is known about these earlier feminists beyond the work of a few scholars. Nevertheless, there were women philosophers throughout Europe who were busy . . . . Continue Reading »
William Schneider, the CNN political commentator, once declared, The press . . . doesnt get religion, and nowhere is he proven more right than in the present press fracas over the nine-year-old Brazilian girl and her abortion.The facts of the case are both heartbreaking and . . . . Continue Reading »
My younger son will be graduating from the University of Notre Dame in May. Last Friday, he informed me that President Obama will be giving the commencement speech and will be awarded an honorary degree. I was, frankly, stunned. The joyful event of our son’s graduation has now been . . . . Continue Reading »
A series of high-profile legal battles and workplace rulings during the past several months has kept Christianity, or its lack, in the headlines in Great Britain. Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, caused outrage last year when he suggested that Shari’a law might replace British . . . . Continue Reading »
The April issue of First Things is now on sale¯a set of tributes and memorials that mark the death of the magazine’s founder, Richard John Neuhaus. Among the many fine pieces is Fr. Neuhaus’ unpublished essay, ” The One True Church ,” together with reviews of Fr. . . . . Continue Reading »
A couple of years ago Richard disliked something I had written and chided me for it in “The Public Square.” He began: “Richard J. Mouw and I have been friends since we were both young and irresponsible.” There was more than a little hint there that he thought that at least . . . . Continue Reading »
Neuhaus’s profound commitment to the sanctity of human life in all stages and conditions placed him on a different path, one that led him out of the liberal fold and into intense opposition. Continue Reading »
Massive concrete buildings, post-war housing projects, highways torn through old neighborhoods¯so much of the ugliness we take for granted in our cities testifies to influence of Le Corbusier. Born in 1887 as Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, the thin, intense young man from a provincial Swiss . . . . Continue Reading »