You will not be surprised to learn that I am solidly on Ross Douthat’s side in his exchanges with Damon Linker at the New Republic Online (registration required) and the American Experience . My personal interest aside¯or as much as I am capable of putting it aside¯this is one of the . . . . Continue Reading »
The truth about the technical challenges and scientific hurdles for embryonic stem-cell (ESC) therapies is finally getting out. The truth, of course, is that there are no human embryonic stem-cell therapies even in clinical trial, let alone ready for therapy, and there have been no major treatment . . . . Continue Reading »
One of the encouraging developments following Pope Benedict’s lecture at Regensburg University on September 12 is the number of thinkers in the United States and Europe who, while making a point of their not being Catholics or Christians, said that Benedict had rendered a great service by . . . . Continue Reading »
Is it just my imagination or has Robertson Davies faded considerably over the past decade? I was sick in bed the middle of last week and, in my convalescence, pulled down a couple of his early novels to read¯only to be struck by how rarely one hears his name anymore. Before he died in 1995 at . . . . Continue Reading »
The International Theological Commission is pondering the fate of children who die unbaptized, with a document expected to be released by year’s end. The traditional problem about such children in Catholic theology is that attaining the beatific vision of God in heaven exceeds the capacity of . . . . Continue Reading »
Seeing as how I am a new Episcopalian and still learning about my church, I attended a public address given a couple weeks back by Bishop Gene Robinson at General Theological Seminary , in the Chelsea district of Manhattan. There was a pleasant reception before his remarks, supplied nicely with wine . . . . Continue Reading »
Yesterday’s Lewis v. Harris ruling by the New Jersey State Supreme Court is truly unfortunate. In a 4-3 split decision, all seven justices cited the state’s efforts to end discrimination based upon sexual orientation against individuals to defend their decision to extend the equal . . . . Continue Reading »
Jewcentricity is a word that will probably not catch on, but Adam Garfinkle employs it to good effect in American Interest Online in trying to explain some European habits of mind, or mindlessness, as the case may be. He writes: Educated Europeans know that their own histories, far more deeply than . . . . Continue Reading »
Why do many pro-choice people find our arguments against early abortion not just unconvincing but absurd? Consider, for example, the ridicule that the defense of human embryos sometimes draws. In order to have any hope of winning the debate, defenders of unborn life must understand how an argument . . . . Continue Reading »
An academic colleague of mine has carved out considerable expertise for himself in the area of slavery. I roused his ire once by asking if, two centuries from now, people might regard abortion the way we now do slavery. This was at a meeting of Enlightenment-period scholars. There is in all of us a . . . . Continue Reading »
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