There is a template that many books on science or science history follow when they touch upon the relations of science and religion: Bold Scientist Persecuted by the Church for Thinking New Thoughts. The Galileo case does to a large extent fit the template, but few if any other cases do. Darwin was . . . . Continue Reading »
In Sunday’s Times , Judith Shulevitz reviews Kristin Luker’s new book on the sex-ed wars, When Sex Goes to School , which argues . . . well, here’s how Shulevitz puts it: Only toward the end of a 300-odd page book about sex education in America does Kristin Luker permit herself a . . . . Continue Reading »
It’s hard to know what to make of the Food and Drug Administration’s sudden decision to let Plan B¯the “emergency contraceptive” pill¯be sold over the counter in pharmacies. Well, actually, it’s not hard to know what to make of it: It was a compromise struck . . . . Continue Reading »
There was a welcome report on Wednesday that Italy had stepped into the vacuum created by the balking French, offering to serve as the lead country in supplying troops to man the multinational Lebanese peacekeeping force. This act of Italian leadership (two words you don’t often see together) . . . . Continue Reading »
In a recent article in the Christian Century , Jason Byassee tells the stories of theologians who recently left their Protestant denominations and were received into the Catholic Church ( "Going Catholic: Six Journeys to Rome," August 22, 2006 ). Byassee does a fine and sympathetic job . . . . Continue Reading »
Recent reports of scientists creating "ethical" embryonic stem cells are false or misleading. And there is reason to be very concerned. Forbes described it as a "medical milestone" and a scientific "breakthrough" with a headline "Scientists Harvest Stem Cells . . . . Continue Reading »
A while back, I referred here to a lengthy article in the Dallas Observer about Ole Anderson and asked prayers for that apparently driven and unhappy Christian leader. I received a thoughtful message in response from Douglas Duncan, who was involved with Anderson’s organization for many long . . . . Continue Reading »
One of the great delusional fictions that bloggers operate under¯something I have discovered only when I started contributing to this page¯is that there are people out there who actually care what a blogger has to say! Speaking personally, I am not so naive as to think that, if I had the . . . . Continue Reading »
The year 2006 may for most people mark the tenth anniversary of the 1996 Welfare Act, signed by Bill Clinton, after he had vetoed two previous efforts, and just before crucial midterm elections that November. Some supporters apologized for him before his Democratic critics that he was forced into . . . . Continue Reading »
Given our continuing disagreements about human equality, Wesley J. Smith asks what general moral value or principle I think would work better than equality in promoting moral public policies, given our morally and culturally diverse society. Recall that my disagreement with Smith began when, in . . . . Continue Reading »
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