The Roman Catholic Church has a new pope, and it didn’t take the papal conclave long to make it happen. On the fourth ballot, taken in the grandeur of...
In normal times, an institution like Harvard University thrives on publicity. Then again, these are not normal times. Harvard may be the most elite br...
Can a revolution come down to a pill? Over the past century, tidal waves of moral revolution have transformed society and reshaped our moral landscape...
Pope Francis, considered by Roman Catholic dogma to be Vicar of Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Patriarch of the West, Bishop of Rome...
The most senior California bishops of the Episcopal Church came out in favor of same-sex marriage in the state on Wednesday. The bishops then called on voters to defeat Proposition 8 -- the constitutional amendment that would define marriage as the ...
The European Parliament evidently has too much time on its hands. Last week, this glorious and august legislative body voted to warn advertisers and marketers against "sexual stereotyping." Seriously. Anyone viewing today's advertisements is certa ...
Hell just emerged as an issue in Election 2008, and the campaign now enters a zone where politics and theology collide. The catalyst for this emergence of eternal punishment as an issue is a "Belief Watch" column in this week's edition of Newsweek m ...
Speaking Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," Senator Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee for Vice President, made headlines by stating that he accepts "as a matter of faith" that human life begins at conception, but he would not impose that view on other ...
Over at "On Faith," the project of The Washington Post and Newsweek magazine, a debate is raging over this question: Women are not allowed to become clergy in many conservative religious groups. Is it hypocritical to think that a woman can lead a na ...
Labor Day 2008 came with a bang as Hurricane Gustav plowed into the Gulf Coast and as the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain revealed that the daughter of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is five months pregnant, and yet unmarried. The word spread ...
[This article was originally posted on May 6, 2008. In it, I offer the remark that Gov. Sarah Palin "is often mentioned as a potential running mate for Sen. John McCain." What seemed merely a possibility in May has become reality in August, and the ...
The concept of adoption is nearly universal. In the classic sense it is the formal and legally recognized act of willingly receiving someone else's child as your own. In contrast to temporary guardianship or foster arrangements, adoption is permane ...
Should physicians and other healthcare professionals be required to perform procedures that violate their conscience? Most states have adopted so-called "conscience clauses" that shield doctors and others from being required to perform abortions, eu ...
Joseph Bottum remembers a time when America was painted in bold Protestant hues. "America was Methodist, once upon a time--Methodist, or Baptist, or Presbyterian, or Congregationalist, or Episcopalian," he explains. But, that was then, and this is ...