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...
Adam Liptak of The New York Times writes an insightful and timely reflection on the meaning of the U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous decision in the case, Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights. One doesn't see this kind of writing eve ...
Last Friday, on the radio program we discussed the Barry Bonds controversy and the Sports Illustrated cover story that documents his use and abuse of steroids and his association with some of the darkest figures hanging around the world of profession ...
Now here is a pressing and urgent question: Why would boys read books written for girls--books like the Laura Ingalls Wilder "Little House" series? Emily Bazelon, mother of two sons, thinks she has figured it out. "The conventional educational wisdo ...
"We are a little bit out of touch in Hollywood every once in a while," said George Clooney, accepting his Oscar as Best Supporting Actor. "I think it's probably a good thing," he added. Mr. Clooney has transformed himself into a political activist w ...
How should one buy a cup of coffee? In times past, this hardly seemed to be a great moral question, but now things are different. Some coffee brands are listed as "Fair trade," which seems to imply that other coffee brands may be less than fairly tra ...
Law professor Colin P. A. Jones argues that marriage should be privatized -- severed from public control and laws. Writing in The San Francisco Chronicle, he set forth his case: A fundamental problem with marriage is that it only comes in one size. ...
In Augustine's time, as now, the doctrine of the Virgin Birth was under sustained attack. The key difference is that, in his time, the enemies of the doctrine did not often claim to be Christians. Here is a choice selection from William Griffin's t ...
Katherine Marsh of The New Republic is hoping to have a baby, so she is taking a folic acid vitamin after breakfast each day. Folic acid, she explains, "is the gateway drug to parenthood--the idea of having a child becomes serious when you start wor ...
My commentary for today, "The Limits of Conscience and the Authority of the Word of God," takes a look at the trial of Rev. Jane Adams Spahr within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and considers what it means when an individual claims a right of priv ...
In the aftermath of the 2006 Academy Awards ceremony, the big story appears to be the fact that Brokeback Mountain didn't receive the Best Motion Picture of the Year award. After all, the hype and promotion surrounding the Oscar celebration centered ...