Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
That, according to Andrew Ferguson, is what Newsweek might as well have done in its recent coverage of Christian holidays: He (Jon Meacham, Newsweek's editor) ignored the truth that the old newsmagazine editors lived by: journalists who write to satisfy people like themselves will soon run out of readers. The magazine that lies dying in …
Continue reading "Jon Meacham: Putting a Bullet in the Easter Bunny"
It's taking place amongst American teenagers, even Evangelical ones, according to a recent Barna survey: The most striking change was the fact that teenagers today seem much less inclined to have spiritual conversations about their faith in Christ with non-believers. The survey question specifically asked if the survey respondent had “explained your religious beliefs to someone …
Continue reading "Driving the Church Underground in the U.S.: The Decline in Personal Evangelism"
Which is more than one can say about Bill Kristol: Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele was absolutely right. Afghanistan is Obama's war and, judging by other recent Democratic ventures in military affairs, isn't likely to turn out well... Our troops are the most magnificent in the world, but they're not the ones setting military …
Secularists love to hold up the Scandanavian countries as models of economic and social excellence, but if they're members of a teachers' trade union, they may want to think twice: But this is Sweden, willingly taken as an example by policies introduced in 1992. Its education reform was "to improve the quality of its system, …
Continue reading "The Swedes Spread the Love Around in Education"
Damian Thompson's list for why Dr. Jeffrey John (the openly gay CoE clergyman who may become Bishop of Southwark) is a good one, but this item especially caught my eye: David Cameron apparently supports Dr John’s candidacy. Nothing could underline Cameron’s right-on credentials more effectively than supporting the episcopal ordination of a Left-wing gay priest. …
Continue reading "The Government Leans on the Church of England for Jeffrey Johns"
Fred Hiatt at the Washington Post is worried about the receding state of "democracy" in the world: As America this weekend celebrates the birth of its liberty, in much of the rest of the world freedom and democracy are in retreat. Over the past decade, authoritarian rulers have refined their techniques to stay in power, …
Continue reading "If You Want Democracy to Succeed Elsewhere, You Should Make It Work Here First"
And no one in the Republican party wants to admit it: Top Senate Republicans on Sunday stopped short of asking Michael Steele to resign for his suggestion last week that the war in Afghanistan could not be won, seeming to signal that the ever-embattled Republican National Committee chairman will survive his latest self-inflicted wound. Sens. …
Continue reading "Michael Steele is Right About the War in Afghanistan"
In his clumsy, populistic way, Senator Tom Coburn (R,OK) has hit on something really important: Since it's clear Kagan is not an originalist (although it's not clear what she is), it's not surprising that natural rights strike her as a distraction from the proper work of a Supreme Court justice. When she says D.C. v. …
From his Catechetical Lectures, around 347-8: But there is a second kind of faith, which is bestowed by Christ as a gift of grace. For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit: to another faith, by the same Spirit, …
If you are given the opportunity to talk long and frequently long enough, you will blurt out the truth, as Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts-Schori did in New Zealand: Disagreement with The Episcopal Church about gay bishops is one thing: but why have those two ordinations provoked such intense antagonism? Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori …
Continue reading "Katharine Jefferts-Schori: Pushing People Towards the Margins"
Positive Infinity 