Theocracy

A nice essay by Ross Douthat.

"Keep the people in a mood of suffering"

If you are interested to know more about the roots of the war in Lebanon, the New Yorker has re-posted a very informative report on Hezbollah from a few years ago. You can also learn about their activities in South America.

Not a problem

People will go to great lengths to justify their prejudices. For istance, this lady has decided that social isolation is simply nothing to worry about.

Happiness classes

The culmination of a long trend of using psycology as a substitute for religion. Like covering an infected wound with a bandaid.

Cities of God

An interesting book review.

Lost in particulars

An interesting book review by Peter Steinfels. The answer to his questions is certainly not that Universities need more theology courses. What is it then?

Bad news

An article in Die Welt claims that the IAEA has essentially given up on nuclear inspections in Iran. This may be a serious step torwards a war.

Moral revolution?

Here come the Kazcynski twins.

Race against time

This story from Iraq in the New Republic is informative.

There is freedom too

Even if he does not have much else to say, it is nice to see an evolutionary psycologist acknowledge the existence of free will.

Liberation through Christ

One cannot but feel simpathy for the witness of Apostle Alton R. Williams. This is what makes America great. But, what does it mean to "decree the spirit of conviction on this intersection?"

A beam in your own eye

The Tablet has a snippy piece on Ave Maria University. Some of their criticism makes perfect sense, but perhaps The Tablet should be more concerned about what their own "liberal" ideology has (NOT) done for the Church in England (i.e. it has failed to educate in the faith two whole generations.)

Wise man

An "important" speech by Sen. Barak Obama. While he is probably trying to position himself for a coming presidential election, he certainly knows how to do it.

But what I am suggesting is this - secularists are wrong when they ask believers to leave their religion at the door before entering into the public square. Frederick Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, Williams Jennings Bryant, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King -indeed, the majority of great reformers in American history - were not only motivated by faith, but repeatedly used religious language to argue for their cause. So to say that men and women should not inject their "personal morality" into public policy debates is a practical absurdity. Our law is by definition a codification of morality, much of it grounded in the Judeo-Christian tradition.

It's the Vatican's fault

Coming from the Boston Globe, this is an example of almost unsurpassed hypocrisy.

Madness

Some insigths from Peggy Noonan.