Amending Constitution Day

Today is Constitution Day in the United States. It seems appropriate to remember especially this day the 10th Amendment to the Constitution: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. Continue Reading...

Civilizing Discourse on the Public Option

In this week’s commentary I argue that the shape of the debate over the public health care option over the next four years should focus on the critical role played by mediating institutions of civil society: charities, churches, and voluntary organizations. Continue Reading...

Hannah And Her Sisters… and Brothers

The other day on this PowerBlog I posted “Learning To Tell The Truth” and ended the article with an observation: It may be instructive to note that the young female reporter who took part in the videos is named Hannah. Continue Reading...

Give Temperance a Chance

Just about every state has dealt with the issue over the last few years, it seems. But here in Ohio, the legal status of gambling is the issue that won’t go away. Continue Reading...

Learning To Tell The Truth

Last week when the videos were aired showing ACORN employees in their Baltimore and Washington DC offices consulting “a couple” pretending to be a pimp and prostitute I watched with amazement. Continue Reading...

Hope Award for Effective Compassion

While the Samaritan Award is on hiatus for 2009, be sure to check out WORLD Magazine’s Hope Award for Effective Compassion. WORLD is profiling nine finalists for the award, continuing the “Profiles in Effective Compassion” series began by highlighting Samaritan Award finalists in 2006. Continue Reading...

The Political Double Standard for Religion

The point has been made by outstanding thinkers like Stephen Carter and Richard John Neuhaus that the New York-Washington, D.C. establishment eats up left wing religion and declares it delicious. Give a radical a cross and we have activists bravely “speaking truth to power” and “speaking prophetically.” Continue Reading...

Review: Faith Under Fire

“But here in the crowd of teenagers and twenty-somethings, the thought of death was about to become a constant companion.” These words end the first chapter of Roger Benimoff’s new book Faith Under Fire: An Army Chaplain’s Memoir. Continue Reading...