Samuel Gregg on Pope Francis and Latin American Political History

Carl E Olson, editor of The Catholic World Report, recently wrote an article addressing the  perception of Pope Francis by media members outside the Catholic Church. He says: Many in the American media, however, have already made up their minds: yes, the new pope is “liberal”, and that supposed fact is a big problem for those “conservative” bishops who keep harping about fringe issues such as the killing of the unborn, sexual immorality, the familial foundations of society, and the need to evangelize. Continue Reading...

Does Church/State Separation Apply To Black Churches?

According to World News Daily the federal government has enlisted black church denominations to enroll people into Obamacare. Enroll America, a Washington-based nonprofit staffed in part by ex-Obama presidential campaign workers, is leading the enrollment campaign which saw just over 100,000 people “sign up” in October. Continue Reading...

‘Wisdom & Wonder’: Two Reviews from the Emerging Scholars Network

InterVarsity’s Emerging Scholars Blog recently posted two reviews of Abraham Kuyper’s Wisdom and Wonder: Common Grace in Science and Art, one from Dan Jesse, the other from David Carlson. Carlson nicely summarizes some of the book’s key implications for the life of the believer: One does not need to do Christian science or Christian art to be a faithful Christian in those domains.  Continue Reading...

Conservatives Need a Credible Alternative to ObamaCare

In today’s Wall Street Journal, Yuval Levin and Ramesh Ponnuru argue that conservatives now have a prime opportunity to offer a “credible alternative” to ObamaCare that would not only solve the serious problems of the healthcare system but would prevent a further lurch to the left if the current law fails: Seeing the pileup, Republicans might be tempted to step aside and let ObamaCare continue to disappoint and infuriate Americans. Continue Reading...

Richard Weaver on Liberty and Christianity

Richard Weaver, one of the great intellectuals of the 20th Century, and author of Ideas Have Consequences, published an essay in the early 1960s on Lord Acton (pdf only). Much of Weaver’s essay is worth highlighting, but one excerpt in particular reminds us of the central significance of Christianity in the battle for freedom. Continue Reading...

U.S. Catholic Bishops Issue ‘Special Letter’ on HHS Mandate

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has issued a “special letter” regarding the Obama administration’s HHS mandate. The USCCB, meeting this month in Baltimore, passed the letter unanimously. Calling the HHS mandate “coercive,” the bishops state that they have tried to work with the current administration, to no avail. Continue Reading...