Meanwhile, on the domestic war front, we owe Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott our thanks for defending the religious freedoms enshrined in the U. S. Constitution by forcefully arguing before the U. S. Supreme Court the case for keeping the Ten Commandments monument on the State Capitol grounds. To illustrate the point to be made, […]

Of all the immediate responses to the enormous tragedy of the Southeast Asian tsunami catastrophe, the two most misguided were (1) the silly allegations that the U. S. was not responsive enough in timing or financial commitment, and (2) the continuing questions, “where was God?” or “why would God allow this to happen?”. To the […]

A recent lead article in the Weekend Journal section of The Wall Street Journal caught my attention. It was another one of those surveys of the tendency that has been prevalent in the past twenty years or so in America toward “do it yourself’ religion. At least anecdotally, this seems to me to be a […]

Well, I saw Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” on opening night, and one thing that should be said is that it was not oversold. It was at once probably the most compelling and repelling movie experience of my life. Entertaining it probably isn’t, in the sense that term is ordinarily used. I could […]

I have previously commented on the fact that the war on terror will be a major transforming event for the Arab Middle East, and I was reminded of the degree to which this is well underway by the report of a recent interfaith conference in which the father of slain journalist Daniel Pearl conferred with […]

Here are my thoughts on the ridiculous decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals prohibiting the use of the “under God” phrase in the Pledge of Allegiance and other assaults on the presence of religious and other faith-based symbols and practices in our public square: Neutrality as to the diversity of sectarian practices and […]

In a previous issue, I posed the question as to whether or not the second paragraph of The Declaration of Independence (“all men are endowed by their Creator”, etc.) could be ratified by Congress today. It’s a rhetorical question, but one that again resonates in the wake of the Ninth Circuit Court’s decision on the […]

Let me be clear: war is never a positive good. However, a just war can produce useful by-products, and this one is no exception. For instance, I have no doubt that this country is in the midst of a soul-searching experience and dialogue like no other in at least a century, if not since the […]

In a recent editorial in The Weekly Standard, William Kristol writes that the distinctive legacy likely to be left by George W. Bush will be an end to government hostility to religion and a new era in which pluralism and faith are no longer at odds. This is a striking comment. Certainly no area of […]

Of all President Bush’s proposals to date, the most difficult and potentially most transformational is the centerpiece of his compassionate conservatism, the plan for Federal support of faith-based social programs. Fully competitive school choice and full privatization of Social Security would certainly be more dramatic, but these aren’t in the cards for awhile and don’t […]