The Archive

Every essay.

Matthew Loftus

Coptic churches in America on mission

I enjoyed this story by Shira Telushkin about the Coptic Church in America adapting culturally. Growing up in the church and working overseas, debates about how to adapt to “the culture” are usually about European or Western traditions either trying […]

Matthew LoftusHealth & Medicine

the public health promise of vaping

Smoking is very, very bad. It’s in everyone’s interest to cut it back. And it looks like e-cigarettes might be helpful as smokers try to quit! And then the kids started doing it… and then the kids found the juul. Cigarette […]

Matthew LoftusFamily

friendship, families, and the celibate

I am a bit biased because Wes Hill is a dear friend, but man! This essay of his in Comment about breaking up with a friend and choosing to build deep, intimate friendships with families is so good: I spent my […]

Jake MeadorFeaturedCurrent Politics

Can There Be Mercy in Trump's America?

Last week provided two more examples of what is an increasingly hard-to-dispute fact: There will be little mercy in the post-2016 United States.

Matthew LoftusFamilyCultureEconomics

sex robots: not just about sex anymore... or ever!

Everyone loves a good read about the history of sex robots, right? “Sex robots,” therefore, have always been about more than sex. They’ve been a cultural repository for wider uncertainties in times of social change: a literalization of the fear […]

Matthew LoftusCultureCriminal Justice

it's all about governance and trust

Shadi Hamid, Vanda Felbab-Brown, and Harold Trinkunas share an excerpt from their new book on governance and trust, a subject that I’ve been banging on about for quite a while now: The Taliban claims to adhere to a strict interpretation of […]

Matthew LoftusHealth & Medicine

what kind of diet should we eat?

I’ve never seen a better, more succinct Q&A on what a good diet means, so I’m sharing this one: I feel smarter, but what happens when new information comes out, like, tomorrow? How can I stay up to date? It seems […]

Matthew LoftusCriminal Justice

racism in, racism out

This article about Palantir is something else: “The world changed when it became clear everyone could be targeted using Palantir,” says a former JPMorgan cyber expert who worked with Cavicchia at one point on the insider threat team. “Nefarious ideas […]

Daniel HindmanFeaturedCurrent Politics

Health and the Power of the State

If the police power gives the state right to act in matters of health, what happens when all of life is assumed under "health and wellness"?

Matthew LoftusCultureHistoryEconomics

the history of capitalism and the glory of man

Note: I am sorry for the inconsistent posting schedule. Our family moved two weeks ago to our new field of service and the internet here is so inconsistent that I have been unable to connect every time that I sat […]

Matthew EmersonFeatured

Sola Scriptura and Tradition: Friends or foes?

There is a way to say more than the Bible says by insisting that theology consists of only repeating phrases from the Bible.

Matthew Lee AndersonMere Fidelity

Mere Fidelity: Confessions, Book 9

Derek, Matt and Alastair read Book 9 of Augustine's Confessions, which includes the vision at Ostia and Monica's death. If you’re interested in supporting the