Category: Politics
Notes on Edgardo Mortara from a Protestant Onlooker
Last week First Things, as the colloquialism earthily says, stepped in it. The occasion for this unpleasantness was the publication of an essay by Romanus Cessario, O.P., arguing that the church was within its rights when Pope Pius IX abducted Edgardo Mortara,...
If Anything Is Pro-Life, Nothing Is
“This is a pro-life issue.” By now you have probably heard this sentiment expressed about any number of issues that are not immediately related to abortion. Food stamps, taxes, healthcare—even immigration!—are designated as “pro-life” causes because they may in some...
The Problems Two Kingdoms Don’t Solve
By Simon Kennedy and Ben Saunders The church in the West is facing a significant cultural crisis. Aggressive secularisation and rapidly declining religious influence combine to bring a sense of despair in the Christian’s relationship with society. In the United...
A Consequentialist Theory of Voting
By Stephen Wolfe The Trump and Moore political campaigns raise an important question for Christians: does one endorse the moral life of the candidate he votes for? Surprisingly, there seems to be consensus on this, regardless of one’s willingness to...
The Principled Pro-Life Vote
One brief note on last night’s result in Alabama: In last year’s senate race won by Richard Shelby, there were 3,631 write-in votes. At time of writing with 98% reporting, there are 22,019 write-in votes in the run-off election.
Five Theses on Voting and the Alabama Senate Election
It’s election day in Alabama. If recent electoral trends are a reliable metric, today’s election is probably a preview of what we can expect to see more and more often in the years to come: a wildly unqualified Republican candidate...
The Offense of the Gospel and the Offense of Roy Moore
By Douglas Webster Christians in the state of Alabama are experiencing a painful identity crisis. Roy Moore impresses many around the country as an ideological warrior for a brand of conservative Christianity that has little to do with Jesus Christ...
The Rot on the Right: Answering McAllister on Roy Moore
Earlier this week D. C. McAllister ran a piece at The Federalist that is attempting to defend Alabama senate candidate and alleged pedophile Roy Moore without actually saying “hey guys, I’m defending Roy Moore.”
On the City and the Gods: A Lost Chapter of Aristotle
By Greg Forster Having considered Socrates’ proposals in the Republic for the community of women and property, and his somewhat modified proposals in the Laws, we now consider his fanciful proposal in the less well-known dialogue Glaucon for a city...
The Adoption Tax Credit isn’t (Necessarily) ‘Pro-Life’
The latest proposal by House Republicans to eliminate the adoption tax credit has sent pro-lifers into a frenzy. The ERLC, Susan B. Anthony List, and related groups have denounced the Republican proposal as insufficiently pro-life. One prominent conservative website went...