Walter Russell Mead really hits the nail on the head, here. He explains that the four older empires, Ottoman, Russian, German, and Austro-Hungarian, were, whatever their weaknesses, “multiethnic and multi confessional states.” After the fall of these empires, all these […]
Religion
“Shared Intentionality” and its Implications
The ‘developmental and comparative psychologist’ Michael Tomasello, an American who now works at the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig, Germany, has come up with a concept called “shared intentionality” as a mark that separates humans from chimpanzees and bonobos [asserted in […]
If I Were Muslim: Why Do Muslims Hate Jews Nowadays?
Our friend Hillel Fradkin has sent out a fascinating article on the relationship between Islam and German nationalism. In two world wars both types of German nationalists, both the relatively mild sort of the Second Reich and the pathological ones […]
Hasn’t it Always Been Babylon?
Rod Dreher, one of our favorites on this site, has written a column called “From Israel to Babylon” of which the sources are largely drawn from the Southern Baptists. The younger Southern Baptists expect to be a religious minority, which, […]
Amusement and Awe: John Muir and Walt Disney
In a recent issue of Orange Coast magazine, Bob Sipchen of the Sierra Club contrasts John Muir, the naturalist, and Walt Disney: Walt Disney, who also shares a place in California’s Hall of Fame, appreciated the natural world Muir loved, […]
The Shoe Is On The Other Foot?
A United Church of Christ is, it seems, suing the state of North Carolina because its ‘religious liberty’ is being denied because it cannot pronounce a same sex couple married under state law. The UCC should have the right, I […]
Am I an Occasionalist? Christian Philosophy Critiques Intelligent Design
First Things is a magazine I like and find interesting. Just recently they have come out with a criticism of Intelligent Design by philosopher-scientist Stephen Meredith of the University of Chicago. He charges that Intelligent Design assumes the philosophy of […]
Why Does Talk About “Evangelism” Make Me Nervous?
At an event I was at recently I heard about a new effort to get Christian colleges united around the concept of ‘evangelism’. Well, fine. Jesus desires that people in all cultures be brought to Him and taught to do […]
After Jesus, A Better World
Mark Judge, a Roman Catholic writer, has, just in time for Christmas, given us his version of why the coming of Jesus into the world was an improvement. Judge quotes the former pope Benedict XVI as saying that the ancient […]
Islamist Hypocrisy on Free Speech: Suppose They Got What They Wanted?
Eric Posner, legal scholar and son of the scholar and judge Richard Posner, declares in Slate that free speech is overrated and that internationally, even to a small degree in Europe, it needs to take a back seat to order. […]