The problem with 15-week abortion bans; Switzerland is reconsidering its neutrality; and leftist dictator changes the date of Christmas.
The problem with 15-week abortion bans; Switzerland is reconsidering its neutrality; and leftist dictator changes the date of Christmas.
According to conventional conservative wisdom, big government is a threat to freedom, while small government allows individual liberty to flourish. But William A. Galston of the "Wall Street Journal" argues that "There’s No Freedom Without Government." Where he's right, and where he's wrong.
Should internet platforms, the companies that operate them, and the people who work for them be held responsible for what is communicated over them?
To the many different kinds of conservatism today, we can add Leftwing Conservatism. This is exemplified by the popular German politician Sahra Wagenknecht, a former East German Communist who opposes environmentalism, immigration, transgenderism, COVID mandates, and woke progressivism--all for leftwing reasons.
Donald Trump is usually portrayed as a right wing extremist. But Batya Ungar-Sargon argues that if you look at Trump's actual policies, he is actually a moderate. She says he is simply mirroring the beliefs of the working class, whom the Democrats have abandoned in favor of identity politics. That would mean Trump is not the threat he is made out to be. But it also explains why traditional conservatives have qualms about him.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the split in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod known as the SEMINEX [seminary in exile] walkout, in which its liberal seminarians and their professors ceremonially walked out of the denomination--as did, eventually, most of its liberal pastors and congregations--leaving the LCMS in solidly orthodox hands. A magazine praises how the LCMS resisted the trends.
In this Vocation Day (a.k.a. Labor Day) Miscellany, we reflect on how one in five men under 25 is "economically inactive" (their rejection of vocation), how the divorce rate is down (good news for family vocations), and how for many people, work takes the place of church (confusion of vocations).
An article on women bringing back the old custom of wearing veils at mass quotes the Catholic philosopher Alice Von Hildebrand: "Whatever is sacred calls for veiling.” The Bible does a great deal with the veiling and unveiling of what is sacred.
To Philip Klein, Trump's pledge to uphold women's "reproductive rights" means that "Trump’s Abandonment of Pro-Lifers Is Complete." Is he right? If so, what should pro-lifers do? The radically pro-abortion Kamala Harris is not an option. Should they call for a boycott of this election?
Many secularists are starting to believe in God. Not because they have been evangelized (though some have been). Not because of a new apologetic argument (though some are being persuaded). But because they are taking psychedelic mushrooms, one of whose properties is to create religious experiences.