Materialism, relativism, and consequentialism are at the heart of the arguments in favor of third-party reproduction. http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2014/08/13701/?utm_source=The+Witherspoon+Institute&utm_campaign=fb013c3019-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_15ce6af37b-fb013c3019-84107317 Read more

According to Feser, neither rationalism nor empiricism is sufficient to understand the world. Scholastic metaphysics offers a better way, in part because it recognizes the primacy of existence over cognition. Metaphysics is prior to epistemology, and too often modern thinkers have reversed this order. http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2014/08/13464/?utm_source=The+Witherspoon+Institute&utm_campaign=9f667858f6-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_15ce6af37b-9f667858f6-84107317 Read more

Health and education are vitally important to a thriving society. Everyone has an interest in ensuring that these fields attract talented people with a strong interest in promoting the common good. Unfortunately, over-regulation has increasingly stifled opportunities to develop and exercise prudence in these fields. http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2014/08/13639/?utm_source=The+Witherspoon+Institute&utm_campaign=c26f420958-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_15ce6af37b-c26f420958-84107317 Read more

Robert George I have created a website, iraqrescue.org, at which I have posted “A Plea on Behalf of the Victims of ISIS/ISIL Barbarism in Iraq.” I will paste in the text of the statement below this note. I would be grateful if friends would read the plea and, if you agree, go to the website and add your name as a signer. http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2014/08/a-plea-on-behalf-of-victims-of-isis-isil-barbarism-in-iraq-5 Read more

Recently, I sat down to watch Desire of the Everlasting Hills, a newly released documentary about three Christians who pursued their attraction to members of the same sex but then—after diverse experiences and disappointments—embraced chastity and their erstwhile faith. One had pursued the New York fast life, another monogamous stability, and the third had attempted to eschew an Evangelical upbringing in response to his inclination toward men. http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2014/08/filming-desire Read more

Dear Gerry! The situation here has calmed down somewhat, though not completely. Our troops pulled out from Gaza last week. Families who live in southern towns returned to their homes in hope of normalization, but for a while Hamas defiantly continued shooting rockets into Israel’s territory. They do not give up their demands of opening all the crossings with Israel and Egypt, building international port and airport in Gaza and release of hundreds of Hamas prisoners. (more…) Read more

The Daily Telegraph By Michael Nazir-Ali So will the world just stand by and watch this unprecedented onslaught on freedom or will we do something beyond airdropping food and medicines and protecting our own personnel who may be caught up in the conflict? Along with many others, I have been saying for sometime now that Iraqi minorities need internationally protected “safe havens”. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/michaelnazirali/100282928/the-west-must-face-the-evil-that-has-revealed-itself-in-the-iraq-genocide/ Read more

Peter Leithart is one of the most insightful Protestant thinkers of our day, but his recent post on “Tradition and the Individual Theologian” gave this Protestant pause. He begins with the assertion that “Catholics, Orthodox, and not a few Protestants have been known to reject theological novelties with a wave of the hand and an appeal to tradition.” They have, in other words, set up a dichotomy between tradition and new theological ideas. And, based on his last (rather startling)... Read more

One of the most popular “West Wing” clips on YouTube is President Josiah Bartlet’s biblically-based takedown of a conservative radio talk-show host (a thinly veiled Dr. Laura), who confidently justifies her opposition to homosexuality by citing the Hebrew Bible. Specifically, she refers to a so-called “clobber verse,” Leviticus 18:22: “You shall not lie with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination.” In response, the popular fictional president excoriates her by asking questions about other verses surrounding this... Read more

If we hope to protect the unborn, promote sexual integrity, preserve the truth about marriage, and defend the freedom of religious conscience in our country, we cannot simply live good lives—we must live heroic ones. http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2014/08/13486/?utm_source=The+Witherspoon+Institute&utm_campaign=d09045c673-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_15ce6af37b-d09045c673-84107317 Read more