Albert Mohler, Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, makes this statement in a recent blog post on the killing of Osama Bin Laden: “The death of bin Laden was fully justified as an act of war, but not as an act of justice. The removal of a credible threat to human life — a clear and present danger to human safety — is fully justified, especially after such an individual has demonstrated not only the will, but the means... Read more
That is the title of a 2006 article I published in the Journal of Medicine & Philosophy (31: 177-203). Here’s the abstract, as it appears on the article’s first page: This article is a critical review of David Boonin’s book, A Defense of Abortion (Cambridge University Press, 2002), a significant contribution to the literature on this subject and arguably the most important monograph on abortion published in the past twenty years. Boonin’s defense of abortion consists almost exclusively of sophisticated critiques... Read more
2 May 2011 An Open Letter to Donald Trump It is time to grab the moment, Donald. Recent events have provided you with a wonderful gift that only someone with your abilities and talents can take proper advantage. Now that birtherism is dead (thanks to you, of course), and trutherism is relegated to a few kooky academics, this is the moment of truth for the birth of deatherism, whose working slogan should be, “Where is the death certificate?” They say... Read more
That’s the title of an article I published in 2006 in the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy (vol. 20, pp. 455-471). Here’s how it begins (notes omitted): Nominees to the federal bench, like all citizens, have beliefs. These beliefs include everything from what they were taught in law school to what they know about history or mathematics or what they may have learned in church or synagogue. And yet, it is the latter beliefs that are... Read more
He needs it to protect his thin skin. Read more
(HT: Dennis Dixon) For more on Dowd and Dylan, see my blog entry here. On Dylan’s biblical vision, see my chapter in Bob Dylan & Philosophy: It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Thinking) (Open Court, 2006), “Busy Being Born Again: Bob Dylan’s Christian Philosophy” Read more
That is the title of an article I published in 2006 in the Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly 33.2 & 3, pp. 337-360. I bring this to your attention because I cited it in a recent exchange I had with a friend on my Facebook wall. Here’s how the article begins: In several federal cases concerning whether particular statutes or policies violate the First Amendment’s prohibition of religious establishment, both the United States Supreme Court and other federal courts have rejected... Read more
That’s the title of an article I published in the October 1994 issue of Public Affairs Quarterly (8.4, pp. 331-340). It is now available online, and you can find it here. It begins this way: On university and college campuses today there is a movement popularly known as “political correctness.” Although difficult to define precisely, I think it is fair to say that political correctness refers to a web of interconnected, though not mutually dependent, ideological beliefs that have challenged the... Read more
That’s the title of my latest column over at The Catholic Thing. It begins this way: May 5, 2011, is the National Day of Prayer. It has been an annual American observance since Congress enacted it in 1952. The law simply states: “The President shall issue each year a proclamation designating the first Thursday in May as a National Day of Prayer on which the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches, in... Read more
Four years ago tomorrow, April 29, 2007, I was publicly received into the Catholic Church at 11:00 am at St. Joseph’s Parish in Belmead, Texas. The day before, I participated in the sacrament of confession for the first time in over 30 years. Oddly, 25 years ago, on April 29, 1986, I met Edith Schaeffer, the widow of Francis A. Schaffer. I tell the story of our encounter in my book, Return to Rome: Confession of An Evangelical Catholic (Brazos... Read more
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