You’re probably familiar with Rick Steves the friendly low-key host of the PBS European travel show appropriately titled “Rick Steves’ Europe.” We now learn (via Lutheran Chik) that Mr. Steves is a Lutheran and has even developed a series of travel videos for the ELCA called “Faithful Travel”! As the wife pointed out, he seems…

I have no idea if a free concert designed to raise “awareness” rather than, you know, money is a particularly effective way to fight poverty. But I’ll tell you what I don’t like – the fact that they’re effectively shutting down half the city for the likes of Bon Jovi and Linkin Park. Me, I’m…

Daniel Nichols at Caelum et Terra on “desecrating” the flag and trivializing it. Alexander Cockburn on the “jackboot liberals” on the Supreme Court. Bill Cork at Ut Unum Sint rethinks his support for the Iraq war. Thomas at Endlessly Rocking has a wonderful reflection on the 475th anniversary of the presentation of the Augsburg Confession.

There’s an interesting conversation going on over at Eric’s about Radical Orthodoxy and whether someone like Jim Wallis represents a “Constantinism of the Left.” I have trouble coming to grips with the argument because I think the “sectarian vs. Constantinian” debate rests on a false dilemma. In fact, I’d go further and say that they…

Yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling that widens the scope of eminent domain could be bad news for churches: Jared Leland, legal adviser for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, said churches could be especially vulnerable. “Because all houses of worship are tax-exempt, they will continue to be attractive targets for seizure by revenue-hungry local governments,” Leland…

Rumors are making the rounds that Justice O’Connor, rather than Rehnquist may be the next Supreme Court justice to step down and that President Bush likes the idea of a “Gonzales Court.” I’d say Ross Douthat gets it about right: Alberto Gonzales is, I have no doubt, an intelligent man. His resume certainly makes him…

Here’s a sober and thorough attempt to look at the “war on terror” through the prism of just war theory (via Ut Unum Sint). The author also discusses Jody Bottum’s “New Fusionism” which I wrote about here.

The Discovery Institute has an online book on “C.S. Lewis and Public Life” that I came across the other day. In particular this chapter where Gilbert Meilaender discusses Lewis’ views on the role of government. Lewis, Meilaender points out, saw “omnicompetent government” as inherently antithetical to Christianity: Christianity, with its claims in one way personal…

Marcus has posted a comment-box discussion between me and him on the merits of free trade vs. protectionism. As I said over there, I’m still agnostic on the matter. One thing that confuses the issue, as I’ve mentioned before, is that “free” trade agreements are often elborate schemes of government-managed trade. For an example of…

Kim-Loi Mergenthaler (congrats on that new baby!) posts on the tension between trying to consume less and live more simply and trying to make socially conscious choices with one’s money: If everyone were upper middle class like many of the environmentalists I’ve met, we could all drive hybrid cars, install solar panels in our homes,…