This is nuts. But waitaminute! I thought Pres. Bush=Hitler? Get your story straight, guys. (via Pontifications)

When we talk about ecumenism and pray for the unity of the church, what kind of unity are we looking for? I don’t have any well-thought out ideas on the matter, but Josh left a comment outlining his idea of what unity might look like that I think merits a post of its own (edited…

Andrew J. Bacevich has impeccable conservative credentials. He’s written for First Things, The Weekly Standard, National Review, is a West Point grad and a Vietnam vet. But his new book The New American Militarism is a scathing indictment of what passes for conservatism nowadays. Tom Engelhardt’s TomDispatch is carrying an excerpt from Bacevich’s book. Bacevich…

Since I don’t think Blogger has a “categories” feature, I’ve added a section on the right for “Think Pieces,” Manifestos, etc. – longer pieces of a broader scope than the typical link-with-brief-commentary post. I more or less stand by what I said in most of them (how’s that for a hedge?).

Casey’s showing a fourteen point lead according to this. Still, we’re talking about a race that won’t begin in earnest til a year from now. Plus, one wonders how much Pennsylvanians really know about Bob Casey, Jr. Granted he was elected overwhelmingly to the post of state treasurer last year, but I expect he’s still…

One more…this one’s from Lutheran Uwe Siemon-Netto, religion writer for UPI. Siemon-Netto attempts a debunking of some of the more common myths floating around. He’s a religious fanatic who hates reason and wants to return to the Dark Ages! He will doubtless baffle many of his former detractors by stressing the need for a return…

As happens all too often, I’ve been sidetracked from my reading schedule (loosey-goosey as it is) by a trip to the Philly public library. (The beautiful weather we’ve been having has made the walk from the office to the library enjoyable as well as edifying!) Two acquisitions of note on the latest trip: Justification: An…

I’m usually one to groan when some actor or rock star starts spouting off about politics (then again, why should their opinions be worth less than some semi-anonymous guy sitting in front of a computer screen?), but I found these snippets from Bono’s new book relatively sensible (link via Thunderstruck). Bono on G. W. Bush:…

Interesting, but to be read with some skepticism since Michael Novak is a shameless apologist for the spiritual glories of capitalism and the idea that the ideals of the American founding are in perfect sync with Christianity (I like capitalism – in a Churchillian ‘least bad of the available options’ sense – and the principles…

A homily from 1981: The state is not the whole of human existence and does not embrace the whole of human hope. Men and women and their hopes extend beyond the thing that is the state and beyond the sphere of political activity. This does not only apply to a state that is Babylon but…