From today’s Philadelphia Inquirer: Daniel Culligan offered apologies at his sentencing in Bucks County Court yesterday but no explanation as to why he doused his cat with lighter fluid, set it on fire, and threw it from the deck of his Bristol Township apartment in December. Judge David W. Heckler gave him six to 23…

The origins of the just war tradition are usually traced back to the fourth century and St. Augustine’s masterwork, City of God. St. Augustine grapples with the undeniable anti-violent thrust of the Christian tradition, especially the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. He comes to the conclusion that wars of aggression and self-aggrandizement — like Rome’s…

A contradiction in terms? Not according to Chris Roach who offers a manifesto of sorts for hawkish paleocons.

A while back Bill Vallicella linked to this excellent post at the Big Hominid (n.b.: some bad language) on the topic of pluralism, truth, and religion. This sparked a series of equally interesting posts on the question of whether every religion should be understood as offering a path to salvation and/or liberation. Rather than enter…

So says Alice Cooper about Springsteen, R.E.M., et al.: “To me, that’s treason. I call it treason against rock-and-roll, because rock is the antithesis of politics. Rock should never be in bed with politics.” and “If you’re listening to a rock star in order to get your information on who to vote for, you’re a…

A helpful article from the London Spectator shining the light of truth on that icon of soi-disant college radicals: The essential fact about Che was that he misunderstood his own experience, and then tried to apply it as a rule for the whole world, with predictably disastrous results. He was a savage ideologue, a mesmeric…

Apologies to my three readers for the gap in blogging this week. Chalk it up to some vacation and work-related travel.

Luther … establishes a sharp opposition between what the Christian does as a private person and Christian and what he does and has to do in fulfilling the responsibility of his office in behalf of those who have been entrusted to his care. As a Christian, when his own personal wefare is involved, he seeks…

President Bush is in even greater danger of losing the crucial Philly vote than before (link via Matthew Yglesias): It all started yesterday, when CNN, Fox and The New York Times were content to transcribe and transmit President Bush’s comment about preferring his Philadelphia cheesesteaks “Whiz with,” thereby handing the Bush camp what it was…

Since many Christians seem eager to align Christian belief with laissez-faire capitalism, it might be instructive to consider what one of the great teachers of the church had to say on the subject of private property. I realize that St. Thomas carries more authority with Catholics than sola scriptura Protestants, but at the very least,…