Religiosity Playing an Expected Role in Views of Trump

Highly religious Americans give Donald Trump higher job approval ratings than those who are not religious — an expected pattern, given the relationship between religiosity and partisanship in politics today. Source: Religiosity Playing an Expected Role in Views of Trump | Gallup

The Jihadi Who Turned to Jesus 

ISTANBUL — When 22 Christian refugees gathered in the basement of an apartment in Istanbul early on a recent Sunday afternoon, it was quickly clear that this was no ordinary prayer meeting. Several of them had Islamic names. There was an Abdelrahman and even a couple of Mohammads. Strangest of all, they jokingly referred to […]

To Win Again, Democrats Must Stop Being the Abortion Party

When I came to this country from Ireland some 45 years ago, a cousin, here 15 years before, advised me that Catholics vote Democratic. Having grown up in the Irish Republic, I was well disposed to Republican Party principles like local autonomy and limited government. Yet a commitment to social justice, so central to my […]

Can Religious Charities Take the Place of the Welfare State?

President Trump’s initial budget proposal would end aid for poor families to pay their heating bills, defund after-school programs at public schools, and make fewer grants available to college students. Community block grants that provide disaster relief, aid neighborhoods affected by foreclosure, and help rural communities access water, sewer systems, and safe housing would be […]

Female athletes crushed by ‘women who were once men’

You’ve heard the expression, “Boys will be boys.” But what happens when a brawny boy wants to be one of the girls – fiercely competing with females in weightlifting, brutally tackling girls on the football field or even dealing powerful knockout punches to ladies in a mixed martial-arts cage? It’s now happening across America and around the world. Biological […]

Michael Novak’s Market Lessons for Conservatives

The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism, published in 1982, was a landmark. Its author, Michael Novak, went beyond the usual arguments that free markets generate the greatest wealth and promote freedom. He made the bold claim that capitalism, when combined with a vital moral and religious culture and democratic institutions, encourages the full spiritual development of […]

After Great Pain, Where Is God?

These days I find I’m more alert to the grief and sorrow around me than I once was. In part it’s a product of my age, of youth giving way. I’m guessing my situation is not that different from many of yours. Last month I checked in on a childhood friend whose 13-year-old son committed […]