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Public Discourse

Professor Paulsen and Justice Scalia: A Qualified Defense of the Smith Decision

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There are some problems in the reasoning of Justice Scalia’s opinion in the 1990 religious freedom case. But in its holding, and in its rejection of a quarter century of jurisprudence that could not be squared with the First Amendment, the judgment was correct.
Public Discourse

There Is a Fundamental Right to Marriage, and We Must Preserve It

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Whether or not Locke would approve of it, there is a fundamental marriage right. It is ancient, not recent, and it secures the integrity of the natural family. In fact, nothing is more fundamental to our legal edifice than the ancient liberty of the natural family.
Public Discourse

Is “Safe-Sex” Education the Reason Behind the Drop in Abortion?

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Honest citizens must resist the “safe-sex” propaganda and recognize this campaign for what it is: a deceptive crusade promising an easy solution to a complex problem.
Public Discourse

Sustainability’s War on Doubt

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Sustainability encompasses not only a particularly aggressive form of environmentalism, but also a strong attack on market capitalism and a progressive vision of social justice.
Public Discourse

Don’t Use My Pain as a Weapon: Infertility and Same-Sex Marriage

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Infertility does not invalidate our marriage, but we constantly experience infertility as an inability to fulfill a basic aspect of marriage. It is a loss for us in a way that it can never be for a same-sex couple. Our relationship is ordered toward having children, even though it is frustrated and kept from this fulfillment.
Public Discourse

Transgenderism: A Pathogenic Meme

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The idea that one’s sex is a feeling, not a fact, has permeated our culture and is leaving casualties in its wake. Gender dysphoria should be treated with psychotherapy, not surgery.
Public Discourse

The Value of Children: Economics, Faith, and the Problem of Underpopulation

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The overpopulation crisis predicted by Malthusians has failed to materialize. Instead, developed nations face serious underpopulation. To solve this problem, we must rediscover the importance of children.
Public Discourse

Public School LGBT Programs Don’t Just Trample Parental Rights. They Also Put Kids at Risk.

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No matter what well-intentioned teachers and administrators believe, LGBT acceptance programs designed by GLSEN and funded by the CDC are designed to encourage kids to question their gender identity and sexual orientation.
Public Discourse

There Is No Fundamental Right to Marry

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It’s easy to confuse fundamental rights with intensely-desired goods—and thus to wrongly invest the latter with the moral urgency and primacy of the former.
Public Discourse

An African-American Woman Reflects on the Transgender Movement

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Supporters of transgender ideology believe that they are freeing people from restrictive understandings of gender. In reality, the more our society tries to free itself from gender stereotypes, the more it becomes enslaved to them. By saying that people can be born in a body of the wrong gender, transgender activists are saying there is a set of feelings that are only allocated to women and another set for men.
Public Discourse

Liberalism Can’t Understand Sex

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Because it reduces the human person into a mere vehicle for abstract rights, liberalism has no language to express the transcendence and sacrifice of human sexuality.
Public Discourse

Catholicism, Capitalism, and Caritas: The Continuing Legacy of Michael Novak

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In a time of intense debate about global capitalism and the power of economic elites, Michael Novak’s work is essential reading for those who seek to work for free and virtuous societies. Novak’s life is also a lesson in charity.
Public Discourse

Are We Ready for an Honest Conversation about Abortion?

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If we really are pro-women, and if we really want a cultural conversation on abortion, we owe it to post-abortive women to say, “You are not alone, and you deserve healing.”
Public Discourse

Persecution, Past and Present: Candida Moss’s Unintentional Gift to Christians

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Candida Moss’s book on the history of Christian persecution is a case study in how scholarship gives way to politicized polemic—but it’s also an important reminder for contemporary Christians.
Public Discourse

Science-Gilding the Marriage Debate

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Citing tenuous social science that should not (and probably does not) change anyone’s mind merely obscures what people are actually divided over—namely, the purpose of marriage as a social institution.
Public Discourse

The Legacy of John Nash and His Challenge to Homo Economicus: Why Now Is a Good Time to Study Economics

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Economics takes for granted the problematic view that everyone acts in their self-interest, and that this is the best way of understanding the world. The latest research within the discipline is, however, transforming these fundamental assumptions.
Public Discourse

“There Must Be a Reason”: A Father’s Final Gift to His Same-Sex Attracted Son

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I’m attracted to people of the same sex, and I’m glad that I was raised by a devoutly Christian mom and dad. My dad’s acceptance of me as a man, with full knowledge of my attraction to other men, was his gift to me. And though it was late coming, I am utterly thankful for it.
Public Discourse

Stop Surrogacy Now: Why We Must Unite

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None of us can stop surrogacy on our own. I’m pro-choice and support extending legal marriage to include same-sex couples, but I know that if we are to succeed in ending the exploitation and abuse that comes with surrogacy, we must work with others with whom we may have vehement disagreements.
Public Discourse

Don’t Let Rhetoric Overwhelm Reason: A Response to David Bentley Hart

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If David Bentley Hart wants his arguments to be persuasive, he should offer a reasoned critique of the actual arguments of his opponents rather than continue to indulge what he admits is an “emotional” aversion to Thomism.
Public Discourse

Citizens, Unite! Part Two of Your Constitutional Primer

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“Constitutional law” is not the exclusive domain of the courts, or even of government officials. Faithful interpretation is the duty and responsibility of faithful citizens.
Public Discourse

Everything You Need to Know About Constitutional Law

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Reading and understanding the Constitution is not an especially complicated intellectual exercise. It takes lawyers, judges, and law professors to turn it into something difficult and convoluted.
Public Discourse

Why Moms and Dads Both Matter in Marriage

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Mothers and fathers are not interchangeable—they both add distinct benefits to the development of children. Courts and legislatures can change legal definitions, but they cannot alter biology or psychology.
Public Discourse

What Creative Fiction Can (and Cannot) Do

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To engage and shape the culture, we must understand the power of storytelling—and respect its limits.
Public Discourse

The Sacred Tradition of Offending People: Why Our Society Needs Pamela Geller

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We need offensive cartoons, obnoxious cartoonists, and offended sensibilities. Without them, society stagnates and tyranny reigns.