Philosophy

A free society recognizes the right of each person to profess his beliefs—no matter how controversial—so long as he does not physically harm (or threaten) others or their property. The government of a free society stops and criminally charges anyone who forcibly interferes with another’s free expression. But last Halloween…

The Pope belies his church’s “pro life” posturing in his recent condemnation of “artificial fertility,” by which he means any medically assisted pregnancy not involving a “conjugal act” between husband and wife. Thus, the AP summarizes, the Pope condemns “sperm or egg donation and methods such as in vitro fertilization.”…

What are we to make of a presidential candidate, a man seeking the most powerful position in the world—a position that grants him the ability to sign bills into U.S. law and that places his fingers on U.S. nuclear launch codes—who thinks the problems of our nation are caused by . . . “Satan”?…

Burgess Laughlin reviews The Closing of the Muslim Mind: How Intellectual Suicide Created the Modern Islamist Crisis, by Robert R. Reilly.

Surveys the metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and politics of these two creeds, showing, at each level, that only one of them corresponds to observable reality.

John was an ideal man, and his early death comes as close as anything can to being a metaphysical flaw in the universe.

CNN reports two recent atrocities: In central Nepal, a “40-year-old mother of two was burned alive . . .  after she was accused of being a witch.” The woman “was attacked and set on fire by family members and others after a shaman allegedly accused her of casting a spell to make one…

Catholics angry at President Obama over the insurance mandate to cover birth control should blame one organization above all others: the Catholic Church. In 1993, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, declaring health care “a basic human right,” released a statement calling for government-imposed universal health care, based upon the…

Cynthia Farahat is an Egyptian political activist, writer and researcher. She co-founded the Liberal Egyptian Party (2006–2008) and served as a member of its political committee. In 2008-2009, she was program coordinator and program officer at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty in Cairo, a multi-national free market think tank.…

Conservatives and Catholics have lambasted President Obama over his plan to force insurance providers, including Catholic ones, to cover birth control. Wayne Laugesen explains for the Colorado Springs Gazette: President Barack Obama’s administration finalized orders last week that will force all Americans, with few exceptions, to buy health insurance plans…