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  A figure that looms large in the Christian story, Pontius Pilate is cited by name in both the Apostles Creed—which has roots in the second century—and the more explicit and detailed Nicene Creed, adopted in 325 AD. The verifiable facts of Pilate’s life, however, are few.... Read More →

  There are two ways in which to think about humanity: as unique human persons or as aggregate masses. When we humans start to speak of groups of people, it almost always leads to dismissing each group member’s humanity, even if only slightly. “Fans of that football team... Read More →

  Researchers at the University of Waikato in New Zealand are studying how light from the outside world travels into the womb. A pregnant woman’s skin allows light to pass through and provide some illumination, and strong light applied directly to her skin can illuminate the... Read More →

  On February 18, an Ohio judge ruled that a Buckeye State law requiring that the remains of aborted unborn children be either interred or cremated violated a (state) constitutional amendment passed in 2023 to protect abortion rights. The law, passed in 2021 after... Read More →

  The major countries of Europe (and even Japan and Canada) have been experiencing much political instability, including election results that have lacked clarity. France had four prime ministers in 2024, one of whom lasted only 91 days, and snap elections last summer... Read More →

  I have been reading Linda Royall’s 2023 book Sacrifice, in which the investigative journalist details Margaret Sanger’s deep and revolting entanglements with eugenics, racism, Nazi ideology, and population control. Royall also explains how Sanger biographer (and devoted... Read More →

  Factionalism and division, partisanship and parties. Sides. Teams. Colors. The conflict reverberating in those words harkens back, like many of the darker expressions of our humanity, to the Roman Empire—and the racetrack. Horse racing was an integral part of Roman culture... Read More →

  I am an apartment dweller in New York City. My building endured a long and strange chapter during which the landlord sent up so much heat that even with the radiator turned off tenants had to keep the windows open in a blizzard. Some of us ran air conditioners all winter.... Read More →

  Just when the nation seems to be teetering on the edge of political and cultural inanity, with one side defending what the other seeks to undo, there comes bipartisan news: Pitchers and catchers are warming up at baseball training camps in Florida and Arizona. Though it... Read More →

  Pro-choicers claim that “science does not know when life begins.” The conceptus, they say, is “a parasite or a tumor,” or “a potential life, part of the woman’s body.” This is not true. The term “fertilized egg” is shorthand for a single-celled human being that has a sex... Read More →