I was asked once whether religion had done more harm than good in history. “More good, but it’s close,” I replied. However, the same might be said of many human institutions – governments, the police, ...

The protection of extramural speech may be necessary, but academics should acknowledge the magnitude of the privilege they’re claiming, Deepa Das Acevedo writes. (I say “as far as we know” because ...

A nation should be concerned when it seems its leader has tired of the grueling work of democracy. One of the most remarkable and frightening aspects of President Barack Obama’s inaugural address was ...

Aside from a small assortment of political extremists, religious fanatics, and rabid ideologues, few today are more certain of their position, or less open to the views of others, than those who ...

O what a gift John Julius Norwich “would gie us,” had he written a 500-page history of the popes over the past 150 years, rather than about most of them over the past 2,000 years. Norwich is fun: He ...

This new article is here. The Introduction: Free speech absolutism has seemingly had its day, inasmuch as scholarly and public (if not judicial) opinion are increasingly hostile to the idea that more ...