Violating the Conscience of the Taxpayer
This column was scheduled to run in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but the new ownership is not using columnists. Trib/Live graciously picked it up. Bruce Ledewitz: Violating the conscience of the […]
We Live After God
David Bentley Hart and Peter Sloterdijk agree on that–my column today in OnlySky. Living in a future ‘After God’ We live in an era without religious assumptions, but do we…
America Must Regulate Advertising
Only a constitutional amendment can do that. My column in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Special to the Post-Gazette Apr 20, 2026 4:30 AM It is not easy to name the worst…
Doing Politics in an Age of Decline
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bruce Ledewitz: Our politics is a world of unreason Insight Apr 12, 2026 4:30 AM We live in an age of political unreason.…
The 2028 Presidential Election Is the Last Chance to Save Social Security
I’m even willing to vote Republican, if necessary. My column in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Special to the Post-Gazette Apr 6, 2026 4:30 AM The Social Security program is running out…
Pennsylvania Is the Climate Change Problem
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Special to the Post-Gazette Mar 26, 2026 4:30 AM Why has there been so little progress combatting climate change in America? It’s not…
Secularism’s Third Way
My column today in OnlySky Secularism’s third way Does Eastern philosophy hold the answer to finding meaning in a godless world? Bruce Ledewitz 23 Mar 2026 You can tell a…
Trump Chose Endless War
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Special to the Post-Gazette Mar 23, 2026 4:30 AM Pennsylvania senator John Fetterman was right to break with his fellow Democrats and vote…
Republicans, Pass a Tariff Bill–and end the filibuster
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Special to the Post-Gazette Mar 9, 2026 4:30 AM The Supreme Court not only did the right thing in striking down President Donald…
Illegal Voting Happens But It’s Not Important
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bruce Ledewitz: We don’t need voter ID because voter fraud isn’t a problem Special to the Post-Gazette Feb 23, 2026 Now that Pennsylvania’s…
David Brooks Cannot Rebuild Western Civilization
My column today in OnlySky. David Brooks wants to rebuild a humanistic culture To rediscover our values, we first have to forge a new foundation for them. Bruce Ledewitz 18…
Common law and values, not originalism, drive Supreme Court Decisions
My column today in The Hill. You can access it here. The U.S. Supreme Court is fast redeeming its reputation and, in the process, is reinforcing the rule of law.…
This is self-government
I don’t like it, but much of this is what Donald Trump was elected to do. My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bruce Ledewitz: Self-government looks like Donald Trump…
How to Resist ICE
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bruce Ledewitz: The right and the wrong ways to protest ICE Jan 26, 2026 From the public record, it certainly appears that the…
What Do Trump Voters Think at One Year?
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bruce Ledewitz: A moderate Democrat looks at Trump voters Special to the Post-Gazette Jan 24, 2026 4:30 AM The columnists, contributing writers and…
Why Is Rejecting Religion So Hard?
My column in OnlySky. Why is rejecting religion so hard? Secular thinkers should be open to all varieties of human experience. Bruce Ledewitz 19 Jan 2026 Leaving religion is easy.…
The Future of America Is Bright
But it may take awhile. My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bruce Ledewitz: Wait five years: The future of America is bright Special to the Post-Gazette Jan 12, 2026…
To keep up with China, the U.S. can’t let neighbors veto infrastructure
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Special to the Post-Gazette Dec 29, 2025 4:30 AM On Dec.16, the Springdale Borough Council reluctantly approved the construction of a new AI…
This is Secular 40
Lizzy Goodman shows us that secularism has to do better for people. My column in OnlySky. This is secular 40 Religion, for all its faults, gives life a sense of…
Donald Trump Should Not Have Been Charged
I have been saying this for years. Now, someone else, with more expertise, is saying it. My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bruce Ledewitz: Donald Trump should not have…
Should federal judges speak at events where the press is barred?
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bruce Ledewitz: Federal judges should not make political speeches in private Got a news tip? 412-263-1601 localnews@post-gazette.com Dec 1, 2025 9:22 AM Should…
A Secular Life of Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving. My column today in OnlySky. A secular life of thanksgiving It makes for a better life when we practice secular humanist gratitude. Bruce Ledewitz 24 Nov 2025 Thanksgiving…
Democrats, Call Trump’s Bluff. Investigate the 2020 Election
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bruce Ledewitz: Democrats: Call Trump’s bluff on investigating the 2020 election Special to the Post-Gazette Nov 17, 2025 4:30 AM President Donald Trump…
The Justices Are Not Originalists
My column today in the Post-Gazette Bruce Ledewitz: Originalism is a mirage. Judges must exercise political judgement. Special to the Post-Gazette Nov 3, 2025 4:30 AM Justice Amy Barrett writes…
The Lure of the Transcendent
My column in OnlySky. Transcendence—basically, the human experience of a higher and deeper reality somehow hidden in our everyday existences, but giving hints of itself in certain circumstances—is a constant…
President Trump Stops a War
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Trump deserves credit for this and there is a lesson for Democrats. Special to the Post-Gazette Oct 20, 2025 4:30 AM The Gaza…
End the Filibuster and Reopen the Government
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Special to the Post-Gazette Oct 6, 2025 4:30 AM As I write this column, the federal government is in a partial shutdown that…
Confession, Repentance, Forgiveness and Reconciliation in Religious and Secular Life
My High Holy Days Reflection in OnlySky. Seeking forgiveness, and granting it, makes us better people. Bruce Ledewitz 26 Sep 2025 One advantage that religious life has over non-religious life…
Political Violence Is Not Caused by Rhetoric
It’s what we believe that counts. Many of our beliefs are actually false. My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Special to the Post-Gazette Sep 22, 2025 4:30 AM In…
The Pennsylvania Judicial Retention Elections Are About Partisanship
Bruce Ledewitz: Our state Supreme Court justices are partly partisan Special to the Post-Gazette Sep 8, 2025 4:30 AM On November 3, 2015, voters changed the makeup of the Pennsylvania…
Democrats, Just Say No to Redistricting
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bruce Ledewitz: Democratic states can save the Constitution without imitating Texas Special to the Post-Gazette Aug 25, 2025 4:30 AM I think former…
Can People Thrive in a Secular Society?
David Brooks says no. My column today in OnlySky. Can people thrive in a secular society? Are secular values the cause of our malaise? Bruce Ledewitz 20 Aug 2025 New…
The Relentless Summer of 2025
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is about climate change. Published: August 11, 2025 SPECIAL TO THE POST-GAZETTE Republicans, learn from the relentless summer of 2025 BY BRUCE LEDEWITZ…
Does the Rule of Law Have a Future?
My column at OnlySky. Is law objective, or just the preferences of those in power? Bruce Ledewitz 28 Jul 2025 Trust in American institutions is plumbing historic lows, and this…
The Injunction Decision Was Correct and No Threat
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bruce Ledewitz: How to stop a president from violating the Constitution without a national injunction Special to the Post-Gazette Jul 28, 2025 4:30…
My Country Diminished But Not Defeated
My response to the Fourth of July essay by postliberal CC Pecknold A year ago, on the Fourth of July, my country was an idea — the idea embodied in…
Trump’s Actions in LA were lawful but wrong
My column in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette today. Bruce Ledewitz: If Lincoln could do it, Trump can do it, but he shouldn’t Special to the Post-Gazette Jul 7, 2025 4:30 AM…
The Future of Evil
My essay today in OnlySky. The future of evil Secular culture needs its own understanding of what shapes our character. Bruce Ledewitz 30 Jun 2025 As America and the West…
Donald Trump’s Iranian Mistake
It wasn’t the bombing. My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Special to the Post-Gazette Jun 30, 2025 4:30 AM Now that there is (as I write) a ceasefire, we…
What Next for the Democrats?
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: why the Democrats can’t defeat Donald Trump Bruce Ledewitz: Why the Democrats can’t defeat Donald Trump Special to the Post-Gazette Jun 15, 2025…
First They Came for Harvard
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Not many people have sympathy for Harvard University in its fight with President Donald Trump. Harvard is rich — with an endowment of…
Seeking a Secular Story
My article in OnlySky today asks secularists to seriously address life’s basic questions. Seeking a secular story of existence All worldviews need to address the deepest questions of existence. Bruce…
Pittsburgh Needs a Property Tax Reassessment
My column in the Post-Gazette. Bruce Ledewitz: Fairness and good finances require a property tax assessment Special to the Post-Gazette May 19, 2025 4:30 AM Given the predominance in…
Catholic Conservatives Never Understood Pope Francis
My column in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bruce Ledewitz: A non-believer explains why Catholic conservatives never understood Pope Francis Special to the Post-Gazette May 5, 2025 4:30 AM In a New…
The Tragedy of the Federalist Society
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. In the movie “The Bridge on the River Kwai,” Colonel Nicholson, played by Alec Guinness, leads captured British POWs in building a splendid…
Trump is destined to fail
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Bruce Ledewitz Special to the Post-Gazette Apr 7, 2025 4:30 AM My friends and family members are frantic that Donald Trump will destroy…
Republicans, Get Rid of the Filibuster
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bruce Ledewitz: Republicans, get rid of the filibuster but force Trump to act legally Special to the Post-Gazette Mar 24, 2025 4:00 AM…
A Democratic Platform that could defeat Donald Trump
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Bruce Ledewitz: A Democratic people’s platform that could defeat Donald Trump Special to the Post-Gazette Mar 10, 2025 4:30 AM The Democratic Party…
The Justices Will Step Up and Trump Will Back Down
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bruce Ledewitz: The Supreme Court will step up and Trump will back down Special to the Post-Gazette Feb 24, 2025 5:30 AM Since…
Ross Douthat Wants You to Believe in God
My column today in OnlySky. Ross Douthat wants you to believe in God The orderly universe is not the pro-God argument Douthat thinks it is. Bruce Ledewitz 13 Feb 2025…
Time to Amend the Pardon Power
We’ve all had enough. An amendment is hard but inevitable. My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bruce Ledewitz: It’s time to stop presidents from abusing the power to pardon…
Lessons for a future atheist president from Jimmy Carter’s funeral
It was inspiring. When will we be able to match it? My column today in OnlySky. Lessons for a future atheist president from Jimmy Carter’s funeral A secular civilization, like…
We Already Live in a Presidential Autocracy
My column today in the Post-Gazette. Bruce ledewitz: Donald Trump’s an autocrat, but he succeeded an autocrat Special to the Post-Gazette Jan 27, 2025 5:30 AM Observers on the left…
The End of Originalism
I’ve been beating this drum for years. Now there is confirmation that originalism is dead as the dominant judicial ideology. My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bruce Ledewitz: The…
What David Brooks’s Search for God Can Teach Secularists
This is my OnlySky column response to Brooks’s search for God piece in the New York Times. What David Brooks’s search for God can teach secularists Brooks’s essay is the…
Israel Is Now a Partisan Issue–What Next?
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bruce Ledewitz: Israel is now a politically partisan issue Special to the Post-Gazette Dec 30, 2024 5:30 AM Joe Biden may be the…
The Road Back to Power for Dems Runs Through Farm Belt
Today’s column in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is about prospects in the Farm Belt. Bruce Ledewitz: Make the Democrats great again Special to the Post-Gazette Dec 23, 2024 5:30 AM The…
What “huge mess?”
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bruce Ledewitz: Donald Trump is inheriting a stronger country thanks to Joe Biden Special to the Post-Gazette Dec 16, 2024 5:30 AM Every…
The Rehabilitation of Truth
My column today in OnlySky. The rehabilitation of truth You cannot build a secular civilization into the future without a kind of faith. Bruce Ledewitz 05 Dec 2024 On April…
Let the Republicans Govern
Here is my column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bruce Ledewitz: The one thing the Senate Democrats must not do Special to the Post-Gazette Dec 2, 2024 12:00 AM I…
What the Dems Must Do
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bruce Ledewitz: How the Democratic party must change to win in 2028 Special to the Post-Gazette Nov 18, 2024 5:30 AM No, Donald…
Mr. President: Pardon Donald Trump
This was my Monday column in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bruce Ledewitz: Mr. President: Pardon Donald Trump Special to the Post-GazetteNov 11, 20245:30 AM In the interest of national unity and…
Whoever Wins Must Face the National Debt
Bruce Ledewitz: History’s most fiscally irresponsible presidential election Bruce Ledewitz Special to the Post-Gazette Nov 4, 2024 5:30 AM I don’t know who will win the presidential election, but I…
Campaign Finance Reform Worth Having
We can end the real problem of independent spending by eliminating contribution limits. My column in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bruce Ledewitz: How to stop campaign spending from corrupting elections Special…
Why there won’t be a religious revival
My column today at OnlySky.
What can presidents do?
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bruce Ledewitz: What can presidents do? And not do? Special to the Post-Gazette Oct 21, 2024 5:30 AM Presidents can do a lot…
What Can Secularists Learn From the Jewish High Holy Days?
In the new secular civilization that is being born worldwide, religion will not disappear. Not only will there continue to be vast numbers of religious believers, but the civilizational imprint…
Joe Manchin, Take a Bow
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette argues that if the Democrats win in November, they can thank Sen. Joe Manchin.
What is the Election About–the Dark Mood
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
How the Fear of God Threatens Law and Politics
This was Part II of my Fear of God piece on OnlySky yesterday.
Time to Get Rid of the Filibuster
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
God and the Future of Secularism
OnlySky has published my essay, God and the Future of Secularism.
Hands Off the Fed–and the Court
Trump and Biden are both wrong. The Fed and the Court are democratic. My column today in the PG.
From Secular Society to Secular Civilization
This theme will occupy me for the rest of my career, but here is my first attempt, published Wednesday in the renewed secular website, OnlySky. I will be publishing there…
America Is a Universal Idea
Neither JD Vance nor the progressive left understand that. My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Introducing The Donald Trump Bump Stock Act
Despite a dump U.S. Supreme Court decision, my column argues we can easily ban bump stocks.
The Supreme Court Immunity Decision Did America a Favor
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Obviously when I wrote it I did not anticipate an assassination attempt but that extreme action illustrates the danger to constitutional democracy that…
With this Provocative Rhetoric, What Did You Expect?
At the National Conservatism Conference last week, they talked about “white genocide” and revenge on political enemies when they take power with a new Trump Administration. Meanwhile, I have heard…
Conservatives Have the Right Idea
There is a story today in the New York Times about how a group of conservative intellectuals, many of whom are associated with the Claremont Institute, are moving together to…
“The System Is Not Made for People Like Me”
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Donald Trump’s hush-money prosecution threatens constitutional democracy
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The Republican Party is the Reason We’re Not Talking About Climate Change
Two weeks ago, I wrote about the national debt no one wants to talk about. Today’s, column is about climate change, which one party does not want to talk about.
Both Parties Are At Fault for the Debt and We Must Act Now to Restore Fiscal Sanity
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Speech Is Not the Issue on Campus
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Life Begins at Conception–So?
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette makes the point that human life really does begin at conception. But that does not determine IVF or Abortion policy.
Biden Must Insist that Trump Recant the Big Lie Before He Agrees to a Debate
My Thursday column in the Post-Gazette.
Jesus Christ Is Risen Today, Hallelujah
The reason that Ben-Hur, the 1959 version with Charlton Heston, is the best movie about Christ ever made is twofold. First, Christ never really appears—just his figure and the effect…
What Does Section 29 of the Pennsylvania Constitution Actually Do?
Maybe, finally, there is a constitutional framework to challenge structural racism in America–my column today in State Court Report, a project of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU.
What will happen to Israel and Taiwan if America cuts off Ukraine?
Would Israel survive the fall of Ukraine? Would Taiwan? Republican leaders in the House certainly think so. While criticizing and blocking military aid to Ukraine, they claim to remain steadfast…
Will the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Recognize a Right to Abortion?
I answer probably not in this comment in State Court Report.
Why Can’t We Have Open Immigration?
My column in TribLive.
Living Constitutionalism and the Faith of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In the fall of 1981—at least I believe it was 1981—the marxist Critical Legal Studies Movement—CLS—came to New Haven, Ct. to debate the legal liberalism of the Yale Law School…
Freedom and Democracy Are Here to Stay–Reflections on Politics in 2024
My column in TribLive.
Ordinary Americans Have to Stop Israel’s Creeping Annexation of the West Bank
My column today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Americans are being shot at today. Anything that affects peace is our business. And this is no criticism of Israel’s just war against…
What Does the Conversion of Ayaan Hirsi Ali to Christianity Mean?
Is Christianity making a comeback? My column in the Tribune Review.
Why I sent $1000 to the Dean Phillips Campaign
This week’s column in TribLive.
The Rage of the Essential Worker
This is what is driving politics today, but knowledge workers don’t get it. My column today in the Tribune Review.
The Struggle in the Middle East is Religious–it needs a religious reconciliation
My column today in TribLive.
The Secular Satisfaction of Death
You can find my meditation on death inspired by the High Holy Days on The Moral Atheist Blog, here.
Run, Amy, Run
Today, actually last evening, the Minneapolis Star Tribune published my op-ed urging Minn. Sen. Amy Klobuchar to challenge Joe Biden for the Democratic Party nomination for President. Joe is great…
Letter to the Post-Gazette: Reassessments aren’t ‘theft’
You can find my letter to the editor here.
The University and Free Speech
In a FIRE survey, my University–Duquesne–was unfairly slammed. But the real news of the survey was the lack of commitment to free speech among students. We can do something about…
Just A Moment to Remember
The 9/11 attack was 22 years ago today. That was the end of the end of the cold war. Years of imperial overreach followed, weakening America and its leadership in…
Will Pa courts follow the lead of Montana on Climate Change? They might go further.
My op-ed today in PennLive addresses the Montana climate change litigation and considers whether pa courts might go further by banning certain oil and gas production leases altogether.
Nicholas Kristof Gets It Wrong
Nicholas Kristof wrote a column in yesterday’s New York Times that gets the decline of religion in America right, but the reason wrong. Here is my quick response: Nicholas Kristof…
My Representative, Summer Lee, Must Talk with the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle
My op-ed today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette asks that Summer Lee talk with the people she disagrees with. That is how democracy is supposed to work. The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle,…
This Secular Moment
In this essay in OnlySky, I take David Brooks’ analysis of How America Got Mean to a much deeper place. No one said the Death of God would be easy.…
Jessica Bennett’s Empty Secular Society
If you want to understand the problem of an empty secular society, just read this column by New York Times columnist Jessica Bennett. She cannot conceive of life apart from…
Growing Dishonesty in Politics
My column this week is posted here, on the Hallowed Secularism blog. Unfortunately, I won’t be serving as a columnist for the Pennsylvania Capital-Star in the future. Happy reading while…
Listening to America: The Plight of a Secular Society
Clay Jenkinson is a national treasure. He thinks deeply and generously about the state of our nation. For those old enough, he is a worthy successor to Charles Kuralt, whose…
Don’t Celebrate the Indictment
My column points out how hard the coming prosecutions are going to be.
Did the Biden Administration Violate the First Amendment With Its Social Media Contacts?
Of course it did. It is odd that Democrats are so blase about it. This is my column in the Capital-Star this week, delayed a day over some production issues.
My Take on the Last Supreme Court Term
In this column I argue that the current conservative majority is hardly a monolith. Democrats need to stop reflexively opposing whatever the conservative Justices do.
Why Biden Needs to Pardon Trump
This column appeared on Wednesday, 6/28.
Lessons From the Debt Deal
This week we take a quick look back at the deal before it is forgotten. What did we learn? This week’s column in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
Criticism of Prosecuting Trump
I’ll write a column about this in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star. But for now you can read my criticism in the NY Times.
Democrats Need to Read the Durham Report
FBI overreach is worrying even if it was aimed at Donald Trump–this week’s column in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
To Block Trump, I Would Register Republican
In this week’s column in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, I criticize Republicans for not taking the Trump threat seriously enough and I offer a vote in the Pennsylvania Republican Presidential primary…
Can America’s Law Schools Defend Democracy?
On Thursday, May 4, the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), to which almost all fully accredited American law schools belong, held a zoom conference on the theme, “Defending Democracy.”…
The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting Case Should Never Have Been in Federal Court
Federal Court has introduced delay and complication. This week’s column in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
Eric Segal’s Supreme Myths Podcast Discusses The Universe Is on Our Side
Listen to a great conversation with one of America’s leading law professors about law, morality, the Court, God and everything.
The Transgender Debate at Pitt
Pitt did the right thing in allowing that debate to go forward, but could not bring itself to admit that it could have acted otherwise. The first amendment is an…
The Theological Error of Post-Liberalism
I published a response to Chad Pecknold’s March 29 Pio Cardinal Laghi Chair Lecture at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio. The Lecture had been distributed by the Postliberal…
Shapiro and the GOP Senate Leadership Let Us Down
In my column this week, I explain how important it was that our political leadership do their jobs and appoint an interim Justice to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. They could…
What DeSantis and Newsom have in common
This week’s column in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
The Panama Canal Treaties and Jimmy Carter
The treaties were Carter’s greatest foreign policy achievement because of the war the treaties prevented. This week’s column in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
Scalia was right about abortion all along
Roe prevented the country from reaching a consensus about abortion that largely favors it. The pro-life movement needs to stop trying to nationalize the issue until it can demonstrate a…
Why I am no longer a Jew
I wrote this for the secular website OnlySky. It appeared last week.
Of Course Liberal Democracy Is Worth Saving
The Forum in Harper’s Magazine is excellent. But it is asking the wrong question. This week’s column in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
Predictions for 2023
My column this week in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star includes some late predictions for 2023.
Pope Benedict’s Spiritual Testament Shows His Openness
My column this week highlights Benedict’s spiritual testament and what we can all learn from it about science and faith.
Why Was the Rainbow Bridge Invented? Whitehead’s fallacy of misplace concreteness
Why Was the Rainbow Bridge Invented? I published a column in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star last week about the death of our beloved dog and the well-wishes we received that invoked…
Did Maxine Go to Heaven?
When our beloved dog Maxine died, we received well wishes and greeting from the rainbow bridge. This week’s column in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
Douthat is Great, but Mistaken
Ross Douthat is the very best political commentator and public Catholic analyst. But he makes a fundamental mistake in his column on the Americanization of religion. Douthat tries to rate…
One Cheer for the Independent State Legislature Doctrine
I make the point in this week’s column in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star that state courts are not angels either. There needs to be a check on partisan state supreme courts.
Why the Courts Must Stop the Krasner Impeachment Trial
My column today in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
Goodbye to Maxine, Our Old and Faithful Friend
On Thursday, Patt and I had to say goodbye to Maxine, our beloved 15-year old pug. Life had become hard for her and for us. Patt and I miss her…
Merrick: Decide Already
Look, if there isn’t enough evidence to bring the kind of criminal case that will finish Trump as a national figure, then get out of the way and let the…
The Midterms: Even the bad news was good
My column this week says the big winner in 2022 was the country.
The 2022 Wisconsin Law Review Symposium–controlling the Supreme Court “far into the future”
Eric Segall and I won the competition this year to host the Wisconsin Law Review Symposium, to be entitled Controlling the Supreme Court : Now and “far into the future.”…
Bad Without God: The Secular Need for High Holy Days
This week’s column argues that secularists need forgiveness no more or less than religious practitioners.
Repeal the Debt Limit
My column this week in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star is aimed at forestalling a crisis should Republicans retake either House of Congress.
Only you can prevent amendment abuse
This week’s column in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star examines the growing problem of the General Assembly putting what are essentially statutes into the Pennsylvania Constitution. What, if anything, can be done?
Dems Are Lucky Trump’s Not Being Prosecuted
This week’s column in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star makes the point that Trump should not be prosecuted for keeping classified material and won’t be. And that this is good politics for…
Reversing Pascal’s Wager
Pascal’s wager—the 17th century mathematician and theologian—is aptly described in Wikipedia as follows: Pascal argues that a rational person should live as though God exists and seek to believe in…
GOP Should Worry About Pa. Anti-Abortion Amendment
Pennsylvania GOP is pushing a Kansas-like anti-abortion amendment. This may backfire. My column in this week’s Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
Justice Alito Doesn’t Know
Linda Greenhouse’s column in the New York Times yesterday about Sam Alito’s keynote speech at the religious liberty summit was revelatory—far more so than either Alito or Greenhouse realize. For…
Democrats Need to Run a Deficit Hawk Against Biden Right Now
I like Biden but I’m not willing to allow a Republican to win in 2024 out of loyalty to him. My column today in Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
Dobbs Is Not a Religion Case
Despite what you may have heard, and whatever you think of it, Dobbs is not a religion case–my essay in Canopy Forum, the online journal of the Emory Center for…
The Supreme Court is a Paper Tiger
The Court cannot resist a determined majority. This week’s column in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
The End of the Pro-Life Movement?
This week’s column in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star asks whether the bans the pro-life movement is now pursuing will mean its demise.
Tax Cuts Cause Inflation, Too
Pandemic spending was necessary, even if inefficient. Irresponsible tax cuts were not. This week’s column in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
Want Immediate Gun Law Reform?
It can be done. My column this week in Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
The Future of Liberalism Lies in Secularism
My essay, The Future of Secularism, was published in The Marginalia Review Today.
Don’t Ask, Should Thomas Recuse: It’s the Wrong Question.
My column this week in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
New Book Discussions
Listen to discussions of The Universe Is on Our Side on podcast Parallax Views with J.G. Michael and the Airwaves radio show, with Raul Gallyot, by selecting Free Podcasts. Happy…
The Justices Are the Leakers
The Justices leaked the Dobbs opinion months ago, harming the rule of law far more than the individual leaker did–the week’s column in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
How A Closed Bathroom by Giant Eagle Manifests Structural Racism
This is today’s column in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star. There is nothing hypothetical or theoretical about this. This is my neighborhood Giant Eagle.
Toomey’s Mistake: He should have voted for Judge Jackson–my column in the Pa. Capital-Star
My column argues that Sen. Pat Toomey made a mistake not just in not voting to confirm Judge Jackson, but in the reasons he gave for his rejection.
There are limits to the American Renaissance over Ukraine
This week’s column in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star suggests we can stop congratulating ourselves over our response to the invasion.
My Talk at the Religion News Association Conference
I had the honor of presenting on a marvelous panel yesterday at the RNA 2022 Conference in Bethesda Md. Below is the text of my talk. Religious Reporting in an…
Would I Have the Courage to Fight?
Many of us are asking whether we would have the courage to fight were we Ukrainians. The answer lies in our view of the universe. This week’s column in the…
Watch Bruce’s book talk at Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures
Thursday, March 3, was the book talk event about The Universe Is on Our Side: Restoring Faith in American Public Life. Watch here.
Why Subpoena Doug Mastriano?
The Jan. 6 Committee is setting a dangerous precedent in calling prominent political opponents because of their false constitutional theories. This week’s column in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
WESA introduces The Universe Is on Our Side
People wanting to get a feel for the book can listen to, or read, this story about the book and the upcoming book talk on Thursday. Tickets for in person…
Bret Stephens Tells It Like It Is
In a column today in the New York Times, Bret Stephens challenges Americans and our traditional belief in freedom and democracy as progress and universal. He is not proposing WWIII…
The Need for a New, Secular, Story
Take a look at Tom Krattenmaker’s column today at the new secular website, OnlySky. It references my book, but makes the larger point about how secular we have become.
What the Decline of Religion Has Done to Literature
In the December 16, 2021 issue of The New York Review, Sigrid Nunez reviews Virtue, a novel by Hermione Hoby. Not to give anything away, but the novel follows a…
The Independent State Legislature Doctrine and Mail-in voting
This week’s column in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star argues that Commonwealth Court ran afoul of the Independent State Legislature Doctrine–a weird idea that conservative Justices have embraced. In this instance, it…
The Justices are inviting us to end the filibuster
This week’s column in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
Patrick Deneen has a lot to say today
Patrick Deneen posted Why They Hate Us today on The Postliberal Order. Read it. It tells you a lot about politics today. I’ll write more, but two things bother me…
Both Parties Must Defeat the Big Lie–this week’s column in the Penn Capital-Star
This week’s column in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star: both parties are at fault, the Republicans more so, but both parties.
What is the CRT Debate Really About? It’s About Who We Are.
A reader of The Dish writes to Andrew Sullivan that the issue of Critical Race Theory is not challenging the supremacy of whiteness, but “teaching our children that their identity…
Nonsense Despair
I don’t know what is worse—authors who demonstrate their seriousness by writing novels of absurdity and despair, (but always selling them), or reviewers breathlessly reviewing them and praising the authors…
History and Reason Reveal Truth and That is Why Politics Is Not War
Back in November, 2020, Paul Reitter and Chad Wellmon, editors of Max Weber’s “vocation lectures” had a revealing exchange in the New York Review with Peter Gordon, a well-known historian…
Looking Forward to 2022–this week’s column in the Pa Capital-Star
Here is this week’s column. Things are looking up for 2022. Seriously.
No, Paganism Is Not Replacing Christianity—Nothing is Replacing Christianity, Literally
On Monday, Chris Caldwell, a noted conservative thinker, asked in the New York Times whether Paganism was replacing Christianity. He was referencing a book written in French by Chantal Delsol,…
Michael Gerson’s Christmas Message
The reference to despair in the title of Michael Gerson’s column in the Washington Post yesterday probably sums up the state of most people this year: This Christmas, hope may…
Why Secular Society Desperately Needs the Recognition of Religious Holidays
My contribution to Canopy Forum’s Symposium on public recognition of religious holidays appeared today. Canopy Forum is a digital publication from the Center for the Study of Law and Religion…
How Should the Law Adjust to the Rittenhouse Verdict?
The Rittenhouse verdict exposes gaps and weaknesses in the law. How should the law respond? This week’s column in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God
I just finished reading Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God, by Jack Miles. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in putting the New Testament into its Jewish…
Everybody in Despair at the Death of God
Readers of my new book, The Universe Is on Our Side: Restoring Faith in American Public Life, know that I see America’s ills as grounded in the Death of God,…
John Wayne Never Shot an Unarmed Man
Kyle Rittenhouse is no hero. This week’s column in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
Dr. Oz says he’s not in Kansas anymore
There is a controversy in Pennsylvania about whether Dr. Mehmet Oz can run for the Senate seat that Pat Toomey is vacating. The issue is whether Oz is really a…
Maybe deficits do matter after all
This week’s column in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star looks at the fallout of the 2021 election and what the Democrats have to do. Hint–don’t increase the debt. Pay for any spending.
No Judaism Without God
Last Sunday’s New York Times Magazine featured a story about a letter critical of the State of Israel written by a group of 93 rabbinical and cantorial students at most…
The On Being Secularists
I often talk about groups within secularism. The largest group consists of people who are affiliated with religion and may even sat they believe in God, but are entirely natural…
Listen to my interview with John Snider on American Freethought
The interview can be accessed here.
Some Things I Learned From My Conversation With John Snider
John Snider is the host of the American Freethought Podcast and a well-known atheist voice. He is also, I now know from being interviewed by him Friday night, a thoughtful…
No, this isn’t Facebook’s ‘Big Tobacco’ Moment
Read this week’s column in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
How Men Age, Retire and Die
In a recent blog enty, I referred to a Doonesbury cartoon by Garry Trudeau published on Oct. 31, subtitled, The Retirees. In it, wives are portrayed as active and engaged…
Sunday’s Doonesbury Strip
What Trudeau is showing us is so searingly true that it takes my breath away. So, why is it that men cannot bear retirement. And, are the women, busy and…
The Stakes Today in the U.S. v. Texas Oral Arguments
My column this week in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
The Universe Is on Our Side Has Finally Shipped
My new book, The Universe Is on Our Side: Restoring Faith in American Public Life, has finally shipped. I saw a copy delivered yesterday–I don’t have any copies yet. I’ve…
Check Out Bruce’s Quote in the Philadelphia Inquirer about the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Race
Andrew Seidman of the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote a story Sunday about a controversial ad run by one of the candidates in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court race to be decided in…
But Why Did Things Go “Badly Wrong?”
Bret Stephens wrote a very important column in the New York Times on Colin Powell on Oct. 19–I read it in print on Wednesday. Among other things, like whether Powell…
Why I Can Still Celebrate Columbus Day
If Columbus Day were really a celebration of the beginning of the European destruction of the native civilizations of the Americas, no one would celebrate it. The courage of Columbus,…
Lale Gul Wants to Lie on the Beach in a Bikini
Lale Gul is a young Dutch novelist who has broken with the traditions of her Turkish immigrant family and has written a fictional account of her journey to secularism. The…
What Has Gone Wrong and What Can We Do About It?
How America’s spiritual infrastructure is in need of repair and what can be done to fix it.
What a novel can teach us about religion in America
This entry originally appeared in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star. A novel can capture a moment in a culture. The Startup Wife, by Tahmima Anam, perfectly captures the collapse of churchgoing in…
