Marriage, Religious Liberty, and the “Grand Bargain”: An Instance of Neuhaus’ Law?


The late Richard John Neuhaus once articulated a principle that he presumed to call Neuhaus’ Law: “Where orthodoxy is optional, orthodoxy will sooner or later be proscribed.” Over at Public Discourse, Robert P. George offers what I take to be an instance of this law, namely, the “grand bargain” between proponents and opponents of same-sex marriage: Since most liberals and even some conservatives, it seems, apparently have no understanding at all of the conjugal conception of marriage as a one-flesh union—not even enough of a grasp to consciously consider and reject it—they uncritically conceive marriage as sexual-romantic domestic partnership, as … Continue reading Marriage, Religious Liberty, and the “Grand Bargain”: An Instance of Neuhaus’ Law?

The World Wide (Religious) Web for Wednesday, May 11, 2011


In America, crazy people accuse the president of being foreign born. In Iran, crazy people charge Ahmadinejad allies with sorcery. In America, the crazy people are on the political fringe. In Iran, the crazy people are the ones in charge. _____ “Is Osama bin Laden in heaven?” A thought experiment from Kyle Roberts. _____ Do Tiger Mothers raise Black Swans? And more questions from Timothy Dalrymple: What do we really want for our children: Perfect technical execution, or creative transcendence? Lives of mechanical achievement, or of rich passions and personalities? Do we encourage a healthy growth into sociality and sexuality, … Continue reading The World Wide (Religious) Web for Wednesday, May 11, 2011