The results of the Georgia runoff should serve as a wake-up call for both parties, but with the notable exception of Democratic commentator Van Jones on CNN, all I heard was Republicans acknowledging that they needed a little thought. Jones pointed out that Sen. Raphael Warnock should have beaten Herschel Walker by 50 points, not by the 2.5 points that was the final lead. He also rightly praised Stacey Abrams, who lost her gubernatorial candidacy in November but whose work on Georgia’s Democrat registry enabled Warnock’s rise to power.
While conservative Christian groups celebrated the friendly hearing an evangelical Christian web designer received in the Supreme Court this week, where she said her faith kept her from creating a website for same-sex marriages, a group of waiters at a Richmond restaurant , Virginia, refused to serve a reception for a conservative Christian organization and the event was canceled. Gander, meet goose. These cultural divisions run deep and it is not at all clear how we can get to a point where the culture wars do not affect everything. It is clear that the Christian church should seek to heal these divisions, not exacerbate them.
Politico reports that second gentleman Doug Emhoff is now “the face” of the Biden administration’s efforts to combat anti-Semitism. Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband is undoubtedly one of the nation’s most prominent Jews. But anti-Semitism is a problem for Jews, not about them, and it would be better for a recognizable devout Christian to “make the face” of the effort. I nominate Holy Cross Fr. John Jenkins, President of the University of Notre Dame, to the post. He is competent, avowedly impartial, and Notre Dame has always been committed to interfaith dialogue.
The New York Times reports on United Nations efforts to document war crimes in Ukraine. Apparently the evidence is overwhelming. It’s definitely heartbreaking. What it isn’t is surprising. Wars in this part of the world have never been known to be compatible with international law or with the jus in bello prohibitions of just war theory. There’s a reason Yale University historian Timothy Snyder’s monumental book is called Bloodlands.
At NPR, Michel Martin interviews Police Commissioner Jarod Towers of Hyattsville, Maryland about how police can build trust in the communities they serve and de-escalate potential conflict situations. He argues that it is about changing the culture of the police force.
In The New Republic, Matt Sitman cites a somewhat obscure essay by Jean-Jacques Rousseau to wonder if the American experiment was doomed from the start, expecting to bring about a republican form of government for a country so vast and diverse forge. In doing so, Sitman demonstrates why historians are the most provocative and interesting social critics and why his voice is among the culture’s most powerful.
Finally, from Architecture Daily, a look at one of Le Corbusier’s masterpieces, the Notre Dame de Haut Chapel in Ronchamp, France. The story of two young Spanish architects visiting the great man in his Paris studio is breathtaking and points to a reality that we, or at least I, sometimes forget in the daily rush of being a thoughtful Catholic Christian: Ultimately the life of faith is indescribable.
