Outside the Beltway

Sacrificing our principles in the face of mob violence is never a good idea.

Lindsey Graham: “We’re not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business for the long term.”

The novelist, playwright, and social critic Gore Vidal has died, aged 86.

Would faith survive the discovery that the central premise of the Bible is a lie?

Jeffrey Goldberg asks, “What if Mitt Romney were Jewish?”

A third of Americans under the age of 30 doubt the existence of God, compared to 14 percent 25 years ago.

The factors influencing Russian policy in Syria are many, and some of them are quite ancient.

The phrase “American Taliban” is usually off the mark. However, sometimes it is closer to the mark than we might like.

Marriage has always been an evolving institution.

Will Obama’s announcement on same-sex marriage benefit him or Romney in the upcoming campaign?

The arrival of Discovery in Washington D.C. has led to another lament about “national greatness.”

Andrew Sullivan wants the Catholic Church to give up its hatred of homosexuals. There’s another alternative.

Rick Santorum’s views on the role of religion in public life are built on lies about American history.

Santorum and stewardship of the Earth.

Rick Santorum would do well to listen to the words of the last Catholic to be President of the United States.

Rick Santorum is Michele Bachmann level crazy. Yet he’s arguably the Republican frontrunner right now.

In a blinding flash of the obvious, Gallup finds that “Christianity Remains Dominant Religion in the United States.”

R.I.P.

Conservative groups are upset because a new reality show depicts Muslim-Americans as, well, normal Americans.

Is Mitt Romney’s religion returning as an issue for Republican voters?

Rick Perry’s unforced error streak continues.

Rick Perry’s speech criticizing the President’s policies in the Middle East raised more questions than it answered.

Rick Perry isn’t as radical as some on the left are saying, but that doesn’t mean he’s any good.

Is it every appropriate to ask candidates about their religious faith? In some cases, yes it is.

What are the contours of “mainstream” religious thought in today’s America?

Political journalists are asking clumsy, ignorant, and intolerant questions. Film at 11.

Michele Bachmann’s view of history is based in a world view that would be foreign to most Americans.

Trevor Phillips, chairman of the UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commission, says fundamentalist Christians are a far bigger problem than Muslims. And, no, he’s not anti-religion.

Michele Bachmann is not Sarah Palin.

Some people still think Mitt Romney’s religion is a relevant issue.

Tim Pawlenty said in a speech on Friday that America needs to “turn toward God.”

The latest conservative meme seems to be that the White House hates Jesus and the Easter Bunny.

America’s war colleges have some problems but we can’t close them.

Francis Fukuyama: “In the developed world, we take the existence of government so much for granted that we sometimes forget how difficult it was to create.”

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum is the latest Republican to reject the idea that America is a secular nation.

In chapter three of Liberty and Tyranny, Mark Levin applies his typical standards of logic and evidence to matters of faith.

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley managed to alienate non-Christians within moments of taking office.

Yet more ridiculous political commentary arising out of the tragic shootings in Arizona.