A koronavírus idején, amikor az ország, sőt a világ nagy része be volt zárva, Novák József barátom arra kért engem, hogy beszélgessünk izgalmas témákról az interneten, hogy ne unatkozzunk annyira. Mivel nagyon izgalmas témákat nem találtunk, abban maradtunk, hogy életről,… Read More ›
Politics
Secularization Strikes Back: The End of American Religion?
“One striking feature about religious commitment today is how closely it aligns with conservative politics. Religiously committed Americans are very likely to vote Republican. Yet it wasn’t always that way. Alexis de Tocqueville famously attributed the strength of American religion… Read More ›
The Fall of Hungary: Viktor Orbán’s Push to Destroy Democracy
Demonstrators protesting Lex CEU / Source: CEU webpage Early in April, the Hungarian parliament, tightly controlled by the country’s autocratic prime minister, Viktor Orbán, passed a law aimed at forcing the closure of Budapest’s independent and prestigious Central European University…. Read More ›
Why I Joined the Centrist Project
I’m not much of a joiner, especially where politics is concerned, but recently I signed up with something called the Centrist Project. It’s a group that wants to overcome political polarization, which has reached a level they believe harms our… Read More ›
My Crystal Ball Says These Things Will Happen While Donald Trump Is President
History is full of surprises, irony, and unintended consequences – which is one reason those who study history know better than to make predictions. Since, however, I’m not a historian, I’m foolish enough to make a few specific predictions about… Read More ›
America’s Useful Idiot – Donald Trump
I hate to be so partisan, but Trump’s relationship to Putin is simply scary. Here’s what I wrote for The Cresset. “Among the shocks Donald Trump has wrought to American politics, one of the biggest in my view has been… Read More ›
Stumped by Trump: Armageddon and the GOP
My two cents worth on Donald Trump for The Cresset. “If these are Trump’s supporters, we can begin to see that the strength of his support draws on something more than hatred and bigotry. Trump’s core constituency may have concluded,… Read More ›
Does Justice Demand the Death Penalty?
Recently Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has started to argue for reinstating the death penalty. But the European Union prohibits capital punishment in its member states, and Orbán’s proposal has received a lot of flack in Brussels. Here’s my take… Read More ›
For Hungary, The Game is Up: Ruling on Religion Law Forces Viktor Orbán’s Hand
The following editorial was first published in the Dutch paper Reformatorisch Dagblad on October 7, 2014, then republished in the online edition of the paper with the title “Tijd voor Orban om open kaart te spelen.” My original English text… Read More ›
Are Drone Strikes Ever Justified?
I have a friend in the human rights community who likes to point out that “Barack Obama has launched more drone strikes than any other winner of Nobel Peace Prize!” To be sure, the use of drones is problematic, but… Read More ›