Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Neuhaus Naked in the Square

If you don't know who Richard John Neuhaus is, you probably should. More than anyone, he has provided the intellectual heft behind contemporary religious conservatism, built the brainy foundation upon which Scalia, Thomas, Alito, and others now rest. Damon Linker, a former editor of Neuhaus' journal First Things, has a comprehensive, somewhat sympathetic, and eventually damning account of Fr. Richard's goals in this week's New Republic (free subscription required). I don't know the story of how Linker parted ways with his former boss, but it makes for one hell of an article.