Bruce Chapman

Strange and Maybe Wonderful Case of a New Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library

_{Bruce Chapman
November 1, 2023}

It is now newsworthy (in the New York Times) that North Dakotans are in the process of building a $333 million Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. It is a private philanthropic venture not connected to the National Archives collection of presidential libraries that go back to the middle of the last century.

Myth and Reality of Israel’s Success

_{Bruce Chapman
October 16, 2023}

Allysia Finley of the Wall Street Journal does us all a favor in her column, "Our enemies are the CEO’s…Our comrades are in Gaza," describing the labor Union SEIU units that are seeking to portray Israel’s vital and pathfinding economy as the product capitalism and colonialism. They get the historical facts wrong, she writes, quoting at length from George Gilder.

I’m Running for President — You Could Do Worse (and Probably Will)

_{Bruce Chapman
September 29, 2023}

My fellow citizens: I hereby announce my candidacy for president. I'm 82 now, and am finally old enough. When I told my wife, she said, “Well, they could do worse. And probably will.” That will be my campaign slogan, “You Could Do Worse.”

The Story of Mental Illness in One Graph

_{Bruce Chapman
July 18, 2023}

Discovery fellow Robert Marbut provides this telling graph on the correlation of falling support for psychiatric beds and the rise of the mentally ill population in prison. Deinstitutionalization since the ‘60’s went overboard and helped create the current crisis.

To Fix Homelessness, Stop Fixating On Housing

_{Bruce Chapman
May 30, 2023}

Homelessness affects cities across the country, but it’s not just a local issue, though media cover it that way. Nor is homelessness mainly about housing; rather, it’s largely about untreated mental illness and drug addiction. Consistently misdiagnosed, homelessness is being wrongly addressed. And the policies that give rise to homelessness largely come from Washington, D.C., not localities. A bill called “Housing PLUS” has been introduced in Congress by Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., with 22 sponsors, to start to rectify these policies. A national mental illness crisis has been building since the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill began in the 1960s. Drug addictions also have increased and most surveys show that the “homeless” are often both mentally ill and …

To Fix Homelessness, Stop Fixating On Housing

_{The homeless are often both mentally ill and addicted. Yet the government persists in treating homelessness as almost entirely a housing issue.}_{Bruce Chapman
May 30, 2023}

Homelessness affects cities across the country, but it’s not just a local issue, though media cover it that way. Nor is homelessness mainly about housing; rather, it’s largely about untreated mental illness and drug addiction.

God’s Grandeur

_{The Catholic Case for Intelligent Design}_{Ann Gauger, Michael J. Behe, Michael Egnor, Jay W. Richards, Fr. Michael Chaberek, J. Budziszewski and Bruce Chapman
April 18, 2023}

We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary. Pope Benedict XVI The world — indeed, the universe — is charged with grandeur. Everything speaks of its beauty, power, and purpose — of its exquisite and intelligent design. Yet many scientists today flatly deny that the world was intelligently designed. Even some Christian scientists and theologians downplay or deny the evidence nature supplies of intelligent design, especially in biology. This thought-provoking anthology shows why they are wrong, why it matters, and why intelligent design provides a compelling way to reconcile science and faith in today’s culture. God’s Grandeur challenges the …

Religious Freedom is the First Freedom — and You Can Help Save It

_{Bruce Chapman
January 25, 2023}

The International Religious Freedom Summit this weekend (January 31-February 1) comes at a moment when people of faith all over the world are under growing pressure.

Pope Benedict on Intelligent Design and the Dangers of Darwinian Materialism

_{Bruce Chapman
January 9, 2023}

“We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution,” he said. “Each of us is the result of a thought of God.”

Spokane Shows the Failures of ‘Housing First’

_{Bruce Chapman
September 6, 2022}

The national policy of “Housing First” has been a disappointing failure at reducing homelessness overall. Housing should be only one part of a solution that includes treatment of mental illness and drug addiction.

Tom Alberg: A Personal Tribute to a Pivotal Figure in Seattle and at Discovery Institute

_{Bruce Chapman
August 6, 2022}

A crucial participant in the founding of Discovery Institute — and a leader in the burgeoning tech economy of Seattle for four decades — Tom Alberg, 82, died at his home August 4.

Republicans Could Lead on Mental Health Treatment

_{Bruce Chapman
June 27, 2022}

Tucked away in the gun law President Biden just signed is a provision increasing funding for preventive outpatient treatment for mental illness. This is an important step toward solving America’s mental-health crisis but only part of what’s needed.

Republicans Could Lead on Mental Health Treatment

_{Bruce Chapman
June 27, 2022}

Tucked away in the gun law President Biden just signed is a provision increasing funding for preventive outpatient treatment for mental illness. This is an important step toward solving America’s mental-health crisis but only part of what’s needed.

Republicans Could Lead on Mental Health Treatment

_{Bruce Chapman
June 27, 2022}

Tucked away in the gun law President Biden just signed is a provision increasing funding for preventive outpatient treatment for mental illness. This is an important step toward solving America’s mental-health crisis but only part of what’s needed.

Barnyard Biology Is a Hit in Idaho

_{Bruce Chapman
September 15, 2021}

Country people obviously know something about biology, and to run a wheatland farm these days also requires executive skills.

When Muslims Choose Liberty Over Force

_{Bruce Chapman
September 4, 2021}

What would it mean to world peace if Muslims with influence were to lead a movement for liberty in religious affairs, as well as in politics? A lot, of course, but what are the chances?

Marvin Olasky’s ‘Lament’ for Earthly Father Leads to Heavenly One

_{Bruce Chapman
July 6, 2021}

Why do sons write books about their fathers? Perhaps it’s because they feel a need to figure out the guy who sired their existence. If they’re like Marvin Olasky, the eminent public intellectual who edits World magazine, the act of writing promises to make someone distant and mysterious “come alive.”

Free Speech, Fair Speech Vs. Woke

_{Bruce Chapman
March 5, 2021}

Free speech in American life is protected by the First Amendment—when the government is involved—but also by a broader understanding that differing views should be heard and respected in private academic settings, at meetings open to the public, and even in corporate settings.

Remembering Senator Slade Gorton

_{Bruce Chapman
August 20, 2020}

Some will submit that his kind are gone, but I know that they are still around, because he helped get them there.

We Need to Bring Back Real Debates in America

_{Bruce Chapman
June 26, 2019}

The televised Democratic presidential sound byte pageants will not be true debates by any realistic standard. They are reminiscent of the 2016 Republican primaries that started with 16 candidates preening on a platform and enduring “gotcha” questions by reporters/moderators trying to get themselves into the news story. Until the nominee field narrows, these shows are almost a parody of real debates in the Lincoln-Douglas or Oxford Union manner. That’s too bad. We need to bring back real debates in America, and not just among candidates. Name the issue (climate change, foreign interference in our elections, abortion, immigration, tariffs, privacy online, the future of artificial intelligence, the meaning of “free speech,” whatever): Americans are badly divided. Since media and politicians often operate in inward-looking communities, they tend to ignore or distort views that differ from their own. In this environment, mere calls for greater civility don’t work. What can work is facing issues straight on and together.