2013 was a great year for MercatorNet, with lots of great content and sparkling writing. Share this selection of the best and most popular articles with your friends. Reread your old favourites. Leave some comments.   January The genius of Chesterton  
A comprehensive new biography of the brilliant controversialist will delight fans and instruct the sceptical.  
By Zac Alstin Harvard Munch: when liberty becomes bondage  
One hundred and fifty years after J S Mill's famous book on Utilitarianism, the heirs of his philosophy are embracing nihilism.  
By Michael Cook Exposing scientism  
C.S. Lewis foresaw that science would be manipulated at the expense of humanity, says the editor of a new collection of essays about him.  
By John G. West Safety in social media comes down to lifestyles  
The quality of family relationships is a key to safety on social networking sites, according to new research from Europe.  
By Reynaldo Rivera February “Wadjda” - a breakthrough for Saudi women  
The first feature movie made in Saudi Arabia breaks new ground in other ways also.  
By Mary O'Neill Le Rumeur The guilty silence that killed Reeva Steenkamp  
Why does no one mention the most obvious thing that put Oscar Pistorius' girlfriend in harm's way?  
By Carolyn Moynihan How my mother died  
A mentally-ill Belgian woman sought euthanasia to escape her problems. The doctors told her, sure, why not?  
By Tom Mortier Working abroad, supporting the family at home  
Emigrants’ remittances are at the core of poverty alleviation in many developing countries.  
By Vincenzina Santoro Shape or be shaped: Christians in an era of marriage decline  
The religious lives of young people are being damaged by family breakdown, a new report shows. How will churches respond?  
By Carolyn Moynihan March What would the Greeks have thought of gay marriage?  
The great classical philosophers would have regarded it as an absurdity, despite their partial tolerance of homosexual love.  
By Robert R. Reilly 2 doctors, 103 women, sterilisation quota achieved
India's target-driven quotas for female sterilisation are producing horrific scenes, all with the aid of Western money.  
By Carolyn Moynihan Yes, I think we are crazy
... if marriage is only a lifestyle choice. But for us it's much more.  
By Tristan McLindon The internet is a paradise for cheaters  
Universities have to work hard to discourage students from cheating.  
By Karl D. Stephan April How to cope with cyber-bullying  
Parents who would never allow their children to drive without lessons give them mobile phones and hope for the best. Good luck to them!  
by Izzy Kalman Is the one-child policy spoiling China’s children?  
Research confirms all the cliches about "little emperors", the children of parents who were forced to stop at one.  
by Michael Cook A divine foot in the door  
Atheist philosopher Thomas Nagel explains why the materialist Neo-Darwinian conception of nature is almost certainly false.  
by David Gallagher If two lesbians, why not two sisters?  
If marriage is all about love, commitment and stability, why can't I marry my sister?  
by Carolyn Moynihan  

May Understanding Keynes  
Were the theories of the 20th Century's most famous economist blemished by the fact that he was a homosexual? An expert on Keynes says No.  
by Ricardo Crespo There’s always another choice  
A Texas mother remembers how doctors struggled to save her premature twin daughters.  
by Anne Ponton Revisiting the “after-birth abortion” controversy  
An expert on Jewish medical ethics says that the slippery slope is very real, no matter what some bioethicists may say.  
by Shimon Glick How legal euthanasia changed Belgium for ever  
The ideology of absolute self-determination has become sacred and unquestionable.  
by Tom Mortier and Steven Bieseman The Boy Scouts cave in  
Under enormous pressure, they have voted to welcome openly gay scouts. What message does the change in policy send young people?  
by Robert R. Reilly June Not so fast!  
A one-page report on the success of same-sex parenting was reported around the world this week. How reliable is it?
by Walter R. Schumm Networks of responsibility: the Philadelphia building collapse      
Who should ultimately take the blame in a tragedy of careless demolition which caused six deaths?
by Karl D. Stephan  Recycling Mozart  
Music is transforming children's lives in an impoverished corner of Latin America.
by Pedro Dutour The slow death of a pseudo-discipline  
Enthusiasm for neuro-everything seems to be waning in the light of evidence that brain scans don't tell us very much.
by Denyse O'Leary  “Inferno”     
The appropriate tagline for the literary style of Dan Brown’s latest blockbuster  is not “the sparkle of champagne” but “peanut butter and jelly for the mind”. 
by Michael Cook July       The painful pursuit of high-tech babies  
Many women are deferring childbearing until they have the perfect partner and an established career. It's a big mistake.    
by Miriam Zoll  

In the birthplace of revolution, a French Spring  
The establishment has been rattled by the vigour and intelligence of opposition to the new law on same-sex marriage.  
by Robert Hutchinson No country for old homophobes  
Ender’s Game has nothing to do with same-sex marriage. But the film’s author-producer is still being lynched for his views.  
by Zac Alstin Monday, 4.24pm, 8lb 6oz, a Royal boy  
The Royal baby symbolizes the great, civilized, traditions of Christian marriage.  
by Joanna Bogle Should children be lobbyists?  
It is shameful to use children as front-line troops in political campaigns.  
by David Zaruk August Scientism: legitimate label or boo-word?  
A liberal education would enable scientists - among others ‑ to know when they were overreaching their competence.  
by Marie I. George  Seriously, is this mommy business really worth it?  
A Harvard Law School graduate turned homemaker puts the case for bambinos in the burbs.  
by Lea Singh Will polyamory follow same-sex marriage?  
The reasoning is the same; the rewards are the same. Why not?  
by Michael Cook My tutor, The Bard  
Teaching your children Shakespeare could be the most rewarding educational experience of their lives.    
by Francis Phillips September  In praise of honest work  
If we believed in the honour of work, employment would take care of itself.  
by Karl D. Stephan Should schools teach about religions?  
It's an idea that looks good on paper but can in fact lead to dangerous madness.  
by Kevin Ryan Does conscience have a role in executions?  
Is "unregulated conscientious objection" a sword wielded by the pious against the vulnerable?  
by Sean Murphy The UN’s climate change chief puts politics first  
Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, is a non-stop train wreck.  
by Donna Laframboise The gates open to a Nobel Prize  
The Gates Foundation has been awarded one of the world's most prestigious awards for public health. Does it deserve it?  
by Matthew Hanley October Let the people decide on gay “marriage”  
All Australians deserve a vote on whether children should have both a mother and a father.  
by David van Gend Sweetening the pill  
A young woman dissolves the sugar coating on the contraceptive pill and exposes its harmful, anti-woman core.  
by Carolyn Moynihan Safe in the right hands  
A retired military and foreign affairs expert makes the case for allowing Americans to have and carry guns.   
by William Stearman In Bosnia, the ghosts still have no resting place  
Twenty years after fighting ceased, many people are still caught up in a culture of denial.  
by Mishka Gora November  Safe in our cyber silos  
Social media were supposed to open us to a larger world, but are they closing our minds?  
by David Zaruk An end to the madness?  
The fifth edition of the DSM psychiatric manual may be the last.  
by Denyse O’Leary For academics, religion is a conflict of interests  
A campaign against a bioethics professor turns very nasty.  
by Margaret Somerville Reason should be open to God  
Benedict XVI had provocative ideas about the true nature of education.  
by Leonard Franchi December   Lessons from Sandy Hook  
A government report on a school shooting in which six adults and 20 children died fails to establish a motive.  
by Rick Fitzgibbons Lasting impressions of Nelson Mandela, 1918 - 2013  
May he rest in peace, and his ideals not be forgotten.  
by Carolyn Moynihan Are two out of three people really secret torturers?  
The famous “obedience” experiments by Stanley Milgram: what did they really show?  
by Denyse O'Leary Don’t read over his shoulder. It’s basic cell phone etiquette  
The boundary between public and private is getting fuzzy  
by Karl D. Stephan