Ross Douthat admits he is a little self-conscious about his interest in UFOs. “It’s just sort of embarrassing,” he tells me over burrata and tomatoes at a small Italian restaurant in New Haven. Not at all,

Being religious is a bit like learning to play soccer, says New York Times columnist and best-selling author Ross Douthat. You can practice all you want on your own, but, at some point, to really learn the game,

Ross Douthat, a Catholic columnist for The New York Times, has written a new book in response to this moment and to the readers he’s trying to reach. In Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious, Douthat makes a Pascalian pitch to the curious among the post-secular crowd.