Theocons on the warpath: radicals turned republicans clothed initiatives in Catholic moral language.

THE THEOCONS: SECULAR AMERICA UNDER SIEGE By Damon Linker Doubleday, 272 pages, $26

Damon Linker's book on the theocons uses a term that first appeared in Jacob Heilbrunn's 1996 New Republic article, "Neocon v. Theocon." The neoconservatives are mostly secular and Jewish, the theoconservatives mostly Catholic.

While both have supported using military force to promote democracy, the religiously motivated theocons have sought to build a coalition of conservative Catholics and evangelical Christians to challenge the secular mainstream's contention that religious convictions are essentially private and should not influence public policy.

Foremost among them are Richard John Neuhaus, Michael Novak and George Weigel. Mr. Linker knows them well; for three and a half years, he was an editor of the flagship theocon journal, Neuhaus' First Things.

His book is fascinating reading. Both Fr. Neuhaus and …