Blog Archives - CounterStrikeMedia

THE PERILS OF CURIAL REFORM

5/31/2019

Beware the Pitfalls of Curial Reform
Msgr. Hans Feichtinger
A structural reform of the Roman Curia has been one of the goals of Pope Francis and a reason why he was elected pope. Even some in the Curia support the idea. The last two major reforms were made by Popes Paul VI and John Paul II, yet many think what they did no longer […]

Correspondence confirms Benedict XVI placed restrictions on McCarrick in 2008
By CWR Staff on May 28, 2019 04:55 pm
A priest who was ordained by then-archbishop Theodore McCarrick and who worked with the defrocked prelate for decades has published a report detailing correspondence that confirms that Pope Benedict XVI had placed restrictions on McCarrick’s [...]
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THE MUDDLED THINKING OF JEWS ON ABORTION, THE DEMOCRACY OF THE UNBORN & THE PROPHETS OF SUICIDE DON'T ALWAYS DOMINATE

5/24/2019

When Does Human Life Begin?
Adam Kirsch
This week’s ‘Daf Yomi’ Talmud study happens to pit contemporary abortion law against Jewish views of conception and viability in all animals.
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The Democracy of the Unborn
By Steven Kessler on May 24, 2019 10:00 pm
Society has been reduced to those living in the present; but in being reduced, it has excluded the democracy of the dead and unborn. We, in the present, must fight for this most obscure of all classes. In the abortion debate, one of the pro-choice arguments is based on the idea of “personhood.” Personhood ...
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Every age needs prophets—whether or not they heed their cautions—because prophets stand out of and often against the current. Read More »

MEASURING THE INFLUENCE OF CONSERVATIVE AUTHORS & THE CONCEPT OF BEAUTY IN CATHOLIC THOUGHT

5/19/2019

Measuring the Influence of Russell Kirk and Other Conservative Authors
by Bradley J. Birzer
By using Google’s Ngram Viewer, we find that Russell Kirk’s reputation hit its highpoint in 1964, and then began a painful decline that remained unabated until his death in 1994. What does Ngram tell us about other conservative authors, like Robert Nisbet, Leo Strauss, Eric Voegelin, and Christopher Dawson? Google Ngram is a blast, but it’s more indicative of what might be than what is. It forces us to ask certain questions that might not be asked in its absence, but it rarely yields promising and definitive answers... [MORE]

What Is Beauty and Why Do We Need It?
John-Mark L. Miravalle
Suppose there is such a thing as objective beauty. Suppose, along with the classical and Christian traditions, that the human person is made for beauty. Now suppose further, that beauty is a kind of composite, that the beautiful is made up of two parts, one metaphysical and the other psychological. If such were the case, […]

Gnosticism Still a Challenge to Christianity
Fr. Tim McCauley
Gnostic philosophy, like a noxious weed, thrives in the barren soil of our post-Christian culture. It also emits a foul odor akin to the smoke of Satan, filtering through the doors of the Church and influencing our anthropology, as well as severely compromising the integrity of our worship of Christ in the Eucharist. Catholicism is […]

Cicero’s Republic: Implanted in the Nature of Man
by Bradley J. Birzer
In two of his last dialogues--On the Republic and On the Laws--Cicero offered some of his most Stoically-influenced thoughts on the nature of man, the community, and the divine. The best society, Cicero argues, cultivates us as free individuals, not for our benefit, but for the benefit of the community. Such is virtue. Virtue, according to Cicero, exists in every being, but few realize it or cultivate it. Yet, it is what makes men, men. It allows them to be free... [MORE]

Russell Kirk’s Forgotten “Intelligent Citizen’s Guide to Conservatism”
By Bradley J. Birzer on Jun 09, 2019 10:00 pm
Within a few months of its release in early May 1953, Russell Kirk’s dissertation-turned-massive-best-selling book, “The Conservative Mind,” became an international media sensation. But few know of his later work, “An Intelligent Citizen’s Guide to Conservatism.” It is a deeply profound book, exploring the very depths and widths of the human person. Editor’s Note: This ...
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THE LOST ART OF LEARNING HOW TO LEARN & THE COSTS OF DIVERSITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION

5/17/2019

The Liberal Sciences and the Lost Arts of Learning
by Brent Orrell
The thrust of the St. John’s program is that final knowledge, while it is held to exist and must be pursued, cannot be possessed. Read More »

Armed With Steel
by Glenn Arbery
As this year's seniors take their last exams and prepare to walk across the stage on Saturday morning, I’m led to think about the effect of this whole unique education on them. How will it all come together—all the theology and philosophy, the literature and history, the Latin, music, and fine arts, the outdoor trips, the math and science? Of course, it is not simply a matter of knowledge but of habitus; and he who is armed with habitus is armed with steel... [MORE]

HEATHER MAC DONALD
The College Bureaucracy That Never Shrinks
Like most other prestigious universities, Georgetown is forever expanding its costly and corrosive diversity initiatives.

FANATICISM: ISLAMISM & THE MURDER OF INNOCENT MUSLIMS

5/16/2019

Genocide of Christians Reaches "Alarming Stage" by Raymond Ibrahim •

https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2019/05/shabaab-official-justifies-attacks-on-civilians-while-preaching-the-sanctity-of-muslim-blood.php

FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION IN THE US

5/16/2019

Female Genital Mutilation in the United States: Estimating the Number of Girls at Riskby Phyllis Chesler
Dignity: A Journal on Sexual Exploitation and Violence
May 2019
https://www.meforum.org/58466/female-genital-mutilation-in-the-us

EVANGELIZATION, DOCTRINE MUST STAY UNITED & JAMES SCHALL ON TEACHING

5/16/2019

Evangelization and Doctrine Are Inseparable
David G. Bonagura Jr.
We preach doctrine, and doctrine exists to be preached. If that sounds circular, then we understand correctly that doctrine and evangelization are two sides of the same coin. Recently announced plans for Pope Francis’s reform of the Roman Curia have produced euphoria among liberals and concern among conservatives that evangelization is being elevated over doctrine […]

UNFINISHED BUSINESS By EPPC Fellow Stephen P. White
The Catholic Thing
For ecclesiastical leaders to begin to regain the confidence of their flocks, they’re going to have to find ways to overcome the distrust of one another. Read More

James Schall on Books and Teaching

FRENCH & AMERICAN REVOLUTIONS REVISITED

5/16/2019

THUCYDIDES & THE US COMMERCIAL REPUBLIC: Peacock’s rediscovery of the lost Federalist is a much needed corrective to contemporary scholarship. Read More »

The Medieval and Catholic Roots of American Democracy
Andrew Latham
Ask a typical college student today who “invented” American democracy and you’ll likely be told “the Founding Fathers, of course.” If you’re lucky, that typical student might then go on to tell you a bit more: that the historical roots of the American republic are to be found in the political traditions of early modern […]

The French and American Revolutions Revisited
By Nayeli Riano on May 15, 2019 09:59 pm
Friedrich von Gentz It is often said that the American Revolution resonated across the pond and inspired the French to rebel and liberate their country in a similar, heroic fashion to that of their American allies. The nature of these two revolutions, however, ran divergent intellectual courses that made their causes, and ...
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How the Framers Embraced Conventional Rules and Avoided Substantive Intent
by John O. McGinnis
In the Bank debate, the consensus of the Framers coalesced against use the substantive intent of the Philadelphia convention. Read More »

The Natural and the Foreign: Republics from Rome to America
By Bradley J. Birzer on May 31, 2019 10:00 pm
According to Cicero, the Republic follows the paths of nature and god in all its activities. As such, the true statesman—like the gardener—knows when to plant, when to fertilize, when to water, when to weed, when to prune, and when to harvest. Yet there is still, to be certain, a season for everything. And, ...
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VATICAN CURIAL REFORM & THE FOUNDATION OF CIVILIZATION IS FATHER-SON BOND

5/13/2019

Analysis: Power, and its appearance, in Vatican curial reform
By Catholic News Agency on May 08, 2019 08:13 pm
Vatican City, May 8, 2019 / 05:35 pm (CNA).- In the coming months, Pope Francis is expected to approve a final draft of a new governing constitution for the Roman Curia. Evangelium praedicate, as it [...]
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Expert on marriage and family: The father-son bond is ‘civilization’s keystone’
By Piers Shepherd on May 08, 2019 04:47 pm
The bond between father and son is the basis of a stable society. This was the thesis expounded by Dr. Patrick Fagan, an international expert on marriage and family, in an address given on May [...]
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A Practical Agenda for Catholics
By James Kalb on May 07, 2019 11:27 pm
The Church has had a political role since Constantine. That is no surprise. Catholicism is primarily a doctrine and way of living for its adherents. But the Faith deals with basic realities that have public [...]
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Francis expresses gratitude for Jean Vanier’s “great witness”
By CWR Staff on May 07, 2019 09:56 pm
On the plane returning to the Vatican after his trip to Bulgaria and North Macedonia, Pope Francis expressed his gratitude for the “great witness” of Jean Vanier, who passed away on May 7 at the [...]
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WHY THE MARTIX FAILED & THE INTELLIGIBILITY OF REALITY AND THE PRIORITY OF LOVE

5/11/2019

The Revolution That Wasn’t
by Titus Techera
Despite fascinating so many, The Matrix failed because it shares the modern aversion to tragedy, and leaves us with a flattened view of humanity. Read More »

The Intelligibility of Reality and the Priority to Love
By Conor Dugan on May 08, 2019 08:44 pm
Near the beginning of D.C. Schindler’s important and impressive book Love and the Postmodern Predicament: Rediscovering the Real in Beauty, Goodness, and Truth (Cascade Books, 2018), he quotes a prescient passage from G.K. Chesterton’s Heretics. Chesterton [...]
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HOW THE COMMON GOOD REQUIRES SEXUAL MORALITY

5/8/2019

Care for the Common Good Requires Sexual Morality
Anthony Esolen
Catholics who put themselves forward as advocates of social justice seem to behave as if the sexual teachings of the Church did not bear upon the issue at all. These Catholics are not wrong to care for the common good. The quality of their recommendation—whether it is mistaken or not—will depend upon what they recommend, and how, […]

How the Sexual Toxicity of the 1960s Has Harmed the Church
Robert V. Thomann
I have been rather astounded and amused at the controversy, indeed outright denial, surrounding Pope Emeritus Benedict’s recent essay which attributes a large portion of our current crisis in the Church to the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s. I react in this way simply because the evidence for the identification of the source of our […]

A LOOK AT RATZINGER'S DIAGNOSIS & THE CULT OF ENLIGHTENMENT REASON (THE STATE) A NEW LEVIATHAN

5/3/2019

DIDEROT AND THE ENLIGHTENMENT CULT OF REASON By EPPC Fellow Algis Valiunas
National Review
A praiseful new intellectual biography of the French philosophe Denis Diderot (1713–1784) offers hope that serious engagement with the past is still possible in the academy. Read More

THE RATZINGER DIAGNOSIS By EPPC Distinguished Senior Fellow George Weigel
Syndicated Column
In Benedict XVI’s view, the Catholic crisis of clerical sexual abuse was, in the main, an ecclesiastical by-product of the “sexual revolution”: a tsunami of cultural deconstruction that hit the Church in a moment of doctrinal and moral confusion, lax clerical discipline, poor seminary formation, and weak episcopal oversight, all of which combined to produce many of the scandals with which we’re painfully familiar today. Read More

Hijacking Liberalism: Spencer’s The Man Versus the State
by Alberto Mingardi
At best, scholars often view Spencer as a magnificent dinosaur, at worst a grumpy phantom of Christmas past—this is a mistake. Read More »

Rules for Christian Intellectuals, Part II
By Dr. Kelly Scott Franklin on May 02, 2019 09:30 am
It is a truth universally acknowledged that if I want to learn a thing, I have to teach it. As a literature professor at Hillsdale College, I’m trying to help my students develop their intellects. [...]
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James Burnham’s & Daniel Bell’s Critiques of Globalization & Liberalism

History and Historians

Leviathan, Inc.: Robert Nisbet & the Modern Nation-State
By Bradley J. Birzer on May 05, 2019 10:00 pm
Robert Nisbet feared that modern totalitarians had succeeded in undermining the very foundations of goodness, truth, and morality. They had not only redefined liberty as power, but they had transformed the modern political state into a secular church, exchanging real religion for civic religion, creating a “New Leviathan.” Like most Americans during the Great ...
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Critiquing Robert Kagan’s Enlightenment Liberalism
By Donald Devine on May 06, 2019 10:00 pm
While Robert Kagan basically dismisses church and community in the development of liberalism, can there be any sadder but more important concession than his own admission that “liberalism has no particular answer” for what can legitimize its rights? An essay is meant to be very, very important when it consumes four giant pages in ...
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A Crisis of Faith Cannot Be Met by Liturgical Protocols
Rev. Msgr. Richard C. Antall
The unprecedented message of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI regarding the crisis of the clergy contained a surprising illumination that is so incisive it will probably be ignored for years: All problems connected to Holy Orders are related in some way to the Eucharist. Benedict wrote: Our handling of the Eucharist can only arouse concern… What […]

The New Primitives
William Kilpatrick
When a man ceases to believe in God, observed Chesterton, he becomes capable of believing in anything. It looks like we may now have reached the “anything” stage of human history. As faith in Christianity recedes in the West, a strange thing is happening. Having shaken off belief in God, people are not becoming more […]

EPPC & THE CATHOLIC PROJECT: AN ANSWER TO OUR CURRENT CRISIS OF FAITH; THE ART OF NON FICTION WRITING

5/3/2019

INTRODUCING: THE CATHOLIC PROJECT By EPPC Fellow Stephen P. White
The Catholic Thing

No one needs to be sold on the importance of a robust and faithful response to the Catholic Church’s current sexual-abuse crisis. But if everyone agrees that the Church is in crisis, there’s less agreement about just what the nature of the crisis is, what caused it, or how to fix it. That’s where The Catholic Project comes in. Read More

MASTER OF THE CRAFTBy EPPC Henry Grunwald Senior Fellow Lance Morrow
City Journal
In his new book, Robert Caro teaches the art of nonfiction writing. Read More

CATHOLIC ECONOMICS
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THE CHURCH'S GREATEST CRISIS

CONSERVATISM FINAL BATTLE.PDF
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SEPARATION OF FAITH-REASON
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Global Strike Media examines the shape and sources the challenge of modernity presents to Islam & Christendom. How their leaders conceived of solutions to socio-political,moral challenges of the 21st century.

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