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Islamic scholars, activists call for ban on British film about prophet’s daughter The film about Fatima al-Zahra, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, has already been banned in Pakistan. The Battle for the Soul of Islam
By Dr. James M. Dorsey, January 17, 2021 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The battle for the soul of Islam pits rival Middle Eastern and Asian powers against one another: Turkey, seat of the Islamic world’s last true caliphate; Saudi Arabia, home to the faith’s holy cities; the United Arab Emirates (UAE), propagator of a militantly statist interpretation of Islam; Qatar, with its less strict version of Wahhabism and penchant for political Islam; Indonesia, promoting a humanitarian, pluralistic notion of Islam that reaches out to other faiths as well as non-Muslim center-right forces across the globe; Morocco, which uses religion as a way to position itself as the face of moderate Islam; and Shiite Iran, with its derailed revolution. Continue to full article ->  Ideas Still Have Consequences: Richard Weaver on Nominalism & Relativism by Darrell FalconburgRichard Weaver’s book Ideas Have Consequences presents the harmful effects of nominalism on Western civilization since it gained prominence in the Late Middle Ages. This philosophical revolution toward nominalism was not only a pivotal event in Western history. It was, in fact, the pivotal event. Many of our modern woes stem from the acceptance of nominalism and the rejection of philosophical realism back in the fourteenth century... [MORE] Rome Without Greatness Rome and Caesar are unknown to modern elites who refuse to believe in the existence of great men.READ MORE › Melville’s Rejection of Utopia by micah mattix That Herman Melville became a writer in the first place—and later the author of the Great American Novel, as some people think of Moby-Dick—would have surprised his father, Allan, who said (when Melville was seven) that he was “very backward in speech & somewhat slow in comprehension.” His older brother, Gansevoort, was the one destined […] READ MORE › How Liberals Turned Freedom Into Tyranny By John Horvat on Jan 17, 2021 04:00 pm Ryszard Legutko’s “The Cunning of Freedom” pierces through the darkness of today’s shallow notions of freedom and exposes the dangers of continuing on the present course. The author indicates a metaphysical path whereby postmodern man might find that truth that will set him free. The Cunning of Freedom: Saving the Self in an Age ... Read in browser » Trump’s Rage, Washington’s Prudence
by tillman w. nechtman & natalie taylor Washington understood that martial strength secured independence, but republican government would require moral fortitude. READ MORE ›  James Madison and republican statesmanship, part VI: The problem of civic virtue Jay Cost | American Enterprise Institute The ‘Dictatorship of Relativism’ Has Arrived
Casey Chalk At the beginning of the 2005 conclave, Pope Benedict XVI preached a now-famous homily condemning what he called the “dictatorship of relativism.” The newly-elected pontiff warned: “We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one’s own ego and desires.” Benedict’s words elicited […] Read More
Demonic Foes a thorough, scholarly analysis of the phenomenon of diabolic attacks
By Father Seán Connolly on Dec 07, 2020 01:19 am Dr. Richard Gallagher is not just some psychiatrist on the fringes of his field. He is a magna cum laude graduate from Princeton University and trained as a resident in psychiatry at Yale University School [...] Read in browser »
Covid Vaccines: ‘The Ends Cannot Justify the Means’
Bishop Athanasius Schneider On the moral illicitness of the use of vaccines made from cells derived from aborted human fetuses In recent weeks, news agencies and various information sources have reported that, in response to the Covid-19 emergency, some countries have produced vaccines using cell lines from aborted human fetuses. In other countries, such vaccines are being planned. […]Read More
Algeria's Referendum: Stirrings of Democracy and the Decline of Islamism
By Prof. Hillel Frisch, November 22, 2020 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The events surrounding the recent constitutional referendum in Algeria reflect broader trends in the region and the prospect that Algeria might eventually join the UAE, Bahrain, and Sudan in normalizing relations with Israel. Continue to full article ->
The Danger of Dawat-e-Islami by J.M. Phelps
American Spectator November 18, 2020 https://www.meforum.org/islamist-watch/61785/the-danger-of-dawat-e-islami
Report Warns of Islamic Radicalization in France by Judith Bergman
Turkish Islamism and Pedophilia by Burak Bekdil
The Gatestone Institute October 20, 2020 https://www.meforum.org/61675/turkish-islamism-and-child-sexual-abuse
Who Is Responsible for the 'Crisis' in Islam? by Khaled Abu Toameh
On October 20, 2020, French-Tunisian Imam Hassen Chalghoumi, the President of the Conference of Imams of France, gave an interview to the press, including CNEWS (France), in response to the beheading of French teacher Samuel Paty in a recent terror attack. Imam Chalghoumi strongly denounced Paty’s murder, saying that he is a “martyr of freedom” and that the murderer was a criminal terrorist. – Middle East Media Research Institute
France's Showdown with the Islamic World
By Col (Res.) Dr. Raphael G. Bouchnik-Chen, October 30, 2020 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The beheading of schoolteacher Samuel Paty, which occurred two weeks after a momentous speech by President Emmanuel Macron in which he unveiled a plan to defend French secular values against “Islamist radicalism,” marked the start of what might turn out to be an all-out war between France and the Islamic world, with Turkey’s Erdoğan leading the Muslim charge. By taking a stand against Muslim extremist violence and suppression of freedom of speech, Macron might find himself facing a new wave of Islamic terror. Continue to full article ->
The forgotten history of Christian slavery under Islam
By Father Seán Connolly on Dec 16, 2020 06:16 pm While celebrating his first Mass, St. John of Matha (1160-1213)—whose Feast is celebrated on December 17th—was granted the signal favor of having God’s Will for his priesthood revealed clearly to him. At the elevation of [...] Read in browser »
 The Last Victorian Michael Warren Davis I once had the unenviable task of explaining to Thomas Howard what the alt-right is. “They’re white nationalists,” I said, “but they also oppose the ascent of libertarians in the Republican Party.” “I see.” He nodded. “And what’s a libertarian?” That one I couldn’t bring myself to explain. It would be an honor to say […]Read More In the coming years, the president of the United States will face five significant national security challenges: pandemic recovery, debt planning, rebalancing our over-militarized approach to the world, handling China, and harnessing allies. In a chapter for AEI’s new book, “Governing Priorities,” Kori Schake notes that, while these are major challenges, our country is more than powerful enough to meet them. With enduring structural advantages in place, the US is only a few good choices from dramatically strengthening itself, both domestically and internationally. Read the chapter here. See the whole book here. Hiring government leaders: Lessons from the private sector
Geoff Smart, Maria Blair, and Jeff McLean | November 2020
Governing priorities A look into our fiscal future Reviving the Congress  Analysis: What does Cardinal Farrell’s promotion say about the McCarrick report? By Catholic News Agency on Oct 13, 2020 08:03 pm Denver Newsroom, Oct 13, 2020 / 02:55 pm (CNA).- Cardinal Kevin Farrell was appointed last week to lead a small committee charged with scrutinizing high-level Vatican financial decisions not governed by ordinary Vatican oversight norms. [...] Read in browser » Hard lessons of the McCarrick Affair By George Weigel on Nov 18, 2020 03:01 am From the day it was announced that the Vatican would conduct an investigation into the career of former Washington cardinal-archbishop Theodore McCarrick (compelled to renounce his cardinalate and subsequently laicized for sexual abuse and the [...] Read in browser » Cardinal Pell, the Living Martyr Fr. Mark Withoos “Thank you for your testimony.” With these words, Pope Francis greeted Cardinal George Pell who, on coming out of Covid-19 quarantine, went to meet the Pope in audience. Martyr in the Greek language means “witness” or “testimony.” In essence it is the basic call of every Christian, every follower of Jesus Christ, to give testimony […]Read More The Gipper and JPII: an Alliance for Good Monika Jablonska Pope John Paul II once said that, “In the designs of Providence, there are no more coincidences.” That is one way to explain why a Polish pope, dedicated above all to defending the dignity of the human person, would step onto the world stage just as the most powerful country on earth was about to […]Read More Cracks of faith in the secular self By Joshua Hren on Oct 14, 2020 05:04 pm Harper’s editor Christopher Beha’s new novel, The Index of Self-Destructive Acts, pushes against not a few cracks in the ceiling of our age—our love-hatred of celebrities, the fabrications of our failed financial industry, our overreliance [...] Read in browser » The Deep Church: From the Borgias to Becciu Michael Warren Davis The Australian government is now beginning to confirm what most of us have suspected for years. In a display of ruthlessness and corruption that would thrill the Borgias, Vatican bureaucrats wired a small fortune to unknown parties in Australia to initiate the fraudulent sex-abuse charges against George Cardinal Pell. According to local media reports, officials […]Read More Francis Is Wrong on Civil Unions Crisis Magazine Read More Xi’s Pope
Declan Leary As expected, the Holy See has announced an extension of its provisional agreement with the People’s Republic of China, concerning the appointment of bishops. Under the controversial agreement, episcopal candidates will be recommended to the Holy See by the Chinese Communist Party, then approved and appointed by the Holy Father. The plan’s experimental phase will […]Read More  Solzhenitsyn's Journey From Oppression To Independence mentioning Hoover Institution via The Wall Street Journal The Soviet Umbrella And The Volcker Shock By Michael De Groot via Hoover Daily Report A History Working Group seminar with Michael De Groot. Michael Beckley explains that in the coming decades, rapid population aging and the rise of automation will dampen faith in democratic capitalism and fracture the so-called free world at its core.
READ MORE  Tolkien’s “The Return of the Shadow,” 1937-1939 By Bradley J. Birzer on Sep 26, 2020 04:00 pm Christopher Tolkien, in “The Return of the Shadow,” breaks down J.R.R. Tolkien’s drafts of the sequel to “The Hobbit” into three phases. In the third phase, the situations around them do grow tellingly darker, with drastic implications for the story that could shake the foundations even of the Blessed Realm, the land of the ... Read in browser » Habit and Grace by Glenn ArberyIt should be too obvious to need saying, but thoughtfully reading the great works informs practical judgment in everyday circumstances—the sphere of the moral virtues. The Iliad, for example, shows us human nature under extreme duress. Understanding Agamemnon and the consequences of his actions gives us a complex gauge of character. We come to recognize how often in daily life surprises come and how much they reveal that we stand in need of grace... [MORE] Aristotle Contra Mundum: The Woke Come for the Philosopher
by Anthony YetzerA voice of reason from the liberal bloc of our society which is otherwise teeming with madness, Professor Agnes Callard is admirable in her unwillingness to cancel Aristotle. In light of recent events, she might find his views are not so much prejudiced as they are realistic, and, on that note, timeless, unlike the egalitarian utopias which liberals are always chasing. The philosopher had a disposition toward the world around him which allowed him to see it in an exceptionally clear way... [MORE] Burke on Monstrous Revolution and Regicide Peace By Bradley J. Birzer on Oct 15, 2020 04:00 pm Far from creating peace, Edmund Burke contended, the French Revolution had generated the greatest despotism the world had yet seen, politicizing all things and enslaving the vast majority of the population. The Revolution itself was monstrous and had created only monstrous things. Of Edmund Burke’s (1729-1797) four Letters on a Regicide Peace—his final work, ... Read in browser » 
Reflections on Tocqueville: The Pervasiveness of Equality By Bradley J. Birzer on Sep 01, 2020 04:00 pm To this day, though America has changed in size, shape, demographics, and technology, “Democracy in America” remains the single finest description of the American experiment. Introducing his work to the world, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote that nothing struck him more than the pervasiveness of the idea of equality in the United States. Alexis de ... Read in browser » The Administrative Revolution & the End of Democracy
By Paul Krause on Oct 07, 2020 04:00 pm If Alexis de Tocqueville were alive today and observing the situation of America, he would probably not be surprised that the democratic ethos of civil society, the township, and the autonomous local county have been crushed by the royal prerogatives of the executive and the administrative bureaucracy built around it. Most Americans are somewhat ... Read in browser » Will the Cultural Revolution Be Canceled? The challenge to our civilization is real, but most Americans aren’t sympathetic to social radicalism. Revolutionary violence is always an indictment of a political system’s democratic legitimacy. Read More »  Delayed because of pandemic, new Fatima movie to open on August 28th By Jim Graves on Aug 18, 2020 01:47 pm Picturehouse will release its new film Fatima, in theaters and on demand on Friday, August 28. It is a re-telling of the story of the Blessed Mother’s appearances to three children in Fatima, Portugal in [...] Read in browser » A disturbing guide to the devilish Karl Marx By Anne Hendershott on Aug 17, 2020 07:53 pm Winston Churchill, in a speech before the House of Commons on October 22, 1945, said that “the inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings, the inherent virtue of Socialism is the equal [...] Read in browser » Stephen Williams’ Recovery of a Forgotten Russian Liberal by Aurelian Craiutu Stephen Williams wrote about a man who lived in dark times and tried to build the institutions of liberal democracy on the ruins of an autocratic regime. Read More » "China Buys Turkey’s Silence on Uyghur Oppression," Aykan Erdemir and Philip Kowalski, The Diplomat "We Have No Mercy on You People": Persecution of Christians, July 2020 by Raymond Ibrahim We Need This Change in the Arab World by Sara Al Nuaimi A Slippery Patch in World Affairs by Amir Taheri • New book ponders the continuity (and conservatism) of today’s conservative movement By Jerry Salyer on Aug 27, 2020 10:09 pm “A society that accepts the killing of a third of its babies as women’s ’emancipation,’ that considers homosexual marriage to be social progress, that hands out contraceptives to 13-year- old girls at junior high school [...] Read in browser » Saint Augustine on true worship and the ecclesial heart By Dr. Jared Ortiz on Aug 27, 2020 09:00 pm As I was reading Augustine’s discussion of true worship in the City of God this past week, I was struck by how naturally Augustine holds together things that contemporary Catholic culture has divided. Let me [...] Read in browser » As marriage rates plummet, polyamory rises By Russell Shaw on Aug 27, 2020 12:50 pm Under the heading “A fair chance for children” the New York Times editorial board recommends four measures to help low-income kids: create government-funded savings accounts for newborns, provide universal pre-kindergarten for 4-year-olds, “spend more” on [...] Read in browser » The Next Pope is an evangelical call to ressourcement By Eduardo Echeverria on Aug 25, 2020 10:44 pm George Weigel’s new book The Next Pope is a call to ressourcement. This means that the Church must engage in a retrieval of her teaching by looking back to the authoritative sources of the faith—Scripture [...] Read in browser » Turkey: Islamism's Corrupted Symbolism By Burak Bekdil, August 30, 2020
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque and the desire to “Turkify” place names reflect the Islamist “conquest fetish.”Modern Islamists in Turkey have created a new version of Islam for themselves that differs from the religion’s origins. Continue to full article ->
Can Terrorists be Deradicalized? - Part II by Denis MacEoin
Egypt's Al-Azhar in dispute with government over fatwa authority
Tensions are escalating between Al-Azhar and legislative and executive authorities over proposed legislation that would render Dar al-Ifta an "independent" institution, ending Al-Azhar's long-standing patronage of the Islamic legal body — and replacing it with state dominance and possibly tighter government control over the religious narrative.
Istanbul's Hagia Sophia holds first Friday prayers since reconversion to mosque
Is Turkey's reconversion of the Hagia Sophia into a mosque a politically expedient decision or part of Turkey’s growing global assertiveness?
What Originalism Conserves by Ilan Wurman
The Framers, very cognizant of history, sought to frame a constitution that successfully balanced self-government and liberty. Read More »
Irving Kristol’s Rules for Nihilists by Richard M. Reinsch II
What if the “self” that is “realized” under the conditions of liberal capitalism is a self that despises liberal capitalism? Read More »
What Holds America Together? Russell Kirk's Roots of American Order
by Robert SpeaightRussell Kirk shows that the United States was a new thing built upon a number of very old things, and these are the roots which give it life today: the English common law, the English language, the English Reformation, the English Parliament; the Roman order and the Greek intellect, Montesquieu’s “depositary” of justice secured by the Supreme Court, and Edmund Burke’s gospel of continuity... [MORE]
Stand, Men of the West!
by Stephen KlugewiczWestern Civilization is undeniably in decline and indeed its very existence is in doubt. Yet these thoughts ought not to drag conservatives down into a morass of defeatism. Though the hour is late, a remnant must run to the barricades and shield itself and whatever is left of Western Civilization from the barbarians at the gates. I call on conservatives to refuse to cede the current hour to darkness... [MORE]
Freedom, Responsibility, and the Liberal Arts
By Stringfellow Barr on Jun 11, 2020 12:30 pm Pericles was proud of Athenian freedom and insisted it was worth dying for. Our ancestors shared that pride and that insistence. But they and he were proud, not of the absence of discipline or authority, but of the fact that in a society of free citizens discipline and authority are self-imposed. The other day ... Read in browser »
Thomas Jefferson, Whig Historian
by Bradley J. BirzerGiven how vital a role history placed in the English-speaking world of the 18th century, Thomas Jefferson’s own love of history should not be too shocking. Further, it should not be surprising that Jefferson embraced a rather Whiggish view of history, one that pervaded much of American political, social, cultural, and religious thought. Thus, when Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, he was not merely writing yet another legal document... [MORE]
An Ennobling Innocence: The Founding of Socrates' Republic
by David Lawrence LevineIt is the task of the wise ruler to seek to transform the city based on force into one based on speech (if only on myths and noble lies). This is no different for a founder of a community of discourse than for a founder of cities. The primary task of The Republic, then, is the foundation of a human mutuality based on an openness to speeches. Socrates’ efforts toward this end, however, are complex and, on the surface, quite puzzling... [MORE]
Edmund Burke on Rights: Inherited, Not Inherent
The Swan Song of Roger Scruton: Wagner’s Parsifal: The Music of Redemption
A Master Historian at Work
by George H. Nash Using the chapters in this new book as lamps and signposts, Bailyn has created an elegant roadmap of his intellectual journey. Read More »  “Until the End of Time”: God and Brian Greene By James Como on Jun 04, 2020 03:59 pm Brian Greene is the latest in a long line of thinkers who assert that there is no God, and no free will, no independent consciousness, no transcendent reality whatsoever. Though we learn much science from Dr. Greene, none of it dull and much of it fascinating, he leaves us perplexed in the end. The ... Read in browser » “Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight” By Nicholas Vachel Lindsay on Jun 04, 2020 06:15 pm It is portentous, and a thing of state That here at midnight, in our little town A mourning figure walks, and will not rest, Near the old court-house pacing up and down, Or by his homestead, or in shadowed yards He lingers where his children used to play, Or through the market, on the well-worn stones ... Read in browser » Cry, the Beloved Country
By Alan Paton on Jun 04, 2020 10:56 am Some of us think when we have power, we shall revenge ourselves on the white man who has had power, and because our desire is corrupt, we are corrupted, and the power has no heart in it. But most white men do not know this truth about power, and they are afraid lest we get ... Read in browser »  American Foreign Policy and the Failure of Reason The Battle of Jumonville Glen: The French & Indian War Begins The Divisions & Trade Wars Leading Up to the Monroe Doctrine By Bradley J. Birzer on May 21, 2020 04:00 pm Even though President James Monroe could not fix the economy or dismiss the Missouri question, he could certainly distract the nation from its problems. In his second inaugural address, he gleefully announced a new target for American anger: The British were not allowing free trade between the United States and the English-occupied West Indies. ... Read in browser » Turning the Whole Soul: The Moral Journey of the Philosophic Nature in Plato’s “Republic” By Andrew Seeley on May 21, 2020 04:00 pm According to Socrates, to save Philosophy, to save young souls destined for greatness, to save human society itself, the true, philosophic nature must be freed from the corruptive influences that have formed him and receive the best education. The soul must be turned around. I forgot that we were playing and spoke rather intensely. ... Read in browser » Understanding Genes, Decadence, and the Decline of Empires By Donald Devine on Jun 01, 2020 04:00 pm We have become victims of our very success in producing a comfortable life so that nothing new seems worth much further effort. The United States and the West might even be as decadent as was ancient Rome, which managed decline for centuries. Why not the United States too? Everyone on the right seems to ... Read in browser » The Richard Weaver-Abraham Lincoln Debate By Thomas Hubert on Jun 01, 2020 03:30 pm For some time I had puzzled over a discrepancy or inconsistency between two of Richard Weaver’s essays which treat of Lincoln to one degree or another. In his “Abraham Lincoln and the Argument from Definition” (1953), Weaver praises Lincoln as a “conservative” by virtue of his employment of the argument from definition on such ... Read in browser » A Protestant Integralism? by Greg Forster If all political history is simply a contest between Christian and anti-Christian ideas, everything is a battleground. Read More » Portrait of a Cold War Intellectual by James Matthew Wilson
David Pryce-Jones's Signatures reminds us of a more dire and serious age but also of one in some ways more genuinely human than our own. Read More »  Rape as Jihad by Raymond Ibrahim American Thinker May 15, 2020 https://www.meforum.org/60957/rape-as-jihad INTERVIEW: GEORGE WEIGEL ON POPE ST. JOHN PAUL II AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM Religious Freedom Institute blog Among his vast contributions as a philosopher, theologian, and leader in the Catholic Church, John Paul II was a vigorous defender of religious freedom throughout his life. Read More (See here for a roundup of George Weigel’s commentary and appearances related to St. John Paul II’s centenary.) GAMES INTELLECTUALS PLAY By EPPC Distinguished Senior Fellow George Weigel Syndicated Column The proponents of a confessionally Catholic state as the optimum form of government are small in number. But they’ve demonstrated an impressive ability to rile up the debate about the current American political situation, and about Catholic social doctrine generally, so a few questions are in order. Read More Slavery Rampant In Africa, Middle East; The West Wrongly Accuses Itself
quoting Ayaan Hirsi Ali via Gatestone Institute For the intersectional activists, the US is the world's biggest oppressor -- not China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, or Iran. THE CHALLENGE OF MODERNITY: RECONCILING LIBERTY TO EQUALITY & WHY TOCQUEVILLE MATTERS TODAY4/13/2020 Benedict XVI, Vatican II, and the “hermeneutic of reform” By Mark Brumley on Jun 29, 2020 09:40 pm Recently, Second Vatican Council’s legitimacy and value have again been challenged. Some observers behave as if Benedict XVI saw Vatican II as a problem and proposed a “hermeneutic of continuity” to overcome the problem. Some [...] Read in browser » On John Paul II’s centenary By George Weigel on May 13, 2020 03:01 am As the world and the Church mark the centenary of the birth of Pope St. John Paul II on May 18, a kaleidoscope of memories will shape my prayer and reflection that day. John Paul [...] Read in browser »  Freedom from Reality: The Diabolical Character of Modern Liberty By Thaddeus Kozinski on Apr 12, 2020 04:01 pm As our physical and political freedoms are increasingly curtailed by Leviathan due to the Coronavirus pandemic, we are hopefully becoming more aware of the value of what we are losing. Hopefully, it will be the occasion for a more urgent and honest reflection on the true meaning of freedom. Freedom from Reality: The Diabolical ... Read in browser » Thoughts From Isolation: On Descartes & the Intellectual Roots of Our Cultural Woes By Siobhan Nash-Marshall on Apr 13, 2020 04:00 pm So what do I believe? What do I really believe? I presently believe that I feel the sun warming my skin, that I see light streaming through my windows, that I am sitting at my desk, that I am holding a pen in my hand. I believe that it is Wednesday and that I ... Read in browser » Proxy wars over religious liberty Ryan T. Anderson | National Affairs Religious liberty is a prerequisite for a moral life, but it is not the substance of it. A proxy war is not a substitute for the hard work of moral argument and moral formation. A Restless Tocqueville By Bruce Frohnen on Apr 15, 2020 04:00 pm Alexis de Tocqueville distanced himself from the liberal view that men by nature spontaneously would form lives of blissful contentment, were they not “corrupted” by political society. Nonetheless, at the heart of this liberal Tocqueville lies the “restless mind”—a mind that sees the essence of humanity in the realization that each of us “dies ... Read in browser » “On the Burning of Notre Dame” By David Russell Mosley on Apr 15, 2020 10:30 am From arches old, the fire enfolds the spire. The holy relics, art, and host were saved. The stellar ceiling now reveals the graven Sky. The circling stars shine through the fire. Parisians gather to pray and vent their ire, Grieving loss of culture, loss of faith. The beads all clinking as they pray Ave ... Read in browser » The Notre Dame Fire: A Sign of the Times By Brendan Fowler on Apr 15, 2020 02:45 pm Our Western culture is on fire and not in a good way. In the midst of a pandemic, economic chaos, and continuous social deconstruction, the burning of Notre Dame paints a startlingly fitting image of the West. The Memory of the Ideal Architecture is the structured form of the Ideal; it is the culmination ... Read in browser » Modernism vs. Traditionalism in the Art of Female Nudes By David Breitenbeck on Apr 21, 2020 03:59 pm In two famous paintings of female nudes, we see more than just two differing depictions of the same subject. We see the essential differences between the Traditionalist and Modernist artist: The former looks outward, seeking something higher than himself to contemplate, while the latter looks inward, seeking to assert his own will upon the world. ... Read in browser » Property and the Pursuit of Virtue by Edward J. Erler The American Founding contained Aristotelian elements of natural right—especially concerning property—that insulated it from modernity's corrosive effects. Read More » Is Conservatism an Ideology? by Bradley BirzerIn his excellent, short book, Conservatism: Dream and Reality, Robert Nisbet had no problem in identifying conservatism as an ideology, proclaiming it one of three ideologies to have emerged since the Enlightenment of the eighteenth century, the other two being radicalism and liberalism. In his definition of the ideology, conservatism, Nisbet provided six “dogmas” that every conservative—to one extent or another—accepts... [MORE] The Plight of the Conservative Artist in a Liberal World by Kay ClarityThe left has long understood the power of the arts in furthering radical ideas, in a way conservatives have largely failed to grasp in defending theirs. Conservatives with the financial means must increase their support of conservative artists for the sake of a culture in immediate need of the wisdom that a long intellectual, cultural, educational, and political conservative tradition has produced... [MORE] The Religious Roots of the Socialist Fantasy by James Poulos
Today’s “socialist” turn reflects a desperate desire to stop the clock—and a wounded recognition that the hands will keep on spinning. Read More »  Lessons from a Whisky Priest Peter Kwasniewski In February, I read a novel for a men’s book club (back then, we still had the good fortune to be able to meet for normal social interactions; March’s meeting got canceled). The novel was Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory, which I had never read, and had always reproached myself for not having […]Read More Jurgen Habermas, John C. Calhoun, and Slavery By Lee Cheek and Carey Roberts on Apr 03, 2020 04:00 pm Perhaps no American thinker has suffered more from a scholarly hegemony of discourse than John C. Calhoun, whose work and personage are often dismissed by his critics for a single phrase attributed to him, diminishing the careful and complicated analysis he deserves. The careful reader does not have to be a devotee of Jürgen ... Read in browser » Cardinal Pell Is Vindicated
Sean Fitzpatrick “I have consistently maintained my innocence while suffering from a serious injustice.” These words, issued by George Cardinal Pell upon his acquittal on Tuesday, should both heal and haunt the Catholic Church. There can be no justice if there is no truth. And, even in the wake of inexcusable abuse by Catholic bishops, the truth […]Read More The San Remo Conference 100 Years On By Prof. Efraim Karsh, April 24, 2020 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: There is probably no more understated event in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict than the San Remo Conference of April 1920. Convened for a mere week as part of the post-WWI peace conferences that created a new international order on the basis of indigenous self-rule and national self-determination, the San Remo conference appointed Britain as mandatory for Palestine with the specific task of “putting into effect the declaration originally made on November 2, 1917, by the British Government [i.e., the Balfour Declaration], and adopted by the other Allied Powers, in favour of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.” This mandate was then ratified on July 24, 1922 by the Council of the League of Nations—the postwar world organization and the UN’s predecessor. Continue to full article -> Gang rape of disabled woman horrifies Iraqis A sexual assault on a mentally disabled Kurdish woman in a predominantly Turkmen town has shocked and outraged people across Iraq.  Saudi Arabia and Iran Both Persecute Religious and Ethnic Minorities By Dr. James M. Dorsey, March 25, 2020 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: A series of recent measures in Saudi Arabia and Iran that gravely violate the rights of religious and ethnic minorities call into question their moral claims of adhering to core faith-based values of mercy and compassion. Continue to full article -> "The Governments of India and Pakistan solemnly agree that each shall ensure, to the minorities throughout its territory, complete equality of citizenship, irrespective of religion, a full sense of security in respect of life, culture, property and personal honour, freedom of movement within each country and freedom of occupation, speech and worship, subject to law and morality. Members of the minorities shall have equal opportunity with members of the majority community to participate in the public life of their country." - Liaquat–Nehru Agreement (or the Delhi Pact), a bilateral treaty between India and Pakistan that sought to guarantee the rights of minorities in both countries after the partition of the subcontinent, signed by Pakistani Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan and Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on this date in 1950. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IS NOT A BOON GRANTED BY THE BENIGN STATE
By EPPC Distinguished Senior Fellow George Weigel The Catholic World Report Just governments have obligations to protect religious freedom as an unalienable right of persons, and to regulate its exercise for the sake of the common good. They will do that regulation properly if they keep that prior obligation firmly in mind, and resist the temptation to imagine that they “confer” religious freedom on the people they serve. Read More  On the Anniversary of Goethe’s Death By David Gosselin on Mar 21, 2020 04:00 pm The decline of literature indicates the decline of a nation —Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) remains Germany’s most popular poet and arguably its best alongside Friedrich Schiller.[1] Born in Frankfurt into a bourgeois upper-middle-class family, he spent his early years as a leading voice in the Romantic literary movement known ... Read in browser » The World Must Come to Walsingham Michael Warren Davis This face, for centuries a memory, Non est species, neque decor, Expressionless, expresses God: it goes Past castled Sion. She knows what God knows, Not Calvary’s Cross nor crib at Bethlehem Now, and the world shall come to Walsingham. Frederick Wilhelmsen called Juan Donoso Cortés the Augustine of the nineteenth century: the chronicler of civilization’s […]Read More George Santayana and the Ironies of Liberalism By Nayeli Riano on Apr 07, 2020 04:00 pm The question—is liberalism a self-defeating enterprise?—has gained traction over the last couple of years. Even as far back as 1921, the Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana dedicated time to this topic in the form of an essay he titled “The Irony of Liberalism.” In this brief work, Santayana explored prevalent themes that emerged throughout liberalism’s ... Read in browser » James Harrington insists on the possibility of an empire of laws. The claim that institutional arrangements can force self-interested behavior to serve the common interest underlies the system of separated powers and checks and balances central to the American constitutional order. But is he right? Can this theory of “dividing-and-choosing” give us confidence? “Two ...
Read in browser » The life, faith, and struggle of Joseph Ratzinger: An interview with Peter Seewald By Carl E. Olson on Jan 13, 2021 10:58 pm The veteran German journalist Peter Seewald first met Joseph Ratzinger nearly thirty years ago. Since then he has published two best-selling book length interviews with Cardinal Ratzinger—Salt of the Earth: An Exclusive Interview on the [...] Read in browser » Francis vs. the Deep Church Michael Warren Davis Does the Vatican have a General Directorate for Personnel? This is, perhaps, the most boring question ever posed by a writer in Crisis Magazine. And yet, as we fumble for an answer, we also come a little closer to understanding one of the most confounding papacies in 2,000 years of Christian history. Last Friday, the […] Read More A Pontificate under the Banner of Mary: Hans Urs von Balthasar on Pope Saint John Paul II By CWR Staff on May 13, 2020 11:58 pm Editor’s note: This essay, written by Hans Urs von Balthasar in 1988, was published in the May 2020 issue of KIRCHE heute (Church today) and is republished here in English, in slightly different form, with [...] Read in browser » Medium, Message, Meaning By Amy Welborn on Jan 11, 2021 07:47 pm Over the past half-decade or so, blogs – which along with discussion boards of various types, had long provided the main venues for conversation and expression on the Internet – have been thoroughly usurped by [...] Read in browser » Seamless Garment or Political Comforter? Michael M. Uhlmann In the 1970’s, the late Joseph Cardinal Bernardin and his episcopal allies advanced the notion that Catholic politicians should not be judged only, or even primarily, by their position on abortion. Abortion was merely one strand in a rich and finely woven “seamless garment” of Catholic social teaching in defense of life. Numerous other issues, […]Read More  For Thine is the Kingdom: Tom Holland’s “Dominion” By Dwight Longenecker on Mar 07, 2020 03:59 pm Like a queen who rides a bicycle, Tom Holland’s “Dominion” is both majestic and down-to-earth. From antiquity to modernity, Mr. Holland traces a sneaky thesis that Christianity has changed the world—transforming it from the inside out. Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World, by Tom Holland (624 pages, Basic Books, 2019) Every once ... Read in browser » Back to basics for conservative education reform Character formation, civics, and the inculcation of the best of our traditions are inseparable from any meaningful idea of education, writes Yuval Levin. Conservatives will now have to press that case — and help our fellow citizens see its promise. READ MORE Discerning the Spirits: Gerhart Niemeyer as Culture Critic The Three Conservative Burkes: Hayek, Strauss, and Kirk Opening the fifth seal: Catholic martyrs and forces of religious competition Rachel M. McCleary and Robert J. Barro | AEI Economic Policy Working Paper Series Two months into his pontificate, Pope Francis canonized the 813 martyrs of Otranto, the largest such group in recorded Catholic Church history. Five months later, Francis beatified another large group, 499 martyrs of the Spanish Civil War. Francis continues to emphasize martyrs over confessors, the name given to blessed persons who died of natural causes. Over 100 martyrs’ causes for Guatemala are at various stages of investigation for eventual beatification. Papal attention of this magnitude for a small country such as Guatemala seems, at first glance, to be excessive, but this pattern is not an outlier, constituting part of the pontifical global perspective articulated first by St. John Paul II and now Francis. This paper assembles data on martyrs chosen by popes from 1588 (Pope Sixtus V) to early 2020 (Francis). Lies and Truths About Who We Are By George Stanciu on Mar 09, 2020 04:00 pm The most important question a person can ask is the philosophical question, “Who am I?”, because without knowing who we truly are, we will not be sure that what we seek is good for us and what we try to avoid is bad. The unexamined answer given to the philosophical question determines to a ... Read in browser » Byzantium’s Orphans, Rome’s Foundlings: The Legacy of the Greek Unionists By Charles Yost on Mar 11, 2020 04:00 pm The admonitions of Byzantine’s unionists resonate well beyond the Fall of Constantinople—if we had but ears to hear them. Indeed, we today, standing amidst the threatened walls of the house of the West that was once known as Christendom must cherish a culture of Christian solidarity, the conviction that the City of God is ... Read in browser » Joseph Ratzinger on fasting from the Eucharist By CWR Staff on Mar 19, 2020 11:42 am In Behold the Pierced One (pp.97-98), Joseph Ratzinger (Benedict XVI) wrote: “When Augustine sensed his death approaching, he ‘excommunicated’ himself and undertook public penance. In his last days he manifested his solidarity with the public [...] Read in browser » The Contributions of Eva Brann to American Political Thought By Elizabeth Eastman on Mar 19, 2020 04:00 pm Eva Brann’s contributions to American Political Thought is a starting point that allows the student to grasp the heart of her pursuits—that is, education. For Dr. Brann, the effort to understand the principles of the Declaration of Independence or discern how best to educate the citizens of a democratic republic can take place between ... Read in browser » Celibacy Is a Gift to Priests—and the Laity Michael Warren Davis
Few books have caused so much controversy even before they were published than did From the Depths of Our Hearts, a new defense of clerical celibacy in the Roman Church by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Robert Cardinal Sarah. On January 14, Benedict’s private secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, told the Italian news agency ANSA that, […]Read More Male and Female He Created Them. And for a Good Reason Anthony Esolen It has been just six years since I wrote Defending Marriage: Twelve Arguments for Sanity, warning against the fantasy that two members of the same sex can marry one another, when they cannot even have sexual relations but can only mimic them. I founded my arguments not upon Scripture or the teaching of the Church—indeed I did not […] |
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