A couple of months ago I reviewed R.R. Reno’s book Return of the Strong Gods, in which the author calls for strengthening the loves and loyalties that hold Western societies together. At the end of […]
Methods of communication have huge social effects. Before the written word people lived tribally. All communication was word-of-mouth, and social order was personal, local, and traditional. Religion was myth, custom, and folklore. Among the Old […]
Many people today, especially conservatives and Christians, find it alarming that basic human connections and loyalties keep weakening in favor of impersonal economic and administrative arrangements. The tendency has been going on for a long […]
My monthly column is called “Ecclesia et Civitas” because it mostly has to do with the relation between the Church and the secular community. That’s a hard topic to get a handle on. We are […]
Last month I commented on Catholicism and nationality. My basic point was that the existence of particular peoples is a natural and beneficial part of human life that should be respected. That point is often […]
Identity is basic to how people think about themselves. Am I a man or woman? Father or son? Catholic or Muslim? American or Japanese? Such things help people define who and what they are and […]
Liberalism tells us everyone should be able to do, be, and get whatever he wants, as much and as equally as possible. People believe that represents a new and higher stage in political and moral […]
Does liberalism, the view that makes equal freedom the highest political standard, mean tolerance for Christianity? Or does it ultimately mean suppression of Christianity in the name of the freedom and equality of non-Christians? The […]
There is no ideal society this side of the Second Coming. Flawed people can’t create such things, and we’re all flawed, so social gains are offset by social losses. Current tendencies of thought, which reject […]
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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