Essay
Man and Arbiter
An arbiter, derived from the Latin for judge, is defined as “one chosen to judge or decide a disputed issue”; also, “one who has the power to judge at will”. Many insist that an arbiter […]
Articles by Thomas M. Doran
General
The iridescent Chinese dragon
The Chinese dragon is not red, or green, or gold. It is iridescent, representing the expedient image that China’s leaders desire to present to the world, to entice or intimidate, to lure or frighten. Slow […]
Film & Music
How Great is This Gatsby?
Ad Finem Fidelis…faithful to the end. Well, not exactly. These words are inscribed on Gatsby’s mansion gate and are laden with irony in relation to this film. When a film is made of a great […]
General
Puzzle-Plot Mysteries and Their Golden Age
When modern mystery readers ponder the genesis of the genre, Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie come to mind. All-but forgotten are S. S. Van Dine, Dorothy L. Sayers, J. D. Carr, Earl derr Biggers, […]
General
The Menace of the Herd
“Alice came to a fork in the road. ‘Which road do I take?’ she asked. ‘Where do you want to go?’ responded the Cheshire Cat. ‘I don’t know,’ Alice answered. ‘Then,’ said the Cat, ‘it […]
General
Incrementalism and Abortion
There’s an apocryphal story about a frog in a pan of water in which the temperature is gradually increased. The frog, not sensing the danger, is boiled before it leaps to freedom. There’s also the […]
General
Literature and the spirit of the age
There are frequent debates about what constitutes great literature, and no little disputation. Today, the prevailing and authoritative view combines an ideological filter with anthropological filter to separate “important” literature from the herd of common […]
General
Strange Bedfellows? Radical Islam and the Radical Left
In his February 21, 2013 article in The Wall Street Journal, “The Assassin at the Door”, Lars Hedegaard describes how he barely escaped assassination for his public criticism of radical Islam, and attempts to impose Sharia Law […]
General
Crossing the Channel: The Witness of St. Edmund Campion
Edmund Campion had an illustrious career in front of him. He was a rising star at Oxford University and had captured the favorable attention of the Queen of England. Elizabeth I. All that was necessary […]
General
The “logic” of “pro-women” progressives
Laws recently passed in Michigan that would require abortion clinics to meet the same licensing requirements as other clinics, and would prohibit coercion of girls and women contemplating abortions, have many progressives and their media […]