Columns
Harassment, social progress, and the Church
Current thought intentionally excludes common-sense understandings of how things are, especially with regard to sex and the sexes. […]
Articles by James Kalb
Columns
Donald Trump, social issues, and Catholic witness
A better world requires better leaders with a more developed view of things. The Church is the custodian of such a view, but her leaders, […]
Ecclesia et Civitas
Anti-Ideals, Anti-Theologies
The current intellectual, social, and political situation has been catastrophic for the Church. It is increasingly bad for secular society, where it is radicalizing divisions […]
Columns
Does Catholic political idealism make sense?
Many have insisted that one ideal or another is specially suited to Catholicism, or perhaps even demanded by the Faith. But is that really the […]
Ecclesia et Civitas
Contemporary Tyranny and Catholic Social Doctrine
The current situation of growing soft totalitarianism is too recent and too disturbing for its implications for Catholic social action to have been adequately understood […]
Columns
Education and Civilization
Education is preparation for life. We are social, so its purpose is to prepare us for a good life in community. It affects the whole man, inculcates community ideals, and builds on what we already […]
Ecclesia et Civitas
Does American exceptionalism still have something to offer the world?
People say the United States is different from other countries, but how, and what does it mean? A basic distinction is that it is a comparatively new country governed by the oldest secular revolutionary government […]
Columns
The Benedict Compulsion
The ”Benedict Option” now receiving so much attention is rather different from anything pursued by Benedict of Nursia. Even so, there’s a family resemblance, since both have to do with closeness to God and a […]
Ecclesia et Civitas
Benedictine Options
“Benedict Option“ is a fertile expression that could refer to several things worth discussing. Saint Benedict had one version of what it means, Rod Dreher has another, and commentators have presented still more. For Benedict himself […]
Ecclesia et Civitas
Do ideals matter anymore?
Man is a rational animal. From a moral standpoint, that means he aspires to act—and often does act—in accordance with principles that join together to form an ideal of life. He’s also social, so his […]