thoughts in and out of season
There are right-wing as well as left-wing opponents of Christianity. Right-wing opponents—exemplified by the European New Right—blame Christianity for the universalism and radical egalitarianism they believe are destroying the West.
Even if it is those things that are to blame for the current state of the West, the complaint is misplaced. Europeans have been looking … More ...
The relation between civilization and cultural revisionism is paradoxical. On the one hand, revisionism visibly contributes to a decline in civilizational standards — rising crime, declining standards of culture, and increasing crudity and violence in daily life. On the other hand, the most educated, cultured and prosperous places are the most revisionist. The moderately pro-family … More ...
The relation between civilization and cultural revisionism is paradoxical. On the one hand, revisionism visibly contributes to a decline in civilizational standards—rising crime, declining standards of culture, and increasing crudity and violence in daily life. On the other hand, the most educated, cultured and prosperous places are the most revisionist. The moderately pro-family and pro-faith … More ...
This account in First Things of Radical Orthodoxy is interesting for a couple of reasons:
All is not well in academia. From rank-and-file victims of Left politics and academic consumerism, who are choosing early retirement, to superstars of postmodernism and critical theory, who now seem to agree that political engagement doesn’t engage anything, more and more academics are asking themselves “why bother?”
It’s surprising it took them so … More ...
Will this make it big as the next health scare? Environmental plastics and the feminization of Culture. Macho organic health food fans finally have a cause they can call their own.
No child left behind! Like all utopian slogans, it sounds good until you look at what it means. The problem is that the slogan only makes sense if the state can become a universal supplier of adequate education—that is, if it can take on the parental role in raising children. It can’t, though, because its … More ...
Joseph Stromberg gives a rather lengthy summary of various people’s complaints about the American regime and soul: The Dark Night of the American Soul. (The title is intended to be ironic, he doesn’t think the American soul ever has a dark night.) It reads a bit like an accumulation of notes, but the accumulation … More ...
A reader asks—evidently hoping to provoke discussion—whether America is the most evil society ever.
The obvious answer is “no.” Abortion isn’t as bad as abortion plus infant exposure. The Colosseum was worse than MTV. And the consumer society has its problems but so did slavery. Still, the question is provocative. America and other present-day Western … More ...
Recent studies prove: self-esteem is bad for you. There’s no substitute for dealing with reality and calling problems problems. I wonder if that principle has any relevance to happy talk within the Church?