Bradley J. Birzer The incarnate angel of Tolkien’s mythology, Gandalf the Grey, said it well in a conversation with Frodo. “I wish it need not have happened in my time,” laments the young Hobbit. “So do I,” Gandalf replies, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not [...]
As the great Princeton classicist and Nation editor Paul Elmer More viewed it, the Great War (1914-1918) had descended upon the world as a punishment by the gods. Nineteenth-century liberal man had forgotten how utterly flawed the human soul could be, and he had attempted to hide or destroy the temples and the so-called “superstition.” [...]
In case you missed it yesterday, the best radio talk show host around, Mike Church, spent nearly an hour talking with The Imaginative Conservative founder and editor, W. Winston Elliott III. Winston is a natural leader, and he’s been content to work behind the scenes, promoting the work of his friends. I’ve seen this for [...]
Over at the other site at which I write—Josh Mercer’s wonderfully edited and directed Catholic Vote—Joseph Bottum has a nice and brief post on the current implosive whirligig in Wisconsin. Ok, quick caveat—it’s happening in Madison which is certainly not the same thing as Wisconsin. It would be like stating that what happens in Austin [...]
It’s quite possible that the mere mention of “humanism” turns the interest of most professing Christians off, not unlikely pushing them away from serious engagement and discussion with anyone willingly employing the word. To these same people, the idea of modifying Humanism with Christianity probably seems paradoxical at best, oxymoronic somewhere in the middle, and [...]
Happy Birthday, Mr. President. What a happy blessing was given gratuitously to the world more than one hundred years ago today on the vast plains of northern Illinois. I must admit, I’m always at a loss when I hear or read conservatives spending more time criticizing Ronald Reagan than singing his praises. For eight [...]
A Few Thoughts From a Very Rusty Rustbelt, Recently Baptized by a Mass of Snow A CCA Lecture, February 3, 2011 A great thanks to my friend, Dean Paul Moreno, for inviting me to participate in this CCA Roundtable. And, a thank you to my colleagues, Gary Wolfram (AWOL!; Gary, oh, Gary—where art thou?) and John [...]
[I first published this 51 weeks ago at De Regno Christi. It was originally entitled, “Ralph McInerny, you make me smile.” Over the past year, I would only add–I miss McInerny’s wit and analysis of the world. His was a profound voice.] Ralph McInerny passed away this past weekend. Death is, of course, as much [...]
Winston Elliott, not atypically, has asked a profound if somewhat inconvenient question (When Is a Change in Government a Duty?) regarding the right to revolution. Inconvenient, that is, given the current disarray of our society and the sloppiness of most political, philosophical, and cultural discourse on such outlets as Fox “News.” For what it’s worth, [...]
I was pleased but not at all surprised to see Tracy Rowland’s recommendation of Barbara’s book, Street Saints. And, not just a recommendation. Rowland proclaimed Street Saints as one of her best reads of 2010 over at Carl Olson’s website, Ignatius Insight Scoop. As most readers of The Imaginative Conservative know, Barbara has been putting into [...]
J.R.R. Tolkien In 1958, at a Dutch bash held in his honor, Tolkien told his audience: “I look East, West, North, South, and I do not see Sauron. But I see that Saruman has many descendants. We Hobbits have against them no magic weapons. Yet, my gentle hobbits, I give you this toast: [...]
[This was a originally a talk I gave at Piety Hill, Mecosta, Michigan, in March 2003. Some of it is dated, but only a little bit. And, I’ve even softened some of my views regarding the Reformation and modern liberalism. But, overall, I’m happy with this talk. It was intended to be a celebration of [...]
One hundred fifty years ago today, the Union—or, what was left of it—was in an uproar. Two days earlier, after three days of debate, the South Carolina Convention declared itself independent of the American Union. Never before or since has a greater threat existed against the cohesiveness and integrity of the United States of America. [...]
In the early to mid 1950s, especially after publishing The Conservative Mind, Kirk began to develop his own own three pillars of a good society, "Order, Justice, and Freedom" as he would frequently put it in the 1970s and 1980s. In this 1954 article (excerpts below), published in the University of Notre Dame's Review of [...]