All great literature, in poetry and prose, is part of the great conversation which has animated Western civilization for almost three thousand years. Anything purporting to be literature which owes nothing to this great conversation is rootless and meaningless. It is not worth reading because it was not worth writing. It has nothing to say. [...]
Decadence ultimately entails the process of falling away from the vision that orders man's relation to the divine, to the community, to the self, to nature. In the Western context, it signifies a lessening of the hold on the imagination of all that inspires human beings to be devout. Through the ages the death of [...]
Andrew C. Johnston’s “The Sons of Remus” provides a window into not only how European identities were formed, but how all societies engage in a constant process of negotiation and renegotiation in determining who they are, where they came from, and where they are going. The Sons of Remus: Identity in Roman Gaul and Spain, by [...]
In the wake of Hamas' attack on Israel, Douglas Murray asks broad questions: “What can Western liberal societies do in the face of such movements? What can people who value life do in the face of those who worship death.” On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization, by Douglas Murray (209 [...]
It is the virtues—through God’s grace—that keep us on the straight and narrow path of morality, dignity, and freedom. And J.R.R. Tolkien, arguably the greatest mythmaker of our era, illustrated seven of these virtues in his books about the history of Middle Earth. To the headmaster, administration, faculty, parents, and, especially, to the Ascent Classical [...]
The heightened pace of life in industrial societies, Charles Lindbergh realized, necessitated reflection on what type of life is best suited for man. Which of the two, reason or vital instinct, constitutes the best function of human beings? Which of the two contributes best to man’s happiness and lasting well-being? Charles Lindbergh begins his Autobiography [...]
How Will We Save Western Civilization? This was the urgent question and theme for a gathering of international leaders in London in late February, where I had the honor of representing Christendom College. Many among the leaders were Catholic and we found ourselves naturally reframing the conference’s question within the context of our faith and [...]
Tomasi di Lampedusa’s “The Leopard” provides invaluable insight into 19th-century Italian history while creating a compelling story, allowing readers to relive an unfamiliar age of revolution and a fading nobility. Time under quarantine has been an excuse to revisit a personal favorite book and to explore its history, controversy, and literary value. I can think [...]
Benedict XVI left us with countless theological insights. But he also left us with an important lesson about the very foundations of democratic society and culture that we often take for granted. The recent death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI reminds us of an essential and historic connection between religion and Western civilization. Religious belief and [...]
The task of conservation, in our present day, necessarily entails supporting liberal education. Those conservatives who do not support it will fail to conserve our Western identity. That is to say: they will fail to conserve anything significant, no matter how many tributes they pay to some abstract ideas of “freedom” or “liberty.” I’d like [...]
Land acknowledgement statements lack factual support: What was the historical nature of the “atrocity” mentioned in the statements? By what “violent and coercive means” was the land stolen? Morally charged language requires painstaking factual research and justification. We are all familiar with the ubiquitous land acknowledgement statement that has become a common feature of political [...]
Did Archbishop Fulton Sheen prophesy about these times? In a talk 76 years ago, Bishop Fulton Sheen appeared as visionary as prophets of old. “We are at the end of Christendom.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen said during a talk in 1947. Making clear he didn’t mean Christianity or the Church, he said, “Christendom is economic, political, [...]
Against a modern age that denied notions of meaning, purpose, and truth, Richard Weaver articulated a conservatism of hope and affirmation based on the Platonic-Christian heritage and its manifestation in the American South. Richard Weaver reasoned it was the emergence of nominalism, the departure from Platonism and Christianity, which produced the intellectual heresies leading to [...]
Suddenly, a demographic winter is upon us. We’ve seen it coming for decades. However, the effects of this population implosion are now starting to be felt. Nation after nation report low birth rates and aging populations. No amount of monetary incentive is enough to change people’s minds—even in more traditional societies. Women and couples seem [...]