If we have the humility of the saint and the eyes of the Romantic poet, we will be grateful for the gift of beauty, being rendered speechless in its presence that we might hearken to the silence and its visual music. It is through this silence, born of wonder, that we are moved to the [...]
Anyone who questions the usefulness of literature might want to reflect how often every day we try to fit people’s actions into a cogent narrative. What happened exactly? we ask. What choice was made, and who made it? What were the consequences? Given these consequences, what conclusions about the character of the person who made the [...]
In his play "Becket," Jean Anouilh anchors his themes in a traditional Christian worldview. Becket’s journey to finding his “true self” is shown to be identical with honoring God and fulfilling one’s moral duty. Plays, movies and other dramatic renditions have made the life and martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket familiar to a wide audience. [...]
The direction that constitutional practice has taken in the past hundred years shows that the Framers’ conception of republican government has passed and the era of populist democracy has arrived. The underlying transformation of the unwritten constitution renders efforts to return to the Framers’ original intent problematic. Much has been written in the past century [...]
Recent correspondence with a friend has prompted me to contemplate what books I would include in a semester-long course on the Modern British Novel. My friend announced his intention to teach A Handful of Dust, which is my favourite of Evelyn Waugh’s early novels. Nonetheless, I couldn’t see myself teaching any novel by Waugh except his [...]
"Luca" might have “subtexts” that are unhealthy, but its “text” is about outsiders finding acceptance, fatherless children finding fathers, and young people whose talents fit them for things other than goatfish-herding being given the opportunity for school. None of those things belongs to one group exclusively. They belong to all of us who are human. [...]
The solution America needs involves creating deep and enduring bonds through which outstanding individuals, with grit and God’s good help, get things done. Amid the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, a glimmer of honor appeared on the horizon. A group of American veterans helped evacuate fellow Americans and faithful Afghans left behind with the Taliban. These [...]
Larry Elder’s film “Uncle Tom” is a must-see for anybody who thinks all black people think alike or that American black history is simply a history of victimhood. They’re black, they’re proud, and they’re all-American—just like the film they’re in. While it is unlikely that blacks will vote as a majority for Donald Trump or [...]
“You Americans have no idea what you have here.” That line was spoken to me in heavily accented English roughly a half century ago. It hit me hard at the time, and it has popped into my head many times since. The speaker was a Czech immigrant, who also happened to be my landlord. A [...]
In the realm of Catholic fiction, there is a great divide between popular fiction and that which attempts to be timeless literature. The former is good entertainment that takes place in a Catholic universe and incarnates Catholic themes; the second is at times overly didactic and even clumsily allegorical. The great literature successfully melds the [...]
On September 11, 2001, Muslim terrorists attacked the United States on her own soil. Today, on the anniversary of this terrible event, let us recall the address of President George W. Bush in order to remember the innocent men and women who lost their lives. May God bless America. […]
If we do succeed in killing ourselves and destroying the world, then it will not matter who was right and who was wrong about science, the pandemic, climate change, or a host of other problems and afflictions. Our vicious quarrels, which at the moment so distort our perspective and seem so vital to our identity, [...]
When one sets to work, one should be liberal but strict, gentle but firm, frank but reverent, orderly but alert, compliant but courageous, forthright but warm, easy going but unyielding, resolute but sincere, forceful but righteous. If one can manifest these principles, it is excellent indeed! If one can show three of these nine virtues [...]
The convergence of the American and British presidential and parliamentary systems on a new form of tyranny poses a serious threat to what scholar Walter Bagehot called “government by discussion,” the only civilized hope of free government known to mankind today. Introduction In his classic 1867 book The English Constitution, the great Economist editor and [...]