The value of fairy stories lies in the fact that they serve as a lens by which the heavenly can be seen on the earth, a lens by which the deepest and most important realities are grasped. They allow us to judge evil from the perspective of the good, and the imperfect from the perspective [...]
The Seventh Seal is focused on man’s spiritual doubt, and even complete lack of faith in God. The film asks: How can God remain separate from us as we experience darkness and suffering? The Swedish director, Ingmar Bergman, has secured his place in the cinematic canon not only as a superb and unique director but [...]
The Foreign Service Officer should be ever aware that the identity of the persons to whom he is representing America depends on their culture, and on the features of that culture to which the regime that reigns over these persons gives priority… Foreign service officers represent the United States of America. The substance of what is [...]
The largely-forgotten rules of etiquette were part of an overall project of turning testosterone-driven male lust into meaningfully-directed male courtship. Parents have to remember that teaching their children how to dance, how to date, and how to court and be courted is their job. I had to apologize for my species again today. Not the usual [...]
Art, understood as a medium that engages the imagination and desires of its audience, can lure out aspects of its audience that would otherwise be kept hidden. Awareness of what desires the art excites and how one’s imagination is played upon can afford a perceptive viewer an opportunity to gain knowledge both of himself and [...]
Hector Berlioz composed Le carnaval romain, ouverture pour orchestre (Roman Carnival Overture), Op. 9, in in 1844. Intended to be performed as an independent piece, it employs themes from Berlioz' opera Benvenuto Cellini: The beautiful melody on cor anglais in the slow introduction comes from the Act I duet between Teresa and Cellini, and the rousing central section [...]
The philosophical roots of the liberal arts can free students from a life of slavery spent spelunking in the cave of ignorance, trivialities, and the merely menial… Today’s offering in our Timeless Essay series affords our readers the opportunity to join Robert M. Woods as he examines the purpose and benefits of studying the humanities [...]
The premise that the soul does not exist has practical consequences in society. If there is no soul, then there is no final destination where evil is punished and good rewarded forever. Morality itself becomes irrelevant… Evolutionists rarely proclaim their incompatibility with Christianity so as not to alarm Christians. They will generally try to present [...]
Russell Kirk thought that because justice is rooted in nature and because in its perfection transcends all time and space, one can innately observe virtue in the actions of wise women and men. Such observation of our heroes and those we admire might be the best teacher in our current day, serving as reminders of [...]
A genuinely ordered marriage is predicated on producing something more beautiful than the mere sum of its two parts, in the form of a third and synthesizing part: a child. Indeed, what they produce together is something new, something worthwhile, something beautiful. After all, two chords played separately are still not as beautiful as two [...]
Vatican diplomats are on the verge of a new relationship with China, and, moreover, about to make a deal with the communist state. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that Rome is capitulating to an avowed atheistic enemy of religion… Taking advice from his boss, who encouraged everyone to “go out and make a [...]
One must have a closed heart not to see that some minorities still are mistreated, that some women are still abused, and that some members of the gay community are harassed. But one must have closed eyes not to see how some have used the victim card for personal gain. When I first heard Meghan [...]
To read is to become a seraphim, a polyglot, a beneficent hydra. We become more ourselves. We become better selves, better souls. We transcend being merely thinking machines or gluttonous beasts but transform into creative creatures who love, give, and are nourished by beauty. “If you don’t read good books, you will read bad ones,” [...]
A lantern dims within the old belfry; There are not now any bells to be rung; And yet there sleeps a song dreaming nobly In the silence where once three bells had swung. Within the heart of a fair land far-flung, Beneath stars that no longer burn brightly, Above groves where once hyacinths had sprung, [...]