Tradition in action gives rise to new work, and the new work changes the tradition… At a gathering of Wyoming Catholic College faculty and staff on Monday morning, I had occasion to mention T.S. Eliot’s seminal essay “Tradition and the Individual Talent.” Eliot still had an overwhelming ascendancy in literary circles even in the 1960s and early [...]
We should consider G.K. Chesterton the great liberator and purifier of eros, fighting for its rights in the great civilizational turmoil of his times, and doing it in a strict accordance with the great philosophical and theological tradition of the West, not only Christian—but also Pagan… “There are more than enough considerations that might keep [...]
The consoling power of P.G. Wodehouse’s work arises not so much from the humor as from the detail in which he renders his worlds. Had he merely been funny, the consolation, the reprieve from the troubles of mundane life, would have been lesser…. Comedy is a funny thing. It can ask us to look at [...]
Are you dipping your toe into the classical music waters, not sure if you’re up for the full swim, but willing to wade around a bit? Hop in—the temperature is just right! Here are 10 tips for you. I love when people contact me to express their interest in classical music. And 2018 is already turning [...]
Forrest McDonald’s biography of Alexander Hamilton most likely will prove indispensable. What Hamilton thought, and how he came to think it, is nowhere else so plain as here. Alexander Hamilton: A Biography by Forrest McDonald (464 pages, W.W. Norton & Co., 1982) That Alexander Hamilton was among the most luminous and creative of the Founding Fathers every [...]
In politics, compromise and consensus may have to suffice, but in academia, it is absurd to let consensus, identity politics, subjective self-reference, or anything else supersede truth. A prominent professor of linguistics publically taught the party line on gender pronouns. It is not necessary to name the semi-famous professor because even though it is absurd, [...]
Wilhelm Röpke infused his detailed analyses of modernity with a sensitive respect for the values of tradition and religious faith and their critical importance in building social and economic order. Born in 1899 in Schwarmstedt, Germany, Wilhelm Röpke would become one of the most distinguished economists of his age. Acknowledged as a worthy peer by [...]
TV screens are everywhere, seemingly omnipresent; difficult to avoid; gatecrashing our minds and demanding our attention, whether we want it or not; techno-rapists which force themselves upon us… I have long since broken the habit of watching television. We don’t have TV in the house and I relish all the good things that fill the [...]
Gene Kizer’s practical advice and his notations of political correctness and anti-Southern bias make The Elements of Academic Success an ideal purchase for any current or potential college student, especially those of a conservative and pro-Southern bent… The Elements of Academic Success by Gene Kizer, Jr. (364 pages, Charleston Athenaeum Press, 2014) I wish I had read [...]
For much of contemporary thought, God is an invention. But the idea of God accords with the nature of reality. Belief in God is useful for human order, as it centers and grounds all knowledge... On Tuesday, the United States Senate voted not to ban abortion after five months. To say that this decision is unbelievable [...]
"The Presentation of the Infant Jesus in the Temple" is one of the movements of Baroque composer Heinrich Barber's famous "Mystery Sonatas" (also called the "Rosary Sonatas"), a set of fifteen short sonatas for violin and continuo. According to the program notes for a performance of these works: The Mystery Sonatas survive in only a single manuscript [...]
With a “clear, plain, and palpable” eagerness to seize control of the Pennsylvania congressional map in time for the 2018 mid-term elections, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has gone beyond judicial activism and joined with the Democrats in their attempt to win control of the U.S. Congress. The details of how this came about and the [...]
Faith and culture are inextricably connected because a culture is always an expression of the faith which informs it. If a culture is animated by a belief in the triune splendour of the good, the true, and the beautiful, it will shine forth goodness, truth, and beauty… Why “faith and culture”? Do they go together? Can [...]
F. Scott Fitzgerald likened Jay Gatsby’s disillusionment and lack of purpose to that of the American people during the Roaring Twenties, those said to be in pursuit of the American Dream and materialistic success, ever reaching towards that green light, thinking the Dream would and will save them. Using the framework of a subjective narrator, [...]