Viganó’s critics and the end of history
There has been much commentary on Archbishop Carlo Viganó’s recent bombshell letters, including from many who have strongly criticized both Archbishop Viganó’s motives and the contents of his...
View ArticleNarrating the Tradition of Liberalism’s Anti-Tradition
Criticizing the current liberal order is a popular activity. Authors such as Patrick Deneen, Rod Dreher, D.C. Schindler, Mark Lilla, Johnathan Haidt, and Jordan Peterson have generated significant...
View ArticleCan the narrative of liberalism cultivate a good society?
The rise of discontent in American public life is continually before our eyes. The public sense of fracturing can be witnessed in a resurgence of calls for populism, whether it be from the left, or [...]
View ArticleDemocracy, health, and the economy
John Ikerd, emeritus agricultural economist at the University of Missouri, observes that “to most economists, if the economy is growing, if it is getting bigger, then the economy is getting better,...
View ArticleThe perils of our present liturgical context
The Pew Research study revealing the rather drastic absence of belief in the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist has garnered significant commentary. In general, the commentary has...
View ArticleClimate change as political theology
In his 2008 book entitled The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics, and the Modern West, Columbia professor Mark Lilla elucidated the newness of modern political thought, which is predicated upon the...
View ArticlePhilosopher offers acute analysis of “the diabolical character of modern...
In a November 2018 New York Times op-ed, Andrea Long Chu acutely details an eye-opening account of what we could call “a new type of liberty.” Chu is genetically male, and has sought to medically [...]
View ArticleLoneliness, disconnection, and our divine vocation
“I am just dying to be with people; the cabin fever is making me nuts.” Such sentiments are an all-too-common component of our conversations these days. The reality of the COVID-19 pandemic, and its...
View ArticleCOVID-19 and Real Demon in Democracy
“The video you just sent to me was taken down by YouTube. Somebody is watching, and they are not your friend.” This is a message I received recently from a good friend who is a [...]
View ArticleAmy Barrett and the relationship between religion and politics
During Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearing for Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, held on September 6, 2017, Senator Chuck Grassley posed the following question to the nominee: “When is it proper...
View ArticleWelcoming the Light of Dogma
During the moral theology class I was teaching this past summer, we read certain sections of St. Thomas Aquinas’ moral treatise in the Secunda Secundae of the Summa Theologiae. In his treatment on the...
View ArticlePolitics and the inherent dilemmas of “liberal democracy”
Aristotle stated in his Politics that one of the most necessary, yet dangerous, political and intellectual tasks was to say precisely what a political regime is. In other words, the health of a...
View ArticleLosing our roots and ourselves: Structural flaws in contemporary education
One of the most frequent platitudes spoken and written about in the public form today concerns education. While particular instantiations vary, the principle idea runs as follows: “There is a crisis in...
View ArticleSeeking holiness and wholeness in an age of technology
During a recent group conversation about contemporary technology, a friend mentioned what he considered to be the elephant in the room, namely, that we live in a technological age. “To be...
View ArticleSeeing the meaning of sports in a regime of politicization
The fact and givenness of a game’s nature is good in itself. It is an affirmation that this reality exists—but does not need to. [...]
View ArticleUnderstanding culture in the light of Divine Revelation
Culture does not come to exist out of necessity, rather, culture can be seen as an analog to creation: it comes to exist out of [...]
View ArticleA brief defense of Fr. Schall on Islam, Christianity, and intelligence
In a recent essay at the Public Discourse, David Rahimi offered a critical review of Fr. James V. Schall’s recent book On Islam: A Chronological Record, 2002-2018 (Ignatius Press, 2018). While it is...
View ArticleCOVID-19 policy and the mechanism of control
The most common platitudes in the midst of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic apparently run along the following lines: “listen to the science,” or “facts are facts.” Such assertions certainly have a ring of...
View Article2020 and the possibility of revitalized, healthy politics
In the midst of our current stagnation and exhaustion from the recent election, I keep returning to something President Trump said back in 2016: “I’m a conservative, but at this point who cares? We’ve...
View ArticleOpinion: Covid-19 and the prevailing narrative
The political philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre once observed that the surest obstacle preventing someone from seeing the “facts” in front of them is their particular theoretical vision of the world. In...
View ArticlePondering the purpose of the more restrictive SARS-COV-2 mitigations
The SARS-COV-2 pandemic began with the reasonable concern to protect hospital capacity. Infected patients could not be rightly cared for if hospitals were constantly under siege. As we are now in a...
View ArticleOpinion: The return to flourishing
With the advent of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in the fight against SARS-COV-2, the time is ripe to foster a public conversation on how to return to a normal social life. This conversation will [...]
View ArticleOpinion: The real void
Much ink has been spilled concerning the Holy Father’s recent motu proprio, Traditiones Custodes. I want to highlight a point that I think should have been in the document, but was not. And the absence...
View ArticleThe Democratic City and the tendency to thoughtlessness
The COVID-19 pandemic and the destructive mitigation responses to it have certainly placed a heavy existential weight on democratic citizens. The social, political, and economic chaos of the past two...
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