Nathaniel Peters

At Public Discourse , Peter Blair reviews Roger Scruton’s intriguing case for a conservative environmentalism: In the conservative vision, threats to one’s home, environmental or otherwise, are met by public spiritedness, by volunteering efforts united by what Scruton calls “ . . . . Continue Reading »

If we want to shrink the income and achievement gaps, we need to grow the vocabularies of our children. So writes E.D. Hirsch, one of the brightest lights in the world of educational theory: Such correlations between vocabulary size and life chances are as firm as any correlations in educational . . . . Continue Reading »

Piggybacking onto Joe Lindsley’s post, which captures Notre Dame so well, readers might enjoy G.K. Chesterton’s poem about Notre Dame football, reflecting on how the gladiatorial games were transformed by the coming of Christ. You can read the whole thing here , but the final stanzas . . . . Continue Reading »

Chanticleer, one of America’s finest choral groups, has introduced me to Christmas spirituals and gospel music. Here’s my discovery for this year: “Somebody Talkin Bout Jesus.” [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tiyUt1SNaU?rel=0&w=500&h=281] . . . . Continue Reading »

Today on  Public Discourse , Mark Regnerus speculates about the connection he found between men who support gay marriage and men who use pornography. Today’s pornography treats viewers to “a veritable fire-hose dousing of sex-act diversity.” Moreover, it doesn’t . . . . Continue Reading »

Should we scrap chivalry as sexist? At the Atlantic , Emily Esfahani Smith writes that we should instead reground it in its original roots : Historically, the chivalry ideal and the practices that it gave rise to were never about putting women down, as Connelly and other feminists argue. . . . . Continue Reading »

About a year before he died, Richard John Neuhaus did a small series of videos on vocational discernment and marriage. They present him at his finest and capture well the faith that fueled him in his life, priesthood, and public work, particularly a deep and abiding hope in God. Hope, he liked to . . . . Continue Reading »

To help create a liturgically appropriate celebration of Thanksgiving, try singing this chant with your family. I’m pretty sure it comes from Third Samuel. Happy Thanksgiving! . . . . Continue Reading »

If you go down St. Mark’s Place, between First and Avenue A, you’ll find a hotdog place“Crif Dogs, to be exact. If you go into Crif, you’ll see a counter at the end serving hotdogs. Two old arcade machines sit on the right. On your left there’s a phone booth, unremarkable since payphones were last used when those arcade machines were brand new… . Continue Reading »

This year, the bees are back in the Exsultet . The Church’s prayer of rejoicing before the Paschal Candle never ceased to mention them in the Latin text, but the English translation omitted them for no good reason. Since the new translation of the Mass is more careful in rendering the Latin . . . . Continue Reading »