Tempering terrorism

I am all for the revival of the humanities in our universities, but The Globe and Mail’s John Allemang may be expecting too much: Can the liberal arts cure jihadists? If not, they might at least persuade moderate terrorists to settle for incremental . . . . Continue Reading »

Jeremy Lott’s Life of Buckley

The Thomas Nelson company sent me AmSpec alumnus Jeremy Lott’sWilliam F. Buckley.  I will write a full review later, but I have just begun the book and can already tell that Lott is going to bring attention to some underappreciated territory.His hook is that Bill Buckley was more or less . . . . Continue Reading »

Thirty Three Things (v. 13)

1. The Bookshelf as Memory Theater What concerns me about the literary apocalypse that everybody now expects—the at least partial elimination of paper books in favor of digital alternatives—is not chiefly the books themselves, but the bookshelf. My fear is for the eclectic, personal . . . . Continue Reading »

The Blessings of Atheism?

I was bored with Hawking’s statement about God before he even made it, but this zinger from Richard Lea at The Guardian is worth sharing. Reminding us that Hawking has far outsold his fellow scientists who have tried their hand at trade books precisely because of “his willingness to . . . . Continue Reading »

Czechs chuck church, prefer pub

The Economist carries two stories that may or may not be related to each other. First, in a story about beer consumption in Asia, we find a nifty map showing the levels of beer-drinking per capita for several countries around the world. Second, in an article on Europe’s irreligious, there is a . . . . Continue Reading »

Catholics Have Had It Bad Here

In today’s second “On the Square” article, Catholic Persecution, Muslim Acceptance , Georgetown’s Chester Gillis tells the story of the prejudice Catholics suffered in America from the early settlements till at least World War II, as a cautionary tale about prejudice against . . . . Continue Reading »

Patriotism and Solidarity

In a long posting at Public Discourse, ” The Mosque’s Lesson in Loyalty ,” Carson Holloway provides helpful analysis of the legitimate human impulse to love one’s own. Beginning with family and clan, radiating outward to neighborhood, community, and nation, we have a native impulse toward . . . . Continue Reading »