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Declaring Independence

In the summer of 1775, amidst the heat of revolution, two hundred armed men gathered in Prince George’s County, Maryland, to prevent a Loyalist preacher from entering his own church. But the Rev. Jonathan Boucher would not be deterred. He confronted the mob, as he later recalled, “with my sermon . . . . Continue Reading »

Liberalism’s Fourth Turning

Something is wrong with America. A generation after the Great Republic vanquished the Soviet Union and established the superiority of constitutional self-government and free markets, voices in the public square lament domestic threats to “our democracy,” and it has become commonplace to list the . . . . Continue Reading »

The End of Prestige

For most of the Church’s history in the United States, Catholics have sought to demonstrate to their often suspicious neighbors the possibility of being a faithful Catholic and a patriotic American. This has been no easy task, given the modern and Protestant character of the nation’s founding . . . . Continue Reading »

Raw Deal

Of the two million waiters and waitresses working in America,” Batya Ungar-Sargon writes, “just over half own their homes.” My wife, who worked as a waitress for fifteen years, was in the lucky half. But we have watched many of her friends and colleagues struggle. Whether they work in the . . . . Continue Reading »

Diagnosing Disaster

“Why Did We Destroy Europe?” It’s an arresting title, chosen by Michael Polanyi for a 1970 essay that looks back on the conflagrations that consumed Europe between 1914 and 1945. (The essay can be found in Society, Economics & Philosophy, a posthumous volume of selected papers by . . . . Continue Reading »

Pro-Life Politics After Dobbs

Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was a great victory for the pro-life cause. Prior to the 2022 decision, dubious constitutional interpretation by the Supreme Court had impeded any effective limits to abortion. And it had given us a Constitution that was—as William Lloyd . . . . Continue Reading »

Be Loud

The central commandment found in American etiquette Torah is this old chestnut: Never discuss religion or politics. Do so, and you run the risk of offending those who hold different views. This is a grave sin, because polite society, after all, is an ideal predicated on the polite fiction that . . . . Continue Reading »

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