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The New Populism

Echoes of Discontent: Jesse Jackson, Pat Robertson, and the Resurgence of Populism by allen d. hertzke cq press, 293 pages, $29.95 In a recent book about the 1992 elections, two veteran political correspondents describe an electorate in a nasty mood, “as mad as hell.” The fact of the matter, . . . . Continue Reading »

Getting Real

A few months ago my stepdaughter turned eleven. On the verge of adolescence, Stella wonders daily about the stuff of female life. Hair, clothes, boyfriends. Condoms, sexual harassment, abortion. A New York City kid’s list of concerns is somewhat more bewildering than mine was at her age. At the . . . . Continue Reading »

The Bible, Corrected

I Corinthians 6:9 Do not be deceived. Neither sexists, nor racists, nor ageists, nor looksists, nor ableists shall inherit the People’s Republic of God.  Luke 24:44 Then he said to them, “These are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written . . . . Continue Reading »

Life’s Value

The Children of Men by p. d. james knopf, 241 pages, $22 For some years now the novels of P. D. James—most of which feature Adam Dalgleish, London homicide detective and published poet—have been growing increasingly ambitious. In the early Dalgleish stories, as in most mysteries, the . . . . Continue Reading »

Saving the World

In the Fall 1991 issue of New Perspectives Quarterly , which is very usefully devoted to the problems of unity and diversity in the contemporary world, Isaiah Berlin observes that the twentieth century is “the worst century that Europe has ever had.” Certainly there is widespread . . . . Continue Reading »

The Newtape File III

I trust it did not escape your notice that I have eliminated an affectionate diminutive in my greeting. I am just a bit annoyed that those undamned Smiths in Fremont, Nebraska—whom I have placed in your keeping—persist in tithing. You did succeed in staying Mr. Smith’s hand . . . . Continue Reading »

The World’s Oldest Virtue

Whenever there is a contest between etiquette and acknowledged virtues, etiquette loses. Hardly anyone would dispute the proposition that morals are more important than mere manners, and the assertion that etiquette can and should be jettisoned for a higher good is commonly made and accepted in . . . . Continue Reading »

The Priests of Culture

The New Testament’s epistle to the Hebrews was written to Jewish converts in the early Church who had shrunk back from their Christian confession when faced with persecution. To encourage them to persevere in the new covenant in Christ, the writer shows how the details of the Old Testament . . . . Continue Reading »

The Cultural Middle Ground

What Joan Shelley Rubin aims to do in The Making of Middlebrow Culture is “redress the disregard and oversimplification of middlebrow culture in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s by illuminating the values and attitudes that shaped some of its major expressions.” Thus she lets us know at . . . . Continue Reading »

Christ, Culture & the New Europe

The Synod of European bishops that took place in Rome last year engaged a wide range of topics. Nevertheless both the meetings and the press coverage of them kept returning to a single theme, that is, the re-evangelization of European culture. While some people find in this idea a fascinating plan . . . . Continue Reading »

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