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Gnostic Politics

I recently met a medical student who was beginning her rotation in internal medicine. A special morning session had been set aside to discuss proper protocols for interacting with patients. The person leading the discussion came from the hospital’s office of diversity and inclusion. She emphasized . . . . Continue Reading »

Standing Against Tyranny

A year before the end of his long life (1895–1998), the German author Ernst Jünger converted to Catholicism, a late change on a tumultuous path of searching and adventures that were far from exclusively spiritual. Born into a Protestant family, he attended conventional boarding schools, but at . . . . Continue Reading »

Briefly Noted

Tyll: A Novel by daniel kehlmann, translated by ross benjamin pantheon, 352 pages, $26.95 Daniel Kehlmann’s novel Tyll, like its title character, is full of dark surprises. Tyll ­Ulenspiegel, a legendary figure from German folklore, is a prankster, magician, and traveling performer. Throughout . . . . Continue Reading »

Waking in Dresden

After Richard Peter’s photograph of “Gute” Her shoulders slumped beneath their heavy cloak,Large hands outspread despite a shattered thumb,The lady Goodness stares out on the smokeAnd ruin below, and stands, as always, dumb.More planes already drone on the horizon,Their bellies pregnant with . . . . Continue Reading »

The Vanity of Guilt

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, no political question has so deeply divided Europe, and especially Germany, as that of mass migration from Africa and the Near East. Do European states have the right to protect themselves from an unprecedented influx of migrants? Are they permitted to . . . . Continue Reading »

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