Many universities, especially religiously affiliated ones, state that they seek to foster both the intellectual growth and the ethical development of their students. Such universities set for themselves a rich goal: to educate the whole person, to develop students inside as well as outside the classroom, to enlarge the mind and the heart… Continue Reading »
Earlier this week, the American Society of Magazine Editors, the principal organization for magazine journalists in the United States, announced its 2011 National Magazine Awards Winners and Finalists. In the category for “Reporting,” they gave their prestigious award to Harper’s Magazine for “The Guantanamo ‘Suicides,’” an article by human rights activist Scott Horton. The choice for the award is extraordinary, and will no doubt prove controversial. For in his “reporting” Horton has concocted in the once reputable magazine one of the most elaborate and extensive conspiracy theories ever published. … Continue Reading »
Lander, Wyoming is not an easy place to get to. I got there in February by flying from Washington to Denver and then sitting around the Denver airport for hours, while the local commuter airline that flies to the airport nearest Lander tried to get its small planes refueled in 15-degrees-below-zero weather. While waiting, I was informed that the flight schedule of this particular airline, which will remain nameless, is more subjunctive than indicative… . Continue Reading »
We Catholics who grew up straddling the cusp of the conciliar divide may have a vague memory of the phrase “offer it up.” It was advice frequently given by the sisters who taught us our catechisms: “when you are in pain, when you are disappointed, when your feelings have been hurt, offer these things up to the Lord and ask him to use your suffering”that He join it to His own pain on the cross, for the good of others. Offer it as penance for your own sins, or the sins of those who cannot or will not do penance for themselves; offer it for the sick, the lonely, or for their intentions… . Continue Reading »
For most people, the Spanish Civil War is ancient history and the rare soul who bothers to look into it finds a kind of pre-Cold War throwback, (allegedly) pitting faith and fascism on the one hand, against unbelief and communism on the other. Furthermore, partisanship led to some truly awful artistic and historical accounts of the struggle, even leaving aside the Communist propaganda… . Continue Reading »
When the world learned that the United States had killed Osama bin Laden, shrewd observers of the liberal political class, particularly its European chapters, knew how they were going to be talking about it. The nearly universal jubilation will be indulged for a day or two, and then the usual brows will furrow and the wise and good begin to express their concerns and worries and doubts. … Continue Reading »
We recently put our dog to sleep. Born an excitable and aggressive animal with chronic diarrhea and an unstable temperament, we poured far more money into Chloe (as she was named) than we could afford, and would have spent even more to save her: if her salvation had been possible. It was not. In the final week of her life, Chloe’s hair fell out, her appetite and strength faded, her hips stiffened, and her behavior grew erratic and violent toward our children. … Continue Reading »
Forgive me for simply laying out a sequence of random thoughts (on a single theme) that occurred to me a few hours ago, as I was swimming around in my morning cistern of coffee; but it seems to be all I’m fit for just at the moment. I remembered this morning that, a few weeks ago, I happened to mention here that I thought Max Beerbohm’s “Enoch Soames,” from his collection Seven Men, to be maybe the most amusing short story in English. Continue Reading »
I am traveling this week so I must produce this column early and hurriedly. I am unable to devote the hours and hours of labor necessary to produce anything as seamlessly smooth as my previous submissions. (You detect, I trust, a little of my sly, winsome humor.) What I’m saying is: You all cut me some slack this week. What I do have are a couple of items, both, in my judgment, deserving some little skewering … Continue Reading »
The young obstetrics and gynecology resident watched as the two-pound fetus was placed in a bucket, crying and struggling to breathe. Although the other medical personnel who participated in the illegal abortion pretended not to notice, the medical student recognized they were overstepping the bounds of morality by picking and choosing who should live and who should die… . Continue Reading »
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