On November 6, Democrats and liberals had a good election night; Republicans and conservatives had a bad one. These things happen. It’s certainly true that the Republican Party and its candidates made some serious mistakes and could have done a number of things better than they did; but it would be tragic”and foolish”for the Party or the conservative movement to abandon its principles… . Continue Reading»
Earlier this spring I had the privilege of being asked to take part in the funeral of Chuck Colson. Because of other pastoral duties, I couldn’t attend. But the invitation meant a great deal to me. Chuck embodied what it means to be a Christian leader. He was a man of faith, wisdom, humility, and courage. These are easy virtues to list. They’re much harder to live”but Chuck did live them, and he cultivated them in others through the daily witness of his own actions… . Continue Reading»
Barack Obama’s victory has crushed conservatism, ended the Republic, and ushered in a thousand years of darkness. Or such was the mood last week among many political conservatives, who saw this election’s results as the sign of the death of our free republic, the people surrendering the risks and rewards of liberty for the certain thin gruel of a dole. And many traditional Christians spoke about the reelection of our American President in even darker, apocalyptic tones, as if the man were Nero redivivus… . Continue Reading»
Over the years, the American political left has excelled at using the vocabulary of rights”human and civil”to bolster and advance its policy objectives. Conservatives would do well to copy them. Building on the successes of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, progressives and Democrats have successfully cloaked their policy platform in rights-based language. In this way the battle over voter ID laws was transformed into a crusade against the resurgence of Jim Crow-era racialism… . Continue Reading»
President Obama’s re-election and the prospect of a second Obama administration, freed from the constraints imposed by the necessity of running for re-election, have created a crisis for the Catholic Church in the United States. In the thought-world and vocabulary of the Bible, “crisis” has two meanings: the conventional sense (a grave threat) and a deeper sense (a great moment of opportunity). Both are applicable to the Church in America these next four years… . Continue Reading»
Reading Tim Clydesdale’s The First Year Out: Understanding American Teens After High School put this professor on edge. I suddenly could see that I had been an inveterate practitioner of, in his memorable phrase, “liberal arts hazing,” the touchingly misguided attempt to get Meaning into the Lives of Our Youth. This notion of “hazing” would cover, I presume, the team-taught course to which half of my load is devoted, Invitation to the Humanities, which includes units on death, love, and the 1960s. By Clydesdale’s lights, we’re nuts… . Continue Reading»
I am relieved. Now that a week has passed, and people have processed things a little, I can admit publicly what I have to date only said to a few close friends. I am relieved at the outcome of the election. This is not to say I am pleased. Regardless of what he said while addressing the University of Notre Dame, Barack Obama has amply demonstrated his willingness to ignore the rights of religious entities to exist and to operate”in ways that go well beyond formal acts of worship”according to their founding precepts… . Continue Reading»
Most cities built before 1945 were founded at the scale of what today we might call a town or even a village. Some rose around some sacred site or along some pre-existing sacred path; some for purposes of protection or territorial conquest; others primarily to facilitate the production, distribution, and exchange of material goods; and others simply for human pleasure in extraordinary natural conditions… . Continue Reading»
The first thing to say is “calm down.” As our friend Steve Barr observes, we tend to over-interpret election results. That’s especially true for those of us paid to have opinions. Nothing sells soap like decisive pronouncements. “End of conservatism!” “New permanent majority.” “Thousand year reign of Democratic Party begins!” So instead of a summation I’ll make some tentative observations… . Continue Reading»
Same-sex marriage advocates frequently appeal to our country’s limited government tradition to urge redefining the age-old, cross-cultural understanding of marriage as the union of husband and wife into a union where a husband or a wife is unnecessary. “Government shouldn’t tell people who to marry,” they say. Notwithstanding this argument’s misleading claim (no one is “telling” you to marry anyone”though a society with gay marriage will have the force of law to tell some opponents to participate), its premise is still troubling… . Continue Reading»
