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Idealistic Nihilism

We live in paradoxical times. Over the last two generations, college students, especially at top-ranking universities, have been educated to believe that there is no transcendence. Human beings are a bundle of instincts, they’re told, or software in meat hardware, or some other reductive . . . . Continue Reading »

Letters

I appreciated Mark Bauerlein’s recent essay “System’s Failure” (November 2023) on some of the many flaws in “systemic bias.” There is, however, a much easier way to dismiss the whole enterprise out of hand: when proponents are unwilling to start with the government’s K–12 education . . . . Continue Reading »

Witness to Modernity

Sooner or later, every generation begins to look backward. Instead of blaming present woes on present-day opponents, writers past middle age take the longer view of their lives. Not too long ago, such retrospectives in the Catholic world were dominated by those who had watched the Church change from . . . . Continue Reading »

The Verdict on Judgment

“Who am I to judge?” asked Pope Francis in 2013, when questioned by a reporter about an alleged “gay lobby” within the Vatican. The rhetorical question became a flash point—both for those who hoped that it signaled a new approach toward those with homosexual attractions, and for those . . . . Continue Reading »

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