Wise is he to whom all things taste as they are.—Joseph Pieper The first time the popular use of “pragmatic” registered on me was during the campaign of 1960. Time explained that religion was not a real danger with either Kennedy or Nixon, since both were “pragmatic.” It was . . . . Continue Reading »
A pall hangs over the American debate about equality. It is becoming difficult for people to speak their minds. College campuses, of all places, are filled with silences, and the discussions that do occur are often awkward and truncated. Racial minorities and women fear being told they are unworthy; . . . . Continue Reading »
Democracy is still very much a minority phenomenon among the nations of the world, but it is hard to deny that there appears to be something like a democratic revolution afoot. According to Samuel Huntington of Harvard University (writing in The National Interest ), there have been three . . . . Continue Reading »
Books on Islam, we are told, are enjoying brisk sales. For reasons related to the imperialist past of those countries, intellectuals in England and France have generally paid more attention to Islam than have Americans. Apart from academic specialists, American interest in Islam has been limited . . . . Continue Reading »
Dear Cachexia, Well, isn’t this impressive! You’ve had charge of this patient of yours for just two weeks and you’ve already managed to let him slip into taking part in a pro-life demonstration at a Planned Parenthood “clinic.” How do you do it? Keep this up, and you’ll soon discover . . . . Continue Reading »
The alarm sinks its teethinto my ear. I drag outof our warm bed. Anotherwinter day breaksin fragments of nightmare.The sun hasn’t shown,afraid to face this growling windand the thousands of drearycommuters going nowhere beyondthe dollar sign and grave marker. I punch on the light and youroll back . . . . Continue Reading »
Our Idea of God: An Introduction to Philosophical Theologyby Thomas V. MorrisUniversity of Notre Dame Press, 192 pages, $18.95 Aclear and solid introduction to philosophical theology, which is best described as an attempt to answer the questions children ask: Where is God? What is God like? How do . . . . Continue Reading »
Faith and Philanthropy in America: Exploring the Role of Religion in America’s Voluntary Sectoredited by Robert WuthnowJossey-Bass, 327 pages, $29.95 More than $100 billion is given to “charities” each year in the U.S., and more than half of that giving is associated with religion. Another . . . . Continue Reading »
Nutshells on patched linoleum,cracks skipped overon the long sidewalk home,hide-and-go-seek gamewe stopped counting. Still sometimes we huntfor that small face,ragged sleeve abovea chapped hand.We search beneathdecayed porches, throughyards full of dry weedsand rusted cans. The blown years . . . . Continue Reading »
Decter Pro and Con Midge Decter’s “Farewell to the Woman Question” (June-July) was a superb little piece. She cuts through the two decades of self-deception, bullying, and patronizing since the so-called Sexual Revolution established its tyranny over American social life. Decter reveals the . . . . Continue Reading »
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