While We’re At It

♦ After surveying the support for Hamas at elite universities and the fecklessness of academic leaders, Dan Hitchens reminded me of Roger Scruton’s comment two decades ago that if Osama bin Laden were to come out of hiding, “he would surely be given a chair at some prestigious American university.”

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♦ Charges of “fascism,” or, if one is trying to be subtle, “semi-fascism”: I marvel at how, for those on the left(and not a few center-right folks who find populism threatening), it is always 1939. For insight into this phenomenon, I recommend an essay by Renaud Camus, “La seconde carrière d’Adolf Hitler” (The Second Career of Adolf Hitler), now translated in Enemy of the Disaster: Selected Political Writings of Renaud Camus, published by a new venture, Vauban Books.

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♦ We tweeted a line from Louise Perry’s remarkable essay, “We Are Repaganizing” (October 2023): “Abortion is not just ‘healthcare’; it is not at all like getting a tooth or a tonsil removed.” When we turned to promote the tweet as part of an X Ads campaign, the Ministry of Truth at X (formerly known as Twitter) informed us that the ad would not run. Its communication specified a violation of a policy that prohibits the promotion of health and pharmaceutical products and services. But the thrust of Louise’s observation is analytical, not promotional. It concerns what abortion is. Welcome to the Free Society™, brought to you by Silicon Valley.

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♦ The Collegium Institute at the University of Pennsylvania celebrated its tenth anniversary in late October. Headed by Daniel Cheely, Collegium operates in the tradition of Lumen Christi at the University of Chicago. It’s an independent institute with its own funding and governance that engages contemporary academic culture with the resources of the Catholic intellectual tradition. The tenth anniversary was marked by a symposium on October 20–21: “The Future of the Christian Intellectual Tradition in the (Secular) University.” The two days of panels and presentations culminated with a gala dinner honoring Jim and Molly Perry, founding (and generous) supporters of the Collegium Institute. In his remarks to the dinner guests, Jim (a First Things board member) drew upon Robert Wilken’s essay “Catholic Scholars, Secular Schools” (First Things, January 2008). Wilken notes that, in today’s America, well-educated Catholics may be pious, but “they often lack the capacity to defend or express their beliefs—even to themselves—and are ill equipped to give an account of their moral convictions in our relativistic culture.” Collegium, Lumen Christi, and other new institutes and programs were founded to remedy this defect. Their mission is to provide the faithful (and the curious—not a few participants in these endeavors are unbelievers who crave moral and metaphysical substance) with intellectual formation. Wilken writes, “Mature faith is nurtured by thinking, and the renewal of Christian culture will happen only with vigorous and imaginative intellectual leadership.” My wife and I attended the gala dinner. It was a marvelous occasion to honor Jim, Molly, and others who have provided financial support, and to thank the leadership and staff of Collegium Institute (and Lumen Christi and others) for nurturing thought and training the rising generation of Catholic intellectual leaders.

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♦ Ross Douthat also spoke at the Collegium Gala. He sketched an account of the transformation of educational culture at elite universities over the last generation. The most important change has been the return of moralizing ambition, a reaction against soulless (and often soul-crushing) careerism and meritocratic competition. Wokeness, he argued, functions as an advanced (and debased) version of the Social Gospel and other urgent programs sponsored by the liberal Protestantism that was once a powerful force in elite higher education. As a consequence, organizations such as the Collegium Institute face a dilemma. As important as free speech may be, it lacks the moral substance and vision of the good life that can check the rampant careerism that makes four years at Harvard a scramble to get the right credentials and network for success. But the prevailing alternative is woke ideology, the main thrusts of which run counter to the biblical tradition. As a consequence, Christian intellectuals lack a home in present-day academia. Douthat suggested that we ought to heed Jesus’s counsel and be like children. Our task, at present, is simply to teach the moral, metaphysical, and theological content of the Christian tradition in its fullness.

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♦ I have spoken to many First Things readers who are frustrated by the ways in which their alma maters kowtow to woke ideologies. They no longer trust university leaders (and they should not). If you are such a person, I strongly suggest that you reconsider your donation pledges and commitments of financial support. The desire to honor your alma mater and provide support for the education of the next generation of America’s leaders is fitting. But it is irresponsible to finance institutions that propagandize and miseducate the young. Organizations such as Collegium and Lumen Christi provide an alternative, as does the Thomas Merton Institute for Catholic Life at Columbia University. There’s also a secular network of institutes, such as the Witherspoon Institute at Princeton and the Abigail Adams Institute at Harvard. If your alma mater does not have an independent institute—it’s crucial to avoid allowing our corrupt academic leaders to have any control—contact Mr. Cheely at Collegium Institute. He’d be happy to advise you about how to set up an alternative beneficiary for your philanthropy.

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♦ Bad news (and there’s lots of it) often makes it difficult to see that good things are happening in higher education. More than fifty students are enrolled in RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, the pathway to baptism and confirmation in the Catholic Church) at the Harvard Catholic Center. This fact does not foretell a revival sweeping through the Harvard student body, but the large cohort follows a pattern established after the pandemic. Other college chaplaincies report increased participation, interest, and conversion. It’s past time to stop throwing money at the already bloated endowments of Harvard & Co. We need to support the shoots of new life sprouting in the spiritual desert of elite higher education.

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♦ Reflecting on events in Israel and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, a friend lamented: “I can’t believe we don’t have world peace after changing the names on pancake boxes and syrup bottles.”

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♦ Above I noted the shameful failure of many presidents of elite colleges to make clear statements condemning Hamas’s atrocities. Not so Fr. Dave Pivonka, president of Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio. In response to “the horrific Hamas terrorist attack,” which an official university statement describes as encompassing “unspeakable evils,” Pivonka announced an expedited transfer program for Jewish students who fear anti-Semitic discrimination and violence at their current institutions.

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♦ As we go to press, Franciscan University is hosting a conference (co-sponsored by the Philos Project) titled “Nostra Aetate and the Future of Catholic–Jewish Relations at a Time of Rising Antisemitism.” It was originally planned to mark the fifth anniversary of the Tree of Life synagogue shootings in nearby Pittsburgh, but the timing is providential. At the conference, the Coalition of Catholics Against Antisemitism will release a statement. It opens: “We, the Coalition of Catholics Against Antisemitism, hereby commit ourselves to combatting resurgent hatred of the Jewish people today—in our country and around the world.” I was happy to add my name to those endorsing the statement.

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♦ I was in Boston in late October. One afternoon I strolled along Commonwealth Avenue, which has a narrow park in its center that stretches many blocks west of Boston’s Public Garden. It features statues honoring famous Bostonians, one of whom is William Lloyd Garrison, the ardent abolitionist and inconsistent Christian pacifist. (He championed Lincoln’s war effort from the very beginning of armed conflict.) After the Civil War, Garrison became a leading advocate of women’s suffrage. In a word, he was a full-spectrum progressive. As I gazed at his seated image, my eyes went to an inscription on the granite pediment. The quotation from Garrison reads: “My country is the world; my countrymen are all mankind.” It is always good to remember that the yard signs declaring faith in progressive pieties (“No human is illegal” and so forth) do not reflect the invasion of foreign ideologies into a once pure America. Quite the contrary—some of the most destructive political fantasies abroad today have deep roots in the American tradition.

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♦ First Things readers continue to band together to meet and discuss the content of this fine publication.

The Phoenix, Arizona ROFTers group welcomes new members. To find out when and where the group meets, contact Andy Halaby at andy.halaby[at]gtlaw.com.

Atlanta, Georgia ROFTers also welcome new members. Contact Kirk Susong: ksusong[at]yahoo.com.

John Hartnett of Bethany, Connecticut (the New Haven area) would like to form a ROFTers group. If you’re interested, you can reach him at jghart[at]aol.com.

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♦ Leaves are changing color and the days are shortening. It’s the time of year in which we gear up for our year-end fundraising campaign. The support that comes from generous readers like you is indispensable. First Things wins nearly 30,000 subscribers. But subscription and advertisement revenue cover less than half the expense of producing this excellent publication. Please consider making a donation. If you are already a regular contributor, please consider an increase.