Joseph Henrich argues that the Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic world got its uniqueness from family codes imposed by the Church in the Early Middle Ages. The key parts of these codes were not restrictions on same-sex marriage or […]
Despite his weaknesses and economic errors, Ron Sider was a true believer, one who did not care about being ‘trendy’ or ‘cool’ or appealing to any establishment, whether the ‘woke’ establishment of our society or the bourgeois establishment of the […]
There are many ways of dealing with the current political polarization. But, Fukuyama says, the best is to hope for yet another realignment, where a section of the electorate changes parties and gives one party a clear majority. A friend […]
In exchanging Jesus for Barabbas, the people chose a practical terrorist over The One who did not seem likely to fulfill their political dreams any time soon. The big news in Jerusalem the night of that first long-ago Good Friday, […]
David Brooks, in his recent book, The Road to Character, makes a distinction between two kinds of virtues and tells us we need to be more concerned about ‘legacy virtues’ and not just the ‘résumé virtues’ that give us success in […]
The heresy of ‘critical theory’ has revived ideas of guilt inherited by, or inherent in, groups, such as genders, races, or economic classes. The Prophet Ezekiel has some choice things to say about all this. In our time there is […]
The big moral issue behind intentional racism, classism, and the like is the issue of ‘profiling’. Should we assume that, because of people’s appearance, color, or income, they would be more or less likely to do certain things? Or be […]
Orthodox theologian Vigen Guroian tells us that orthodoxy of community is a better witness than politics. I agree. But the Religious Right was originally triggered into politics partly by a fear that they would lose their freedom to function in […]
There has been a spate of books recently about ‘Christian nationalism’. I believe that while I am undeniably a ‘social conservative’, and I make no apologies for that, I am not a ‘Christian nationalist’. There is a difference, and I […]
There have been claims throughout the history of Christianity that portions of the Church were excessively feminized. Though author Leon Podles is a Catholic himself, most of the space in his book, Losing the Good Portion: Why Men are Alienated […]