Trump, Hillbillies, and the Forgotten Men and Women of America
Hillbilly Elegy not only helps us to understand the social phenomena highlighted by Donald Trump’s rise to the presidency; it also reminds us of other things that have been obscured by that rise, but that we ought not to forget.
The Battle Belongs to the Grassroots: This Is Our Moment
This battle hinges on one thing: creating a vibrant—dominant—marriage culture based on the participation of millions of individuals.
Feminists Should Fight the Department of Education’s Redefinition of Sex Discrimination
Title IX exists to address discrimination faced by women and girls. Now it’s being used to privilege the interests of one male over many females.
Against Pious Nihilism: C.S. Lewis on Natural Law
For many, the Narnia stories were their first exposure to the goodness of God and his creation. While they called us to move “further in and further up” to things that were more real and solid than these Shadowlands we now inhabit, they did so by calling us to attend to the traces of the divine already present in the created order.
Unconscionable: Threats to Religious Freedom and Rights of Conscience in the Abortion Debate
Waging war against those who cannot in good conscience help perform or facilitate abortions does little to improve access for women seeking abortions, damages the integrity of those who object, and harms civil society.
State vs. Family: The Tyranny of the “Emerging Orthodoxy”
State agencies used to intervene in family life only when it was in the “best interests of the child.” Now, however, their power is being exercised to advance an ideological agenda.
Parallel Societies: How the American Military and Civilian Worlds Parted Ways
The military is no longer a populist artifact but a plaything of political elites, and deep fissures have formed between it and the citizens that it used to represent.
Banking on the Margins or the Core of Human Flourishing?
Samuel Gregg’s new book makes it clear that the fundamental purpose of finance, as of all civic practices and institutions, is the good of human beings.
Mercy for Dylann Roof
Showing mercy to Dylann Roof by refusing to impose the death penalty would respect the acts of both his victims, who showed him welcome, and their families, who showed him forgiveness. In this way, good could be drawn from evil, and the sinfulness of Dylann Roof’s actions could be overcome by love.
On the Bipartisan Inadequacy of Governing Elites: A General Theory of Trump’s Victory
A bipartisan record of inadequacy by governing elites incapable of admitting their failures led to the election of Donald Trump. Thankfully, America is vast, diverse, and free enough to give itself a new governing elite if the old one can’t learn.
Who’s on Which Side of the Lunch Counter? Civil Rights, Religious Accommodation, and the Challenges of Diversity
In many ways, so-called progressives are comparable to lunch-counter segregationists, and proponents of religious exemptions are the heirs of civil rights activists.
Love, Liberal Education, and the Secret of Human Identity
True liberal education should teach us that we do not only give ourselves away: we become ourselves by the gift. We become who we are by forgetting to think about who we are.
