In the film Full Metal Jacket, which is set during the Vietnam War, there is a scene where a platoon of American soldiers is pinned down by a sniper. Two soldiers have already been hit. They writhe in pain, and perhaps death throes, out in the open. The newly christened platoon leader, “Cowboy,” tells his … Read more
Question: Who said, “Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper”? Was it (A) Sean Hannity, (B) Glenn Beck, (C) Rush Limbaugh, or (D) None of the above? The answer is (D) None of the above. It was Thomas Jefferson who further maligned the printed press, saying, “Truth itself becomes suspicious by … Read more
Suppose an anthropologist were asked, apart from the sound and fury of current politics, what were the signs of a dying culture, or a culture committing suicide? What might he respond, as following from human nature and from the terms of the question itself? What might he notice in our own? Such a culture would … Read more
The turmoil of the abuse crisis has made it hard to find or make sense of travesty in the new world shaped by “progressive values.” The recent McCarrick Rport does little to clarify it. A broader look at the cultural movements of the 1960s paints a clearer picture. The problem started with the counterculture revolution’s … Read more
Never mind what the mainstream media says. The presidential election is far from over. That’s not a conspiracy theory: no presidential election officially ends until the following January. We’re still two months away from knowing the official winner of the 2020 election. President Donald Trump and his allies are making the best possible use of that time. They’re … Read more
When I was a boy in Hollywood, in the palmy days of the mid-sixties, my father (in addition to his grocery-and-rent-paying engineering job) wrote screenplays. None of these were ever sold, alas. But while I watched Batman and the Green Hornet, and stood bemused at the antics of the hippies, Dad’s fertile imagination ground out … Read more
It’s Sunday morning. As you get out of your car to walk into the church, you look down at your watch. You’re running late, and if you don’t hurry, you won’t get a seat inside. You look to your left and see a family of five walking besides you. You look to your left and … Read more
Today, religious art is the subject of an almost universal indifference. It’s no great task to see why. In September of 2019, Pope Francis (or, rather, Pope Francis’s coterie of managers, handlers, and other particolored eminences) installed a statue called Angels Unawares in Saint Peter’s Square on the snappily named World Day of Migrants and … Read more
Note: This past weekend, as many parts of the world continue to suffer from restrictions on the Mass, thousands of Catholics in approximately seventy cities across France—up from nearly 40 the previous weekend—gathered in front of cathedrals and churches for the third consecutive weekend to remind the government that Mass is essential and to pray for a … Read more
If the past month has been chaotic in America, it has seen some bloody scenes here in Europe. On the morning of October 29, a 21-year old Tunisian national entered the Basilica of Notre Dame in Nice, France began knifing the three people he found there. He virtually severed the head of an elderly lady, … Read more
Once again, Covid-19, or at least news of it, is on the rise—and, with it, media-hyped encouragements to hole up and hide away from our families and friends. And, hot out of the oven, we have the next new phenomenon spawned by the so-called pandemic: “virtual Thanksgiving.” That’s right, instead of traditional “in-person” gatherings of … Read more
Joe Biden, the self-declared President-Elect, is widely portrayed by the media as a “good Catholic” for his liberal position on immigration, with expectations that he will reverse many of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies once he takes office. “Biden has vowed to reverse limits on temporary workers, loosen visa restrictions on international students, halt border … Read more
A few days ago, former President Barack Obama announced that “there’s no actual evidence that there was anything illegal or fraudulent taking place.” That the former president is lying is obvious: Obama cannot be unaware of the evidence, from multiple whistleblower reports, to the multistate discovery of uncounted, wrongly counted, and ballots counted multiple times, to the huge vote … Read more
Canadians, unlike their feistier counterparts in the United States, tend to be law abiding, even to the point of submissiveness. Revolution was never in the genes. When the government urges them to wear masks to help ease the threat of spreading the Covid-19 virus, they are expected to comply, and comply without complaint. A parishioner … Read more
As we approach a quieter, simpler holiday season amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the Lord is giving us an opportunity to focus on what is essential: our faith and our family. Along with the hardships and the fears, the pandemic has given many busy families the chance to step back from overbooked schedules, spend more time … Read more
As all the world knows, the election of 2020 was destined to be messy, as the two nations inhabiting the territory of these United States geared up for battle: after four years of nonstop media abuse, in which the major news generators had long since abandoned any pretense to impartiality, both sides were spoiling for … Read more
I once overheard in a grocery store: “Darling, not everything you want is good for you.” There it was: in one simple phrase, the wisdom of a mother who knows that she should not buy whatever dessert or snack her child is asking for. Holy Mother Church has—or once had—the same wisdom for her spiritual … Read more
Pope John Paul II was unquestionably the most dominant figure in Catholicism in the last quarter of the twentieth century. He loomed large over every aspect of Catholic life, directing the Church through one of her most troubling times. And his influence transcended the confines of the Church; at the height of his popularity in … Read more
Columnist Damon Linker has had one of those emotional meltdowns we have come to expect from Never-Trump dead-enders. Mr. Linker has his nose out of joint about a lot of things Trump. Right now, he’s cranky that Trump hasn’t conceded the election. It’s an assault on our fragile democracy or something. In a recent column … Read more
Regardless of who wins the presidency, the more “centrist” wing of the Democratic Party has taken a substantial hit in the third Congressional election year in a row. Against all media expectations, Republicans picked up congressional seats. So did the Democrats’ radical, socialistic wing that is now trying to push Joe Biden to the left … Read more