For years my parents have had a standing order with their local second-hand bookseller to set aside Sigrid Undset’s Kristin Lavransdatter whenever a copy comes in. They give it to friends, students, acquaintances — anyone who might read it. My father was introduced to Kristin just before his conversion by a Catholic friend, who summed … Read more
It seemed that wherever he went, he would have been more at ease somewhere else. Even the tranquility of his childhood, passed in an idyllic part of Surrey, was a channel away from the grave of his mother who died during his infancy in Saint-Germain-en-Leye. His father had brought the seven-year-old Maurice Noël Léon Couve … Read more
There have been so many books about Thomas Jefferson that it’s hard to see what more can be said about him. But Alan Pell Crawford, in this elegant, elegiac book, suggests that looking at Jefferson’s last years will help us understand his greatness as a Founder and as a president. Twilight at Monticello: The Final … Read more
As a long-time fan of Star Trek, I have to say that the Prime Directive is majorly stupid and incoherent. Now, I realize I risk alienating a large number of people simply by speaking seriously about Star Trek. So I will hasten to add that I’m not one of the “Get a life!” people who … Read more
Last week an appellate court in Los Angeles County handed down a ruling that may criminalize homeschooling in California. As a homeschooling father of six, this troubles me. My main opposition, though, comes from my experience as a public high school teacher. Last week an appellate court in Los Angeles County handed down a 3-0 … Read more
Thirty-one years after philosopher Dietrich von Hildebrand died, his work is enjoying something of a revival. New editions of his books are being translated and published for the first time. Catholic colleges and universities are integrating his thought into philosophy courses. And a theologian who knew and admired von Hildebrand sits on the Chair of … Read more
Panic spread among the estimated 166,000 homeschoolers in California for a week, and outrage grew around the homeschooling community nationwide. On February 29, WorldNetDaily broke the story of a decision by a California Court of Appeals ordering two homeschooled children from the Los Angeles area to be enrolled in public school. Reporter Bob Unruh compared … Read more
A new and unusual film festival focused on pro-life issues will be held in San Francisco this coming Friday, March 7. The Cinema Vita Film Festival is “dedicated to encouraging emerging filmmakers, showcasing movies about contemporary issues concerning life, and exploring life’s deep significance.” Sponsored by the Archdiocese of San Francisco, the Diocese of Oakland, … Read more
Here in Seattle, the Land at the End of History, all you have to do to induce complete credulity in the average Seattleite is preface whatever quack junk you are palming off on our highly sophisticated urban post-Christian crowd with “the Ancient Chinese art of” [insert quack junk]. After all, as we Seattleites all know, … Read more
Father Thomas Euteneuer’s remarks on Coach Majerus need to be read in perspective. Almost 50 million innocent people have been killed via abortion, methodically and deliberately. This state-sanctioned genocide has been occurring in the United States for 35 years. Even pro-lifers are vulnerable to being inured to this stark fact. ► Click here to read … Read more
Overwhelmed with information, we often miss revealing tidbits in the news that can be so enriching to our appreciation of life as it is lived early in the 21st century. Herewith, for your delectation, some items you may have missed from early 2008. Overwhelmed with information, we often miss revealing tidbits in the news … Read more
The “Fast Folk” movement grew out of New York City in the 1980s and 1990s, producing a new wave of acoustic singer-songwriters. The more famous among them included Shawn Colvin, Lyle Lovett, and Suzanne Vega, as well as lesser-known artists such as John Gorka and Lucy Kaplansky. Many of them were songwriters whose work would … Read more
Last month, I began talking about modern American classical music. The impetus was the new releases in the stellar Naxos American Classics series, as well as some other new CDs of American music. As I said, I doubt that many readers will have heard of many of the composers. I spent most of the column … Read more
Russian film director Pavel Lungin is perhaps most famous for his bleak, gritty dramas about the despair of post-Communist Russia, earning him a reputation as a fan favorite at film festivals around the world. His most recent film, Ostrov (The Island), was named the closing picture at the 2006 Venice Film Festival, nominated for a Grand Jury … Read more
“We didn’t invite Hillary Clinton, she asked to come. So we had no choice but to say ‘yes’ to hosting the campaign rally.” That’s what a Catholic college official allegedly told the distraught mother of two students who called the college last week to complain. The mother then called me to ask what she could … Read more
“What do you think you’re doing!” cried the great scientist to the soldier, as he leaned over his tracings in the sand. The soldier — who had no idea who the man was, and how much his commander wanted him alive — slew him on the spot. Had his world needed the works of … Read more
Last year, Georgia Right to Life introduced a Human Life Amendment (HR 536) in the state legislature that would amend the Georgia constitution to define the human person and protect unborn life from the threat of abortion. Hearings were held last week by the Georgia Judiciary Committee in the midst of swirling controversy over the … Read more
The Mitchell Report, Major League Baseball’s report on performance-enhancing drugs, makes clear that steroids and other banned substances (primarily human growth hormone, or HGH) have been widely used in the sport over the past decade. MLB and the Players’ Association have shamefully turned a blind eye to this developing problem that every serious fan long … Read more
A term paper on Aristotle ended with the following sentence, not in quotation marks: “After all, a good man can only be truly good in the company of other good men.” The sentence struck me. Was it a citation from some place? I checked Google. The references it gave were no help. Many passages used … Read more
When Pope Benedict XVI addresses Catholic college presidents and diocesan superintendents in Washington, D.C., on April 17, his topic will be the importance of Catholic education. He is likely to urge universities to remain faithful to Catholic teaching, preserve the unity of faith and reason, and prepare young people for the challenges and the suffering … Read more
