Over at Inside Higher Ed, historian Steven Mintz writes: “In a world increasingly shaped by secularism and scientific empiricism, a paradox emerges: the enduring belief that history has direction, meaning and purpose—a secularized form of providentialism. Once the realm of […]
Thomas Frank on “fake populism”
Nathan Robinson, the editor of Current Affairs, starts his interview with author Thomas Frank by quoting from Frank’s 2016 book Listen, Liberal: “Now all political parties are alliances of groups with disparate interests, but the contradictions of the Democratic Party […]
On Frank Robinson, Earl Weaver, and the Baltimore Orioles
When I get the chance, I hope to read John W. Miller’s book The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented and Reinvented Baseball. The Washington Post is running a short excerpt. Here is a taste: Weaver changed how baseball […]
Catoggio: “Republican voters have been rooting for laundry since 2015”
Here is Nick Catoggio at The Dispatch: The modern Republican Party isn’t conservative in any meaningful way. Any lingering doubt about that was extinguished on Saturday. “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law,” Trump declared in a post. It’s […]
The Trump (and Musk) cuts to the federal government are taking their toll on American institutions and the people who work for them
The slashing and burning continues: Terminations at the U.S. Forest Service and Department of Interior are having a major impact on local communities. 3,400 people were fired from the Forest Service and 2,300 from the Department of Interior (National Park […]
Commonplace Book #342
All things that have been tried for the sake of renewal…in these decisive times, whether by individuals or groups, all the new goals that have been presented, all the new life-styles that have been tried, all the faith, hope, and […]
Commonplace Book #341
We must distinguish between what we call politics and what we call religion (in the highest sense). Politics cannot exist without a struggle for worldly power, but religion (at any rate that religion which is in the spirit of Christ) […]
The “woke right”
Here is Thomas Chatteron Williams at The Atlantic: One of the defining features of the social-justice orthodoxy that swept through American culture between roughly the death of Trayvon Martin in 2012 to Hamas’s assault on Israel in 2023 was the […]
Commonplace Book #340
Socialism and the use of force stand in basic and sharp contradiction. Socialism is based on the fundamental belief in the worth and sacredness of man, and by that I mean of each person, even the least one–indeed, of him […]
Jerome Copulsky and Mark Noll on the moral framework undergirding America’s liberal order
Over at Law & Liberty, Jerome Copulsky and Mark Noll talk about Copulsky’s new book American Heretics: Religious Adversaries of Liberty Order. Here is the setup: Today we will be speaking to Jerome Copulsky and Mark Noll. The subject will […]
Eric Metaxas rewrites the history of January 6
There are a lot of American evangelicals who get their American history from Eric Metaxas. In a recent segment of his radio show, Metaxas said that there were no violent protesters at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Watch: […]
National parks face cuts under Trump regime
As historian Kevin Levin writes: Spring will be here before you know it and Americans will once again hit this nation’s roads to visit and enjoy many of the natural and historic resources overseen by the National Park Service. But […]
Sunday night odds and ends
A few things online that caught my attention this week: Do beavers have souls? Christians against empathy Christianity Today has not received USAID funds The moon Let students finish the book The world the MAGA agenda wants to create Steven […]
Alan Jacobs on that First Things piece on Wheaton College
A disgruntled 2014 Wheaton College graduate named Daniel Davis took a shot at his alma mater last week in the pages of First Things. You can read it here. I don’t want to give too much attention to what I […]
“Fear’s a powerful thing. It can turn your heart black, you can trust. It’ll take your God-filled soul and fill it with devils and dust”
Commonplace Book #339
From the mouths of those who attack religion we hear again and again that it is the worst of all evils that burden mankind. This is what the freethinkers, the social democrats, say, and this is what many democrats who […]
Song of the day
Trump: “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.” What are evangelicals saying?
According to The New York Times, this quote has been attributed to Napoleon, but its origins are unclear. Trump must have been dissatisfied with the amount of news coverage he was getting today. I can’t tell if Trump is serious […]
Commonplace Book #338
A powerful religious apparatus compensates for a lack of justice and love. One can oppress the stranger, the widow, and the orphan and yet find edification in one’s beautiful religion. “Here is the Lord’s temple, here is the Lord’s temple!” […]
Our labor was not in vain
I’ve been a bit overwhelmed by the responses to the closing of Current. I am gratified that so many people are going to miss our little magazine. One of our writers passed along this encouraging song to some of our […]