The Reawakening of Christian Civilization in Eastern Europe

Essays of the Week

The Reawakening of Christian Civilization in Eastern Europe by Stephen Turley Recently, there have been some impressive examples of the reawakening of Christian civilization in Eastern Europe. First, let’s look at what happened recently in Poland. In a ceremony at the Church of Divine Mercy in Krakow last November 19th, the Catholic Bishops of Poland, in the presence of President Andreiz Duda and many Catholic pilgrims, officially recognized Jesus Christ as the King of Poland and called upon Him to rule over their nation, its people and their political leaders. At Mass, they prayed “Immortal King of Ages Lord Jesus Christ, our God and Savior, bowing our heads before You, King of the Universe, we acknowledge Thy dominion over Poland, those living in our homeland and throughout the world. Wishing to worship the majesty of Thy power and glory, with great faith and love, we cry out: Rule us, Christ!”... [MORE] The Golden Ages of a College by Eva Brann In its second Golden Age it was right and timely for the college to ask the perennial question “what is the rela­tion of liberty to learning?” and to make the ground of the inquiry the hypothesis that the connection may be found in the soul of the learner. Its doing so was timely because thus the college acknowledged that the easy and immediate relation of those early days between liberal learning and republican statesmanship had long been ruptured. And it was wise because thus the college brought forward the oldest and the newest, the most per­sistent and the most urgent, of all political questions: What is the relation of thought to action?... [MORE] The Subversive Conservative by Dwight Longenecker Earlier civilizations nurtured a sense of nobility which always included self-sacrifice, service, and self-discipline. This was the path to true happiness, it was taught; and the family, the school, the college and the workplace all encouraged that sense of self-respect, self-discipline, and self-reliance. It used to be that to act against these conservative values was to paint oneself as a subversive. The beatnik, the hippie, the flower-power revolutionary all sang their protest songs, smoked their pot, slept with whomever they wished, and brought about a revolution. But when revolutionaries win they eventually become the new establishment. Now they are the ones who are greying and grumbling and balding and boring. Now their society is ripe for revolution, and it would seem that it is the conservative who is the new subversive... [MORE] Message from Another World: A Forgotten, Forbidden Textbook by Anthony Esolen I am musing upon a fine book written by a teacher and prolific author, Leroy Armstrong. I call this a Message from Another World. This book is the Eighth Year Literature Reader. It is eighth, that is, in the California State Series. Its frontispiece reads, in capital letters, “Approved by the State Board of Education.” That was then. We could come up with a list of reasons why that book could not now be published. We could note that there are no vampires in it, or vampire killers, or sentimental sodomites, or adolescent participants in murder games, or witches, or teenage rebels against a rule-bound dystopia, or the political platitudes of a Preferred Victim, or sound scientific advice on how to dabble in squalor without catching the clap. All of that might be true, but it is beside the point. The main reason why that book could not now be published is that there is no one who could write it and no one who would read it... [MORE] Restoring the Foreign Policy of the Founding Fathers by Bradley J. Birzer Let me suggest two thoughts. First, Russell Kirk always noted that while Americans might have a mission in the world, they do not have a destiny. Our mission is to provide an example for the world and a refuge from that world. Indeed, his own little Mecosta served as a model for what America could be—a home for the lost and oppressed of the world. Kirk’s America was charitable, but not intrusive. Second, we must go back to Reagan’s idea of a Strategic Defense Initiative. Unfortunately, much of the research started during the Reagan administration was stupidly destroyed by the Obama Administration. As the world becomes more nuclear, we continue to lose the advantage afforded to us by the two oceans. An actual shield is not just a viable idea, it is an idea that allows us—at least in part—to live under a Washingtonian foreign policy... [MORE] The Path of Wisdom: The Road Not Taken by Joseph Pearce Those on the so-called “left” have no idea they are lost. In spite of the temporary setback of the last election, they are convinced that humanity is “progressing” towards a better future. Those who have taken this left-fork in the road are now wandering further and further from the true path in pursuit of a mythical future golden age, a utopian Nowhere. But what of those on the so-called “right”? There’s a certain brand of so-called “conservative” who believes that humanity is regressing towards a dark and deadly future because, well, there’s something black-magical at work, which means that humanity is inexorably descending from a bright and better past to a dark and dismal future. And then there are those on the road not taken... [MORE] What Professors Are Writing… No One Is Reading Is This The World’s Oldest Mozart Recording? The Gutter or the Stars? Two Views of a Pizza Billionaire Three Reasons Not to Like Abraham Lincoln Mozart’s Music: The Culminating Point of Beauty President Trump and Justice for Europe “America First”: An Inaugural Address for the Ages The Bohemian Tory & the Oxbridge Knights Whit Stillman’s Barcelona & 1980s America John Deely: A Philosopher’s Life Support The Imaginative Conservative