The dismantling of Western civilization by culture-war zealots has destroyed the resolve of Western man to defend himself. Western civilization has been gutted from within.

Essays of the Week

Can Only a God Save Us Now? by Pedro Gonzalez Why the increased barbarity today? The dismantling of Western civilization by culture-war zealots has destroyed the resolve of Western man to defend himself. Western civilization has been gutted from within. At the core of this moral bankruptcy is a watered-down Christianity that lacks the conviction to defend itself, given its post-modern moral-spiritual duplicity. No doubt, radical Islam is abetted by post-modern deconstruction of Western culture and values. Radical Islam and communism—then and now—are ideologies that present the enemies of the West with alleged, viable alternatives to Western values...  [MORE] How Would Christopher Dawson Redeem the West? by Russell Hittinger It was Christopher Dawson’s conviction that what had been overlooked is the fact that, in the West, the Christian religion had created a distinctive culture that not only preceded but has continued long after, the harvest of the thirteenth century. It is only by examining the cultural dynamism that one can appreciate why modern society is a mutilated, or what Dawson termed a “secularized,” version of Christendom. The recovery of a sense of Christendom is not some esoteric religious issue. The struggles of international order today are not essentially between Oriental and Occidental, or between First and Third Worlds, but between forces internal to Christendom itself...  [MORE] Manners, Humility, and Dignity by George W. Rutler In our reduced culture when wealthy celebrities go about unshaven, neckties are considered an imposition, form letters from the bank address customers by their first names, and no thought is given to how to dress for church, attention to the gravity of one’s office may seem archaic and indeed affected. But the opposite is the case. The amiably eccentric Queen Christina of Sweden, having abdicated her throne to become a Catholic, wrote to a friend: “Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them.” Customs and outward forms signal that one’s duty is greater than one’s self, and neglect of them is an exercise in egotism...  [MORE] Beginning With Silence by Glenn Arbery In our day the real necessity is not technical innovation but a return to the spiritual center. Cardinal Robert Sarah points the way: "Great things begin in the desert, in silence, in poverty, in abandonment. The desert is where God leads us in order to speak to us in a heart-to him-heart conversation." A new Catholic culture begins in this silence—at first, perhaps, with hope alone. What we do at Wyoming Catholic College begins in the silence of the wilderness and grows in the atmosphere of hope. The more silence can become a way of life in this noisy age, the more a new culture will radiate from its blessings…  [MORE] Russia and the Rebirth of History by Glenn Davis Our leadership class has been failing to relate to a new, pragmatic and self-interested Russian regime largely because our imagination is tied to the old ideologies of the Cold War. So how should imaginative conservatives address the issue of Russia? We should first recognize the significant changes in Russia that have occurred since the fall of communism in the early 1990s. We need to recapture a historical understanding of Russia. There is no escape from historical existence. With all its contingencies, unexpected happenings, and mysteries, historical existence offers opportunities for grasping the great drama of life...  [MORE] On the Mystery of Teachers I Never Met by James V. Schall Truth is not like private property, something we own and cherish. Rather it is something when, on someone else’s coming to know it, both are more, no one less. A teacher gives an account of truth, his account, but not his truth. “The origin we begin from,” Aristotle said, “is the belief that something is true.” If we are brought up with fine habits, we can be “adequate students of what is fine and just.” Someone else, however, brings us up. We are beholden not only for our very being, but also for our gentle habits, if we have them. We are beholden to those who guided us so that we can easily see and, if we choose, arrive at the first principles on which all truth stands....  [MORE] Trudeau’s Cognitive Dissonance: Euthanasia and the Holocaust by Rebekah Lamb The soft totalitarian roots of Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government are becoming increasingly transparent through its seeking to try and repair the suffering and broken human condition on its own terms, dismissing, along the way, the central truth that reinforces, but also builds up, society: The life of every person must be safeguarded and protected. Mr. Trudeau’s view of Bill C-14 comes from a misguided, though nevertheless sincere, concept of compassion, even of tenderness, for those who are suffering greatly. But if we come to see some lives as being more worth living than others (for whatever reason) then we are already well on our way to instantiating an eugenicist mentality in our culture...  [MORE] What If? The Moral Imagination of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast by Bradley J. Birzer The story is the oldest story in the Christian world. It’s the story about love, sacrifice, and redemption. The Beast is a beast because of his poor choices. When he encounters real love and sacrifice, he understands his own folly and, most importantly, learns to sacrifice himself for others. He is, symbolically and literally, reborn. The Redeemer removes his skin and baptizes him in the blood of the Lamb. The enchantress might be a bit pagan, but she’s equally a bit archangel and the Virgin Mary. Belle, beautiful and bookish, is the personification of Grace itself...  [MORE] Henry James and American Painting Reflections of a Conservative Democrat What Is Unique About St. John’s College? Getting the Middle Ages Right: The Plight of the English Worker On Mysteries and Miracles St. Pius V and the Battle of Lepanto “For Once, Then, Something” “Free Thoughts Rise Up” The Imaginative Conservative applies the principle of appreciation to the discussion of culture and politics—we approach dialogue with magnanimity rather than with mere civility.