Review of The Last Days of Europe: Epitaph for an Old Continent, Walter Laqueur, Thomas Dunne Books. Theodoe Dalrymple / American Conservative: It is Europe’s doom that Walter Laqueur explores and explains in this succinct and clearly written book. He does not say anything that others have not said before him, but he says it … Continue reading
“Henri de La Rochejaquelein, leader of the revolt in the Vendee” – Pierre Guérin, 1817 * * * Of the twenty-five thousand fighting men who still remained of the Catholic army, twelve or fifteen lay prostrate with fatigue and drukenness; many others were enjoying themselves in the houses, and refused to go out: “What did … Continue reading
Excerpts from a talk given May 8, 2006 by James Bowman at the American Enterprise Institute, Washington, D.C.: Nowadays, hardly anyone even knows what honor means, or what it once meant. Let me pause, then, to explain what I think it means. In a few words, it’s the good opinion of the people who matter … Continue reading
Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, writing in First Things, critiques the views of Philip Jenkins, author of God’s Continent: Christianity, Islam, and Europe’s Religious Crisis: God’s Continent: Christianity, Islam, and Europe’s Religious Crisis is a tour de force that puts the most hopeful possible construction on a set of circumstances that leads others to the edge … Continue reading
From an adaptation of the book Liberty: The God That Failed by Christopher A. Ferrara: The history of Western civilization over the past 250 years is a chronicle of the decline of men and nations in consequence of a theological decision with profound political effects. That decision was the definitive refusal to conduct the art … Continue reading
Review of Foundations of a Catholic Political Order by Thomas Storck. Four Faces Press David Arias Jr., New Oxford Review: Why is a Catholic State or political order necessary? And what would a Catholic State look like? These are the two core questions Storck seeks to answer. The basic answer to the first question is … Continue reading
Part One here. A man has no vindictive power within the nation itself; it is the work of the community to punish the enemies of fthe community. The same is true outside the limits of the nation; the private person has no more vindictive power against external enemies than he has against criminals within the … Continue reading
It must be noticed…that the clash of armed forces which constitutes war is not in itself sinful. Sin enters when war is unjust. There are today two odd extremes of opinion. The first glorifies war and admits no legal limitations to military victory. The other completely condemns war, refusing to admit any justification whatsoever for … Continue reading
“Liberty Leading The People,” Eugène Delacroix, 1830 Background: The French Revolution The period in which this event took place is…unusually rich in examples of Christian martyrdom. Never had the constellation of martyrs for Jesus Christ so suddenly expanded in France as during the early years of the Revolution. Thousands of Christians perished, not only by … Continue reading
Book Reviews from Catholic News Service: Cluny: In Search of God’s Lost Empire tells the story of the times and personalities that produced Cluny, France, a Benedictine monastic community that was founded in 910 and was for three centuries the most important center of Western Christianity. Its abbey church, consecrated in 1095, was the largest … Continue reading
