The Natural Life of a Republic (Full Lecture)
The ultimate republican.
My American Heritage lecture for February 8, 2017: the life of a republic and why it reflects the best in human and divine nature.
Senator Rand Paul: Defending the Republic
One of the two best in government: Senator Rand Paul (image from Mashable)
In an excellent open letter published at RARE, Senator Rand Paul warns the Trump administration not to allow any imperialists into the government. Amen, amen, amen.
http://rare.us/rare-politics/rand-paul-do-not-let-elliott-abrams-anywhere-near-the-state-department/
Virtue and Sacrifice: Hillsdale and Notre Dame
Hillsdale College’s tribute.
Over at Winston Elliott’s brilliant website, The Imaginative Conservative, I had the honor to write about the necessity of connecting liberty to sacrifice as understood through the students of two of the best colleges: Notre Dame and Hillsdale.
As one walks onto Hillsdale’s campus, he is met by an 1898 statue of a Civil War soldier, a representation of all Hillsdale students who served honorably in that noble and tragic moment in our republic’s history, the American War Between the States. Even our statue of Abraham Lincoln bows to honor the soldier who gave everything to protect the honor of the republic. Every spring, I take my freshmen out to that statue of the soldier. As we stand around its base, I read to them Bruce Catton’s description of the Twenty-Fourth Michigan Infantry—one of the five regiments of the Iron Brigade and made up significantly of men from Hillsdale College and Hillsdale County—on the first afternoon at Gettysburg. Though desperately outnumbered, the Twenty-Fourth took a position on the western road leading into the little Lutheran community. They stood resolutely against the invading forces, standing as once Leonidas and his 300 had stood. Within roughly twenty minutes, the Confederates had cut close to eighty percent of the regiment to pieces, but they had also become convinced that the high ground—Little Round Top and other higher areas in the region—would be impossible to take. As such, they not only hesitated, they halted any advance.
To read the whole piece, please visit TIC: http://www.theimaginativeconservative.org/2017/02/sacrifice-virtue-fabric-republic-bradley-birzer.html
Free Minds and Free Peoples
Gerald Russello, editor of Kirk’s UNIVERSITY BOOKMAN, kindly asked me to participate in a symposium: how should a conservative think about immigration. Here’s a link to the whole discussion:
http://www.kirkcenter.org/index.php/bookman/article/conservative-thinking-on-immigration/
Here’s my brief response:
When Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams put it best: “The American Republic invites nobody to come. We will keep out nobody. Arrivals will suffer no disadvantages as aliens. But they can expect no advantages either. Native-born and foreign-born face equal opportunities. What happens to them depends entirely on their individual ability and exertions and on good fortune.”
Amen.
Of course, Adams was drawing upon ancient traditions. Pick up any edition or translation of the Odyssey and note how many times homeless Odysseus is given shelter because Zeus, not only the greatest of gods but the patron of hospitality, demands that one treats a guest with the greatest of honor.
And, in full: http://www.kirkcenter.org/index.php/bookman/article/free-minds-free-markets-and-free-people/
For what it’s worth, I do not believe an American can be a nationalist and a conservative at the same time.
What is the American Republic (Full Lecture)
The audio quality is pretty weak, and there are a few minutes of noise and confusion at the beginning. Apologies! I’ll do better on Monday.
Regardless, my examination of Protestantism, liberalism, and, especially, republicanism in the 1760s and 1770s.
JPII: Renewing Christian Humanism (1996)
Renewing Christian Humanism for the Millennium
Address of Pope John Paul II to a joint session of all the Pontifical Academies
Prepared for internet by Msgr. Peter Nguyen Van Tai, Radio Veritas Asia, Philippines
It gives me great joy this morning to be able to preside at the first public session of your Pontifical Academies, appropriately organized and prepared by the Coordinating Council. Since my venerable predecessor, the Servant of God Paul VI, began the work of renewing your academies, you have continued the initiative in recent years with patience and determination, with the intention of making each of your institutions more responsive to emerging cultural demands. I thank all those who in these decades have worked to achieve this, and I am pleased to seal with today’s meeting all that has already been accomplished. Indeed, for the first time, I welcome the renewed academies, ready for more effective action in the fruitful dialogue between the Gospel and culture on the threshold of the new millennium.
Is Humanism a Religion?–G.K. Chesterton
An excellent reflection from a fine and brilliant Christian Humanist.
From THE AMERICA PRESS. Enjoy.1964 Interviews with Maritain, Gilson, and Dawson
Christopher Dawson, 1889-1970
Some very nice United Nations’s interviews with Jacques Maritain, Etienne Gilson, and Christopher Dawson.
Enjoy. (My apologies for my marginalia).
The Imaginative Conservative Youtube’s Channel
The Imaginative Conservative.
The Imaginative Conservative now has its own Youtube station. 19 full videos. Great stuff.
Common Law and Natural Rights (Full Lecture)
Finishing the Awakenings and Enlightenment section, transitioning into the American Revolution.
As we approach, a discussion on common law, natural rights, natural law, and James Otis.
As John Adams later wrote, the entirety of the American Revolution began with James Otis disrupting court and orating for almost three hours on the meaning of liberty and natural rights.
Stormfields 