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Veritatis Splendor: The encyclical that mattered
Blessed John Paul II’s 1993 encyclical Veritatis Splendor — The Splendor of Truth — may well turn out to be one of the most important papal texts in modern history.Crime and the nanny state
The welfare state eventually funds its humanitarian largesse through the invisible and legally sanctioned theft of inflation, which hits the poor hardest of all and encourages theft among the populaceBuying off discontent: The economic wreckage of disability benefits in America
Disability has become America’s hidden welfare and unemployment program.Not quite alone in the wilderness
- One of the more intriguing shows that PBS runs occasionally (especially during its pledge drives) is the documentary Alone in the Wilderness, which chronicles the exploits of Dick Proenneke
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Pope Francis: A man of the Left?
My suspicion is that Pope Francis is not going to invest enormous intellectual energy in proposing various schemes for economic reform. He will certainly continue to champion the interests of the poor against those who want to maintain the corrupt status quo prevailing throughout many developing nations.A passion for government leads to neglect of our neighbor
The cure is not revolution or seeking government privilege or escape, but the commonsense “way of the Lord”: to “turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers” once again.Catholicism, true reform, and the next pope
Given the contempt with which some people regard Catholicism these days, it’s extraordinary just how badly the very same individuals want everyone else to hear their views of the Church’s future.Law, liberty, and life together
As Lord Acton said, “Liberty is the harmony between the will and the law.”When freedom, creativity, and opportunity meet
Many burgeoning entrepreneurs are currently barred from capitalizing on opportunities to address market needs and to solve real problems in society, because politicians believe they know how to meet the needs of society better than the rest of us.Is America the federal government?
Writing about his observations of America in 1835, Alexis de Tocqueville noted, “ The people reign over the American political world as God rules over the universe.” To the extent this statement is still true, what’s left of the notion of individual rule and self-government is under attack from centralized power in Washington. Furthermore, America’s identity is being transformed. So much so that in a recent speech Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal had to remind his own Republican Party leaders that, “America is not the federal government.”Benedict XVI: reason’s revolutionary
If there is one single thing that stands out in Benedict’s papacy, it’s this: his laser-like focus on the root-cause of the intellectual crisis bedeviling the West.Why Barack Obama needs to read Alexis de Tocqueville
Presidential inaugural addresses are usually inspiring affairs, but the devil is invariably in the details. In that regard, President Obama’s second inaugural address proved to be no exception. Of course there were all sorts of highly questionable assertions made in this address. “A decade of war is now ending.” Really? Someone obviously forgot to inform al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, not to mention the Americans and other innocents recently slaughtered by terrorists linked to that group in Algeria.