I’m struck at the vanity of those impious folks infatuated with their ability to improve the situation… without having first served a long apprenticeship under the tutelage of the old. Proudly ignorant—they believe freedom from apprenticeship guarantees spontaneity, relevance, creativity—they
To paraphrase an observation of Chesterton on the subjects of poets, silence and cheese: Political scientists have been mysteriously silent on the subject of soap, or at least until now.[1 ] Less than obvious, therefore, at least to some, might be…
I was watching a film called Chartres Cathedral and the Geometry of the Sacred the other day. For some reason, the Gothic gargoyles put me in mind of the Republican presidential primaries and their rather odd assortment of candidates. And…
How about a little one-on-one, full court press?
In a wonderful article published here at FPR a few weeks ago, Jason Peters argued that a proper education ought to provoke a kind of spiritual or intellectual crisis among its students. If I could choose one author who best…
Washington, Ct. …Classics are called such for a reason. They endure. Quite by accident frequently, for as any condemned intellectual knows, the most marketable idea prevails within the lifetime of the average intellectual, regardless of merit. Marketability does not always
The hoary wood, its bark curled, practices resurrection.
Several weeks ago, at the web journal Humane Pursuits, James Banks published an article entitled “Community as We Know It, Not as We Wish It,” which was largely a response to an article I had published earlier here at FPR. Mr.…
The Reverend Dr. Swift put his Front Porch finger on several of our worst maladies.
About this time last year, Mitch Daniels, the Republican Governor of Indiana, stirred some controversy by calling on conservatives to declare a truce on so-called “social issues” so that they might concentrate their political energies on seemingly more pressing matters…
Well, if drive-through Ash Wednesday services weren’t enough,… the Dutch have finally invented mobile euthanasia units to do house calls when your own doctor won’t. A town in Wisconsin I once lived in had drive-through liquor stores, but that seems
The Regents, New York’s public school state tests, are coming up in May, and so some of the time I’ve been spending with S, the fifth grader I’ve been tutoring, has been given over to test prep. Which is how…
I want you to see what a great guy I am.
The New York Times recently ran a précis of a book by Eric Klinenberg, a professor of sociology at New York University and the author of Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone. According to Klinenberg,…
In The Supper of the Lamb, a delightfully odd book, Robert Farrar Capon suggests as an exercise in reality an extended session with an onion. “Once you are seated,” he suggests, “the first order of business is to address yourself…
She’s a moving violation.
Devon, PA.… Outside of a few magazines and other fora on the conservative and collectivist fringe, one seldom hears the opinion that the banking crisis of 2008 was brought about chiefly, not to say exclusively, by the kinds of
See Rod Dreher’s interview of Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), one of the few Congressmen who would feel right at home on the porch. Here’s a snippet, but read it all.
That’s why I think an entrepreneurial model rooted in localism,…
FPR readers will be interested in two new essays in ANAMNESIS. The first, by Professor Jay Langdale, is a fascinating examination of Richard Weaver’s analysis of pathologies related to modern war:…
Published recently in The American Conservative. The book contains essays by such writers as Allan Carlson, Patrick Deneen, Jason Peters, Caleb Stegall, Rod Dreher, and D. G. Hart. Readers of FPR will find much to appreciate. Of course, this might…
Many FPR readers will enjoy “Derrida’s Hope and Despair for Globalization” in ANAMNESIS.…
Stephen Marche has written an interesting piece in the May Atlantic on how facebook is making… us lonely. There is a good deal to comment on here, and I’m not particularly inclined to take yet another shot at Facebook, for while
On Sunday, Wendell Berry spoke at The National Cathedral. You can see that event here.
On Monday, he delivered the Jefferson Lecture for the National Endowment for the Humanities. The title: “It all Turns on Affection.” You can read that…
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