Culture, High & Low 729

[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] Rod Dreher's 2006 manifesto, Crunchy Cons, was an inspiration (and provocation) to many, on both the left and the right. It wasn't that the book…

Hillsdale, Michigan. Perhaps it is a function of having been reared by two alums of Bob Jones University -- where, let's be clear, I did NOT go -- but I…

Despite constant speculation about public libraries’ “relevan[ce] in the digital age,” and serious budget cuts caused by the recent recession, the American public library is not in crisis. Local governments…

Ryan Anderson may be the most courageous person in America. Who would willingly place himself in the company of Piers Morgan and Suze Orman for the sole purpose of being…

Hidden Springs Lane. A couple months before my wife and I were married, a friend ask me "why do you want to get married so young?" My fiance and I…

The following is an excerpt from David Masciotra's new book, Against Traffic: Essays on Politics and Identity. For sale exclusively at Amazon. Looking back over the 2012 Presidential Election, it…

If I am correct, it seems there is a certain kind of arch-typical narrative that has become quite popular here at FPR, and in some sense, emblematic of its defense…

Earlier this week, Terry Gross interviewed Emily Anthes, author of Frankenstein's Cat: Cuddling up to Biotech's Brave New Beasts, on recent development in bioengineering, including radio controlled insects, pigs which…

I have a friend who is a cloistered Trappist monk and his current obsession is the ‘outer’ and decidedly non-sedentary goal of running a marathon (on the back forty of…

Like dew on the gowan lying Is the fa’ o’ her fairy feet; Like winds in summer sighing, Her voice is low and sweet. Her voice is low and sweet,…

About a month ago I happened upon a copy of The Concord, student newspaper of Bellarmine University. In particular my eye was caught by a letter to the editor whereby…

Hidden Springs Lane, VA. Sprint is running a new ad pushing the merits of its data plan. While it might be a mistake to make too much of an ad,…

If you had told me, a happy and professionally satisfied D.C. lawyer living on Capitol Hill, just over a year ago, that I would be back someday soon living in…

When in 1967 my parents were the thirteenth family to move into newly minted Columbia, Maryland, I was three months old. The American dream at that time generally took the…

Our dwelling place is the state not of nature but of culture.

Washington, DC. Parents are admonished to care for their children. Nature and scripture alike testify to the unique bond of filial love. Philosophers, prophets, and saints have long insisted that the…

A little over a year ago, after hearing my bitter protests about another pathetic talk by some expert on education whose vision of life I find basically revolting but whose…

What would we think of a government that banned milk? Would we think it over-reaching, even oppressive? Would we condemn it for rejecting a great gift from God? Would we…

Hidden Spring Lane. The topic of gay marriage is difficult to avoid these days, even for those who would try. Defending “traditional marriage” is seen by many as either a…

Thee let old men, Thee let young men, Thee let boys in chorus sing; Matrons, virgins, little maidens, With glad voices answering: Let their guileless songs re-echo, And the heart…

Hilaire Belloc once wrote that he never burned anything but oak in the huge fireplace of his ancient home in West Sussex. For a while I considered doing the same…

Hidden Springs Lane. Guns have been in the news a lot recently. The dialogue, such as it is, is dominated by voices that seem ill disposed to consider the legitimacy…

When SueAnne Bassett learned that she had stage four cervical cancer eight years ago, her doctors gave her a 20 percent chance that she would live five years, and that…

In Summa Theologica 2-2.1.4, Aquinas argues that every action can be understood in two ways: according to its order of intention–the goal one has in mind when one acts, and…