Articles

There is No Such Thing as a Bank Loan

“Dexia” is not a word familiar to most Americans, and if told that it is a French bank in need of a fresh bailout,...

Education and the Way Home

Holland, MI The recent dispute between Joe Carter over at First Things and various occupants of the Porch has already received a good deal of...

The GOP in Limbo: How Low Can You Go?

Newt Gingrich is a master of righteous indignation although he’s far better at being indignant than being righteous. What's going on with conservative Christians?

The Closing of the Republican Mind (A Séance)

Lucky me, to be invited to try the beta version of Google’s newest and coolest app — Séance! After a quick download and install, I...

Tradition and Critique: On Wanting to Know

I think Walker Percy uses the following to illustrate contemporary life, although I don’t remember where. But it goes something like this: When his...

Homesick Nation

In 1852, the first piano arrived in Stockton, California. Imported from Cincinnati, it was a gift to Mary Kroh from her father, a minister...

Democracy and Coercion

Like other readers here at FPR, and across the web, I have been following the Great Salyer/Carter Debate of 2012 with much interest. I...

Globalize or Localize? Beyond the Post-American World

In the January 9, 2012 issue of Time magazine, Fareed Zakaria comments on what he calls “A Post-American World in Progress.”  Zakaria observes that...

In Beauty We Should Damn Well Trust

Washington, Ct. The recent contretemps between the blessedly described “liberal conservatives” at the First Things web site and our own clutch of barking mongrels...

Friends and Strangers: A Meditation on Money

I start my meditation with a true story that will serve as a parable. On his 21st birthday, the nature writer Francis Thompson was...