Confessions of Front-Porch Realist

Ardent localist am I! This much is obvious, I am sure, to anyone who has followed this Weblog or read my contributions at Post Right. Although I have recently been absent from the comment boxes at Front Porch Republic (not to mention from blogging, as well as most other intellectual pursuits), I remain one of [...]

Surrexit Christus, sicut dixit!

If the Mass is not real, the Faith not Truth, then forever gladly shall I live in delusion, for if it is not Truth, then nothing is, for nothing but Truth can be of such incomparable beauty, and I should live a life of false but such wondrous Beauty before I ever should embrace the [...]

The Great Silence of Truth

A strange thing happened last night, Holy Thursday, as I walked home from class.
My walk from campus takes me through the parking lot of the Catholic church near my house (where I generally try not to attend Mass). The Holy Thursday Mass had just finished not long before, and (or so I presume) the Blessed [...]

Obama at ND — Or, Everyone Is Wrong

Joining the fray late, but better (I hope) than never, and probably nowhere near the end of this tortuous, torturous, obscene debate, I feel, if only to keep promises that I have made, that I need to say something about the matter of President Obama’s presenting the commencement address at my alma mater and receiving [...]

Conservatism versus Capitalism: Eschewing “Creative Destruction”

From the forthcoming issue of The Terrapin Times (It’s about damn time we go to print again. *sigh*), my CPAC 2009-inspired op.-ed. on the tension between conservatism and capitalism.
Having submitted to morbid curiosity, I ventured to the Friday installment of CPAC 2009, hoping again to hear and to meet Ron Paul (Double-check!) [...]

You know, I love aristocracy.

Moreover, the thought of a Catholic bishop in the House of Lords (which, I believe, needs to be granted more power, rather than to be further stripped thereof) elates me. He’s not perfect (as none of us are), but “Lord Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor” has a nice ring to it, eh. Perhaps next, now that a Catholic [...]

Liberals Seek to Destroy Luxembourg

From Expatica.com, via the New Oxford Review:
Luxembourg — Luxembourg’s Grand Duke Henri, widely seen as a modernizing figure but strongly attached to Roman Catholic values, is set to see his sovereign powers clipped in a furor over euthanasia.
The 53-year-old sovereign threw off his traditional political neutrality when he let it be known that, for “reasons [...]

An Economist for All Seasons

I have, for some time, wanted to draw further attention to economist Wilhelm Röpke, perhaps the only economist ever compel to question my general disdain for practitioners of the dismal science, who sought to salvage the good name of his ilk from Burke’s association of them with sophisters and calculators, and whom I have discussed, [...]

An Advent Prayer

Come, long-expected Jesus. Excite in me a wonder at the wisdom and power of Your Father and ours. Receive my prayer as part of my service of the Lord who enlists me in God’s own work for justice.
Come, long-expected Jesus. Excite in me a hunger for peace: peace in the world, peace in my [...]

The Catholic Capitulation: Blame the Leadership, Part II

At the heart of Catholic culture must be the parish. Here, members of the faithful, ideally, undergo instruction (The family, of course, ought to supplement this!), either, when possible, through the Catholic schools or, otherwise, through CCD programs. The should share in worship, in celebration, and in community. They should also be inspired — in [...]