If Catholicism came to Latin America with conquistadors, evangelicalism has found its way southward through men in suits hawking some combination of Pentecostalism and the prosperity gospel. The relationship between elites, highly Americanized pastors, and the contemporary rise of right-leaning politics in the Global South is no accident. It has definite historical origins that have affected both the rise of Jair Bolsonaro and the recent regime change in Bolivia. Whatever one’s opinion on Evo Morales, it behooves us as people… Read more
November 14, 2019
Evangelical Christianity: The American Imperial Church?
November 14, 2019 By Chase Padusniak
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November 12, 2019
The Temptation of Schism
November 12, 2019 By Chase Padusniak
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For it is the Church that gives birth to all, either within her pale, of her own womb; or beyond it, of the seed of her bridegroom—either of herself, or of her handmaid. But Esau, even though born of the lawful wife, was separated from the people of God because he quarreled with his brother. And Asher, born indeed by the authority of a wife, but yet of a handmaid, was admitted to the land of promise on account of his brotherly good-will…. Read more
November 4, 2019
Dare We Hope That All Men Not Be Ideologues?
November 4, 2019 By Chase Padusniak
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I am in the midst of writing a dissertation. This often (including in my case) produces a certain relationship to reading and writing: namely, it can make people (me) disinterested in works of art, literature, film, and the like. The academic world is not generally one in which “thinking” prevails. I do not mean that there are not many smart academics (most are very intelligent!); rather, I mean that, in an academy that prizes publishing above almost all else, the… Read more
October 29, 2019
Does What You Believe Affect What You Do?
October 29, 2019 By Chase Padusniak
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I am a Slovak-American. This means I care about something that, I imagine, fairly few of my fellow human beings do: the differences, if any may be said to exist, between Czechs and Slovaks. Until 1993, part of the same country (Czechoslovakia), these now separate nations differ in ways typically reduced to stereotypes: Slovakia is more religious, more agrarian, less educated, and, well, generally, less “developed.” There is some truth to these claims (though they are by no means unassailable… Read more
October 28, 2019
America’s Fifth Great Awakening
October 28, 2019 By Chase Padusniak
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It is here and He is risen. Kanye West’s new album, Jesus is King, hit shelves (or really Spotify) a few short days ago. Never mind that the media has no idea what to do with it (Slate called the lyrics “weak”; while AV Club thought it proper to tell us what the Church of Satan thinks of Yeezy—go figure). Suspicions aside, some see this, along with Justin Bieber’s notorious conversion, as last gasps, even renewals, of the Fourth Great… Read more
August 20, 2019
Notes from the Academic Necropolis
August 20, 2019 By Chase Padusniak
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As of late, I’ve seen a few discussions of modern college education on both Twitter and Facebook. The positions I’ve seen many people take really alarm me. I’m not talking about the (at this point expected) position taken by many older, more-conservative Catholics, that young people should mostly go to trade school and not worry about sinking their and their parents’ money into fancy degrees. No. What I’ve seen has been Left-leaning, young, orthodox Catholics arguing that the freshman college… Read more
August 16, 2019
If I Were Still Conservative
August 16, 2019 By Chase Padusniak
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Earlier, I was listening to episode six of Know Your Enemy, a podcast about Right-side politics in the United State. As the title suggests, the show is meant for Left-leaners, is intended to help them understand what exactly is going on in this country in the Year of Our Lord two thousand and nineteen. In this case, the hosts were discussing the recent National Conservatism Conference, a gathering of many elite conservatives—Yuval Levin, Peter Thiel, Yoram Hazony, Daniel McCarthy, Patrick… Read more
July 23, 2019
How I Came to be Christian (Full Essay)
July 23, 2019 By Chase Padusniak
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This is a consolidation of three posts I wrote a few years ago, re-posted in an, I hope, easier to read format. You can find the originals here, here, and here. Today and for the next day or two I’ll focus on my journey to Christianity, with specific references to the events, thinkers, and ideas that guided me along the way. With faith, I hope doing so will acquaint readers with that journey while guiding me along the befuddling and… Read more
July 4, 2019
Catholic and American?
July 4, 2019 By Chase Padusniak
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As a kid, I watched the History Channel special on the American Revolution every year. I loved learning about the origins of my country. Coming as I do from a patriotic family, a family in which both grandfathers fought in World War Two, one of them at D-Day and Bastogne, the whole ritual was imbued with filial significance. I brought a book about the 101st Airborne, my grandpa’s division, to my high school for a grown-up show-and-tell. I would look… Read more
July 3, 2019
Traditionalism, Fruit of Vatican II
July 3, 2019 By Chase Padusniak
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Traditionalist orders and parishes are on the rise. The Dutch Dominicans are full of new life after forsaking a watering-down of their communal and spiritual life. Cardinal Sarah has called for ad orientem liturgy. It just seems to be in the air—young people like the Latin Mass, or at least attach themselves to older devotions. Anecdotal evidence may, for many people in my age group, corroborate this. A recent piece on the English Oratorians emphasizes the lively relationship between their… Read more
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