3 Features of Critical Race Theory and How They Harm Society (Part III)

June 14, 2021 By Anthony Costello

In the first two posts of this series I argued that Critical Race Theory (CRT) is 1) not a truth-oriented project and 2) that CRT is inherently and only political. My goal in this series is, ultimately, to warn the church about adopting CRT as a means to an end. It is not to argue that CRT scholars have nothing interesting to say or that they do not make valuable points about some very microscopic social issues. It is to… Read more

3 Features of Critical Race Theory and How They Harm Society (Part II)

June 11, 2021 By Anthony Costello

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In the previous post, I claimed there are three core features of Critical Race Theory (CRT) that are harmful to society. These features are: 1) CRT is not truth-oriented, 2) CRT is inherently and only political, and 3) that CRT is moralistic. In this second essay, I outline how CRT is purely political and why that matters to human flourishing. Feature 2: Critical Race Theory is Inherently and Only Political In part 1, I noted that Critical Theories, unlike traditional… Read more

3 Features of Critical Race Theory and How They Harm Society (Part I)

June 7, 2021 By Anthony Costello

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Critical Race Theory now pervades almost every corner of American society. It is in schools, government, entertainment, sports and, yes, in churches and seminaries. It is an unavoidable monstrosity that is often misunderstood. In part, because it is not entirely understandable. Reasons for this ineffability will hopefully become transparent below. However, one Christian philosopher and CRT advocate inadvertently explains why so many fail to comprehend CRT: This movement contains competing and complementary traditions (e.g., some conditionally accept political liberalism while… Read more

Institutionalizing Love: Social Justice as the New Law of Love

June 3, 2021 By Anthony Costello

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In his seminal analysis on the rise and dominance of secularism in the West, A Secular Age, Catholic philosopher Charles Taylor explores the thought of controversial Roman Catholic theologian, Ivan Illich. For Illich, who fled Austria in 1942 and was ordained a priest in 1951 in Rome, the greatest threat to the Gospel was the institutionalization of Christianity, especially in its modern form. Illich’s critique of the Church, not just in the West but throughout its oriental history, caused him… Read more

Dorian Gray In the Heart of Munich

June 1, 2021 By Anthony Costello

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The Portrait of Dorian Gray One of the most terrifying works of art ever conceived in the mind of a man and executed by the skill of his hand, is the 7-foot tall painting of Dorian Gray by the 20th-century artist Ivan Albright. This monstrosity hangs in the halls of the Chicago Art Institute, and it may be warranted to say that any observer who can withstand looking at it for longer than a few minutes might rightly be… Read more

When Evil Comes, Look to The Saintly not the Smart

June 1, 2021 By Anthony Costello

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In times of great evil, we who are average often look to find some guiding light among our fellow men. When societies reach their boiling point, as our own seems to be, it is only natural to look not just to God and His provenance but also to some human figure to help strengthen moral resolve and make sense of a world gone mad. One source of authority that the average will often look to is the smart. Those who… Read more

To Have or Not To Have: Possessing Vs. Being in the Christian Life

June 1, 2021 By Anthony Costello

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“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” Matthew 6:25 Gabriel Marcel and The Problem Of Possession Commenting on the work of Christian existentialist Gabriel Marcel, Oxford philosopher F.H. Heinemann suggests that for Marcel the source of modern man’s ‘alienation’ lies in his sense of having or… Read more