One of the major writers at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century was Sir H. Rider Haggard. His adventure-romances attracted a large readership, with his Allan Quatermain series being his most famous and popular (followed closely by his books about She). The most famous of this tales, King Solomon’s Mines, has been made into several movies. Yet, his other Quatermain stories merit attention. They represent the ethos of the time, and Quatermain, it is... Read more
In the debate over immigration, we have recently seen various Republicans calling for a change (or is it repeal) of the 14th Amendment. The reason they give is that the birthright privileges it gives to the children of immigrants (legal or not) is wrong. They argue that the Amendment did not intend to give citizenship to the children of “illegal aliens,” but now that it has been shown to do so, it needs to be changed so this will no... Read more
Station 6: Veronica Helps Jesus Christ Speaks: Can you be brave enough, my other self, to wipe my bloody face? Where is my face, you ask? At home whenever eyes fill up with tears, at work when tensions rise, on playgrounds, in the slums, the courts, the hospitals, the jails – wherever suffering exists – my face is there. And there I look for you to wipe away my blood and tears. I reply: Lord, what you ask is hard.... Read more
A review of The Role of Religion in 21st Century Public Schools that I wrote recently came out in Education Review. You can access it here for free. I wrote the review rather hastily — too hastily, in fact — but the rough edges of the prose contain many of the sentiments I have written about here at Vox Nova. In many ways, this review grew more out of my work here, than my academic work proper. The two are... Read more
..I quote George W. Bush with approval: “The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That’s not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don’t represent peace. They represent evil and war. When we think of Islam we think of a faith that brings comfort to a billion people around the world. Billions of people find comfort and solace and peace. And that’s made brothers and sisters out of every race — out of... Read more
No argument will prevail against a person who believes good is subjective. Read more
I have been scarce over the summer months—sorry. Part of the reason for this has been our transition out of Ohio State and into Wabash College. Here is a brief account of a recent comment made by my son during the move. At first sight of the movers carrying our boxes into their truck, my son exclaimed: “Oh my goodness gosh! Those men are carrying all of my underpants!” Priceless. Read more
The struggle for justice among farm workers is a long and poignant one. Cesar Chavez, the founder of United Farm workers, is now held up as an exemplary Catholic in the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults. And today, the struggle for justice and dignity of the (mostly immigrant) farm workers – who spend day after day doing backbreaking labor for paltry pay, exposed to hazardous pesticides, and living in company-owned labor camps – continues. But sadly, they have no ally in... Read more
Today marks the 65th anniversary of one of the greatest war crimes in history: the bombing of Hiroshima. Let us take time out of the day to think and ponder the mass destruction wrought by American aggression, and plead to God for forgiveness. If we have no difficulty in destroying whole cities just to demonstrate our power and might, is it any surprise what we, as a society, end up doing to ourselves? Indeed, all we have to do is... Read more
While driving home after a tiresome day at work yesterday, I was treated to a radio broadcast of a complete performance of Vaughan Williams Symphony #5–in this case, the near legendary RCA recording by Andre Previn. Here is a small clip of Previn’s conducting the opening movement of the symphony, but on another occasion, with an entirely different orchestra. Youtube provides the rest of Previn’s reading, in the form of a series of clips , and I welcome any of those moved by the opening to... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In