Editor’s note: A version of this article first appeared at The American Spectator. One of my favorite annual rituals for Holy Week is the Via Crucis—the Way of the Cross. Held at the Roman Colosseum, where early Christians were fed … Continue reading
Editor’s note: This article first appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. In 1998, the eightieth anniversary of the Spanish Flu pandemic, I was fortunate to hear two survivors relate their indelible experiences. Marian McConkey and Lois Monahan were schoolgirls then, old … Continue reading
In 1994, I was in my first year as director of research for the U.S. Army’s Strategic Studies Institute. Part of our mission was to consider how the Army might respond to various strategic threats. Fifteen very bright people, to … Continue reading
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Exhibit 1: Elizabeth Sovel Flinn. Born in 1891, she died about this time 100 years ago, age 29, a victim of the catastrophic influenza epidemic of 1919-20, also known as … Continue reading
“The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future in life” Plato Howard Mumford Jones, an English professor at the University of Michigan and later at Harvard, long ago commented that American colleges and … Continue reading
Troy Polamalu, who played safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2003 to 2014, has been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. He will enter the hall with Bill Cowher, who coached the … Continue reading
My father was a Presbyterian minister in rural northwest Alabama from 1961 to 1965. I came of age there, then left the University of Alabama with an M.A. in history in 1969. Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. and Governor George … Continue reading
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at The American Spectator. The year 2019 brought some notable golden anniversaries from a wild year: 1969. Some were glorious, such as the Moon Landing; others were scurrilous, scandalous, such as the Manson … Continue reading
The initial reports read to me a bit like the losers won, but the church of my upbringing is on the verge of coming apart after decades of internal turmoil. The details of the deal will be important, but leaders … Continue reading
When you think life revolves around you then destruction is waiting at your doorstep. In a recent YouTube video, NFL star Antonio Brown, known as “AB,” passionately reached out to share his self-absorbed life. The video captured how he views himself. … Continue reading
Amidst this season of gift-giving and merry-making, let’s ponder three remarkable aspects of the nativity of the baby Jesus two millennia ago. #1. Birth to a virgin. To atheistic materialism, this seems like a fairy tale. Spiritually, though, what could … Continue reading
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at First Things. Some years ago, I wrote a short book in which I argued that, while political thinking was complicated, voting was not. One could agree with some parts of a politician’s … Continue reading
“I had no idea how critical religion is to the functioning of democracy.” So said a Marxist economist from China conversing with Harvard Professor, Clayton Christensen. This Chinese Communist supposed that American democracy has worked because “most Americans, most of … Continue reading
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at National Catholic Register. A shorter version appeared at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Not every Thanksgiving in America had the feeling of gratitude like Thanksgiving Day a hundred years ago. That Thanksgiving 1919 was truly … Continue reading
While all the rage in education, my hackles rise when an educator declares, “We learn from our students” or “Students should construct their own knowledge.” Granted, the 55 years since I was a freshman may explain my antediluvian notion that … Continue reading
Last Tuesday, I picked up three of my kids from church after youth group. It was a little after 5:00. I wasn’t sure what had been on the agenda for the afternoon. “Dad, we had an amazing experience,” my … Continue reading
A significantly lower percentage of young men are now obtaining college degrees compared to women. We have known this for some time now. As Jon Birger pointed out in his 2015 Date-onomics, and as the mass media trumpeted widely, among … Continue reading
My family just visited Chocolate World at Hershey Park in Hershey, Pennsylvania—the so-called “sweetest place on earth.” For those unfamiliar, it’s a giant candy-land. The primary attraction is a tour where visitors ride in self-guided vehicles through an exhibit learning … Continue reading
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at Crisis Magazine. “If someone calls it socialism,” said Rev. William Barber at the August meeting of the Democratic National Committee, “then we must compel them to acknowledge that the Bible must then promote … Continue reading
If people fear what they don’t understand, then one of the most feared things today is religious liberty. It’s standard practice for mainstream and left-leaning news outlets to handle the notion with scare quotes when it conflicts with the civil … Continue reading
