Catholic Answers’ Post

The Long Line of Godly Men Profile series introduces us to exemplary figures from church history, such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, Charles Spurgeon, and more. Order the new paperback editions in this book series. https://ligm.in/47OpshZ

I just published a short essay about Peter Eisenstadt's remarkable book, Against the Hounds of Hell: A Life of Howard Thurman. If you don't know Howard Thurman, or even if you do, this short piece provides a succinct overview of his critical importance. Three main points - ✅ He was a leading religious figure in the 20th century ✅ He was the intellectual architect of African American religious nonviolence ✅ His teachings are an ethical compass for navigating our complex lives today Thanks to the journal Peace and Change: A Journal of Peace Research for the opportunity to write about Thurman. https://lnkd.in/ebZCk2Jj

Excited to have an essay included in this volume (available soon). This is my first work that addresses communal exemplars, focusing on L'Arche communities and what they can teach us about moral formation (both individually and communally): https://lnkd.in/er7tx5sP

Honored for this great review of my book, The Soul of Civility, from The George W. Bush Presidential Center! “Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary defines civility as good manners or politeness. But there are important distinctions between “politeness” and “civility” that stem from their etymology, author of The Soul of Civility: Timeless Principles To Heal Society and Ourselves, notes.” https://lnkd.in/gdFhMn3u

Readers in some sense rewrite a text, enlarging its scope through their imagination, creating a whole world by bringing into play their skills, their memory, their dreams and their personal history, with all its drama and symbolism. https://lnkd.in/ekPrbUMJ

Beware of Historical Appreciation Read more about it in this excerpt from a Jemar Tisby's new book "The Spirit of Justice: True Stories of Faith, Race, and Resistance": https://lnkd.in/eYsXDw5A

Inspired by Tim Williams's recommendation, I have been reading John Gray's The New Leviathans over the past week. A fascinating and provocative read, it is also deeply disturbing at times (the stories of the #atrocities of #communism and the Western intelligentsia apologists especially so). However, it is Gray's read on the trajectory of #liberalism and "hyper-liberalism" that I find particularly interesting. Here's the opening few paragraphs from his chapter on "Woke religions and surplus elites": “The origins of what has come to be called the woke movement are in the decay of liberalism. The movement is most powerful in English-speaking countries–tellingly, the countries where classical liberalism was strongest. Beyond the Anglosphere, in China, the Middle East, India, Africa and most of continental Europe, it is regarded with indifference, bemusement or contempt. While its apostles regard it as a universal movement of human emancipation, it is recognized in much of the world as a symptom of Western decline–a hyperbolic version of the liberalism the West professed during its brief period of seeming hegemony after the Cold War." "Hyper-liberal ideology plays a number of roles. It operates as a rationale for a failing variety of capitalism, and a vehicle through which surplus elites struggle to secure a position of power in society. Insofar as it expresses a coherent system of ideas, it is the anti-Western creed of an antinomian intelligentsia that is ineffably Western. Psychologically, it provides an ersatz faith for those who cannot live without the hope of universal salvation inculcated by Christianity." "Contrary to its right-wing critics, woke thinking is not a variant of Marxism. No woke ideologue comes anywhere close to Karl Marx in rigour, breadth and depth of thought. One function of woke movements is to deflect attention from the destructive impact on society of market capitalism. Once questions of identity become central in politics, conflicts of economic interests can be disregarded. Idle chatter of micro-aggression screens out class hierarchy and the abandonment of large sections of society to idleness and destitution. Flattering those who protest against slights to their well-cultivated self-image, identity politics consigns to obloquy and oblivion those whose lives are blighted by an economic system that discards them as useless.” — The New Leviathans: Thoughts After Liberalism by John Gray https://lnkd.in/dqGmu9sZ

During a Classics lesson last week, our Year 9 students were treated to a visit by Sunday Times bestselling author Ben Kane, who, dressed in Roman military kit, described the realities of daily Roman life. After a lively and engaging lesson, one student remarked "I thought I knew a lot about Roman things, but after the talk I came out knowing so much more!” Read more about this extraordinary Classics lesson: #RoyalHighSchoolBath #gdstschools #learningwithoutlimits #weloveclassics #benkane #bestsellingauthor #authorvisit #ancientromanlife

An extremely good read here from Ackerman. Insightful and interesting assessment of DEI issues driving behaviours for the good, the bad and the indifferent.

If you only read one more book this year, make it this one. Written in 1987, it prophetically describes the rift we are facing in America. It’s even-handed in how it unpacks the constrained and unconstrained visions, the forerunners of each philosophy and how these visions have an impact of nearly every aspect of life since the Enlightenment. A must-read.