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  • The Dreyfus Affair is not finished — UnHerd

    On January 13, 1898, Parisians awoke to the chorus of hundreds of news criers who, striding along the grand boulevards and brandishing copies of the newspaper… 2,028 more words

    The Dreyfus Affair is not finished — UnHerd

  • Histories by Tacitus — Books & Boots

    Biography Publius Cornelius Tacitus, generally referred to simply as Tacitus, was a Roman statesman and historian. He lived from 56 to 120 AD. Like many Roman writers he had an eminent career in politics and public service. He started his career under the emperor Vespasian (ruled 69 to 79) and entered political life as a […]

    Histories by Tacitus — Books & Boots

    Tacitus was a old favourite of mine amongst the Roman authors. His viewpoint–well described in this review of the Histories and some of his other works–contrasts with the pap that dominates American thinking about history, both in the past and certainly now. Our Founding Fathers were well informed by Greek and Roman writers, something that sadly has been lost in our thinking.

  • The feebleness of white nationalists

    Ever since the election of Donald Trump, the putative rise of “white supremacy” or “white nationalism” has been a perennial worry among mainstream …

    The feebleness of white nationalists

  • Will conservatism survive 2023?

    For the Right, 2022 was a year to forget. In Canada, Australia and New Zealand, it is out of power. In the States, the Republicans hold just one …

    Will conservatism survive 2023?

  • The torment of Pope Benedict — UnHerd

    It might seem perverse to describe the death of a painfully frail 95-year-old man as a uniquely sad event. But in the case of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI we have to consider the poignant and unsettling circumstances in which he died. I was in St Peter’s Square on 10 April, 2005, when the words “Josephum…

    The torment of Pope Benedict — UnHerd

  • The Country Where Merit is Run Down, Part IV: High Schools Take it Literally

    Well, at least one did:

    Last fall, along with about 1.5 million U.S. high school juniors, the Yashar teen took the PSAT, which determines whether a student qualifies as a prestigious National Merit scholar. When it came time to submit his college applications this fall, he didn’t have a National Merit honor to report—but it wasn’t because he hadn’t earned the award. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation, a nonprofit based in Evanston, Illinois, had recognized him as a Commended Student in the top 3 percent nationwide—one of about 50,000 students earning that distinction. Principals usually celebrate National Merit scholars with special breakfasts, award ceremonies, YouTube videos, press releases, and social media announcements.

    But not at TJ (Thomas Jefferson.) School officials had decided to withhold announcement of the award. Indeed, it turns out that the principal, Ann Bonitatibus, and the director of student services, Brandon Kosatka, have been withholding this information from families and the public for years, affecting the lives of at least 1,200 students over the principal’s tenure of five years. Recognition by National Merit opens the door to millions of dollars in college scholarships and 800 Special Scholarships from corporate sponsors.

    It’s been seven years since I ran this series, which include the pieces The Country Where Merit is Run Down, The Country Where Merit is Run Down, Part II: The STEM Curriculum Dilemma and The Country Where Merit is Run Down, Part III: The Asians Strike Back. This incident, however, made it convenient to add another installment to the series. The justification for this information suppression was thus:

    “We want to recognize students for who they are as individuals, not focus on their achievements,” he told her, claiming that he and the principal didn’t want to “hurt” the feelings of students who didn’t get the award.

    It’s interesting to note that many of the students in this school–which has an admissions process, at one time mirabile dictu for public schools–are Asians, the same group featured in the last installment of the series and whose case against Harvard is now before SCOTUS. One of these days we’re going to revise our racial paradigm, but that will probably come with external force.

    In the meanwhile, there are those who would consider our system a “meritocracy” as racist. For me, it’s just a lie, certainly now, to a lesser extent in the past. We need to wake up on this, otherwise we, as Herodotus ended the Histories, will find ourselves left “…to cultivate rich plains and be subject to others.”

    Full disclosure: back in the day I was a National Merit Scholar. I tended to downplay the award–much to the consternation of my parents–because a) we didn’t need the money, that especially as b) I had opted to turn away from the American gateways to “meritocracy.”

  • Humanism is a heresy

    “There is nothing particular about man. He is but a part of this world.” This observation on the pretensions of humanity — cool, disillusioned, …

    Humanism is a heresy

  • Christmas: The Beginning of the Gospel

    Again from Bossuet’s Elevations on the Mysteries:

    The beginning of the Gospel is in these words of the Angel to the shepherds: I announce to you, word for word, I evangelize you, I bring you the good news, which will be the subject of great joy, and it is is that of the birth of the Saviour of the world. What happier news than that of having a Saviour? He himself, in the first sermon he gave in the synagogue after leaving the desert, explains this subject of joy to us through the words of Isaiah, which he found at the opening of the book: The Spirit of the Lord is on me; therefore he consecrated me by his anointing; he sent me to preach the Gospel to the poor, and to bring them the good news of their deliverance; to heal those who have a grieving heart; to announce to the captives that they are going to be set free, and to the blind that they are going to receive sight: send back in peace those who are overwhelmed with evils; proclaim the year of mercy and forgiveness of the Lord, and the day when he will give good people their reward, as also punishment to others.

    What joy like this could be given to men of good will, and what greater cause for joy? But at the same time is not the greatest subject to glorify God? And what can good people desire more than to see God exalted by so many wonders? So this is what the Gospel is: it is by learning the happy news of man’s deliverance, to rejoice in seeing there the greater glory of God. Let us rise to the high places, to the most sublime part of ourselves; let us elevate ourselves above ourselves, and seek God in himself to rejoice with the angels in the great glory.

    It’s interesting to note that Bossuet implies that Jesus found the reading from Isaiah rather than having chosen it. This is discussed in the earlier post You Really Can Do Biblical Preaching From a Lectionary.

  • The Song of the Angels

    From Bossuet’s Elevations on the Mysteries:

    Glory to God, the highest of the heavens, and peace on earth to men of good will. Peace is proclaimed throughout the earth: the peace of man with God through the remission of sins; the peace of men among themselves; the peace of man with himself, by the concurrence of all his desires to want what God wants. This is the peace that the angels sing and announce to the whole universe.

    This peace is the subject of the glory of God. Let us not rejoice in this peace, because it makes itself felt in us in our hearts, but because it glorifies God in the high throne of his glory; let us elevate ourselves to the high places, to the greatest height of the throne of God in order to glorify him in himself, and to love what he made in us only in relation to him.

    Let us sing in this spirit, with the whole Church: Gloria in excelsis Deo. Every time we sing this Angelic Canticle, let us enter into the music of the angels by the concert and the agreement of all our desires. Let us remember the birth of Our Lord who gave birth to this song. Let us say from the heart all the words that the Church adds to interpret the Song of the Angels: we praise you; we adore you; laudamus te, adoramus te; and above all: Gratias agimus tibi, propter magnam gloriam tuam; we give you thanks for your great glory; we love your blessings, because they glorify you; and the good things you do to us, because your kindness is honoured.

    Peace on earth to men of good will. The word in the original, which is explained by good will, signifies the good will of God for us; and marks us that peace is given to men dear to God.

    The original bears word for word: Glory to God in the high places, peace on earth, good will from the side of God into men. This is how the Eastern Churches have always read. Those of the West return to it, singing peace to men of good will; that is to say, first, to those to whom God wills good; and secondly, to those who themselves have a good will, since the first effect of the good will that God has for us is to inspire in us a good will towards him.

    Good will is that which is in conformity with the will of God: as it is good in essence and by itself, that which is in conformity with it is good by this relation. Let us therefore rule our will by that of God, and we will be men of good will, provided it is not through insensitivity, indolence, neglect, and to avoid work, but through faith where we cast everything on God. The soft and lazy souls have rather done by suddenly saying: May God do what He wills; and only care to flee from pain and worry. But, to be truly in conformity with the will of God, it is necessary to know how to make a sacrifice of what is most dear to him, and with a torn heart, to say to him: All is yours; do what you want. As the holy man Job, who having lost in one day his goods and all his children, as they came one after the other to bring him the news, throwing themselves to the ground, he adored God and said: The Lord had given me everything what I had; the Lord took it away from me: it happened as it pleased the Lord; blessed be the name of the Lord. He who adores in this way is the true man of good will, and, raised above the senses and his own will, he glorifies God in the high places. This is how he has peace, and he tries to calm the disturbance of his heart, not because this disturbance pains him, but because it prevents the perfection of the sacrifice he wants to make to God, otherwise he would seek only a false rest; and that is what good will is.

    Good will is the sincere love of God, and, as Saint Paul says: It is the charity of a pure heart, of an upright conscience, and of a faith which is not feigned. Faith is feigned in those where it is not supported by good works, and good works are those where one seeks to please God, and not one’s own mood, inclination or desire; so when we seek God with pure intention, the works are complete. Otherwise, we receive this reproach from Jesus Christ: I do not find your works complete before my God.

  • Britain is haunted by Dickensian ghosts — UnHerd

    In the Celtic fringes of Europe, the idea of “thin places” persists — locations where the boundary between this reality and others is claimed to be at its most fragile, even permeable. 1,952 more words

    Britain is haunted by Dickensian ghosts — UnHerd
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