The Narthex

Words mean something. Sadly, their overuse leaves them captive to clichés. Thus captive, they can be enlisted in all manner of nonsense. Two examples come to mind: accompaniment and discernment. Note that both of them have become suspiciously “churchy.” Let’s start with accompaniment. Rightly used, it means “being with” another…

George Orwell wrote, “If liberty means anything at all it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” It is a fine thing, in a 21st-century Western democracy, to be reminded that writers and journalists once thought like that, and acted accordingly. Now, by contrast,…

One of the definitions of topsy-turvy is the “inversion of the natural order.” This is what we are experiencing in our culture, from the top down. As a recent article by Victor Davis Hanson states, “the Establishment Is the Revolution” (see link below). It is not the protestor in the street…

U.S. conservatives are now able to openly voice criticism of Washington's continued pro-war stance in Ukraine -- able to openly voice meaning they can do so without being accused of being pro-Putin. The Overton window on discussing the Ukraine war has moved, making room for intelligent discussion and views that…

Good politics calls for building bridges and forming coalitions. The American Solidarity Party gets it. Here in California, as elsewhere, the powerbrokers, whether Democrat or Republican, have a vested interest in blocking new parties from getting ballot access. The “duopoly” has an effective strategy for shoring up the status quo.…

The cost of an uncomplicated birth, even for parents with employer-provided health insurance, has gotten way out of hand. The situation screams for proposed solutions, and so the leaders of two pro-life organizations have offered one. Catherine Glenn Foster, President & CEO of Americans United for Life, and Kristen Day,…

The well-used tactic of transgender activists -- to threaten that confused people will kill themselves if society doesn't indulge their whims -- has mutated and jumped into the rhetorical arsenal of pro-abortion activists. Last month JAMA Psychiatry online (Dec. 28) released a study claiming abortion restrictions probably cause suicide. Thomas…

Esteemed statesman Henry Kissinger makes an important point in his essay "How to avoid another world war" (The Spectator, Dec. 17). He describes how Europe's leaders "sleepwalked" into the first world war. With hindsight we see the effect of the "new" technology of the early 20th century, but men of…

Of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh (Eccl. xii.12).   There was a time when “opinion pieces” occasionally changed readers' minds, but those days may have passed. If you finish reading a piece, you probably by and large agreed with it. If not, you…

Daniel S. Dickinson died suddenly on April 12, 1866. The day before he died he was quite well and trying a case in court with his close friend Daniel Webster. Five days before his death, he had composed a poem to his wife in which he referred to their deceased…

In June of this year I had the pleasure of addressing the annual reunion of the Dickinson Family Association held at Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts. The Association is devoted to learning more about its members’ ancestors, such as the poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886). My richly illustrated talk was…

An excellent article on U.S. involvement in Ukraine -- one that provides more background and analysis than a hundred mainstream pieces -- is offered by Christopher Caldwell at the Claremont Review website. A link to "Why Are We in Ukraine?" (Summer 2022) can be found below. To sample Caldwell's valuable…

Until a couple years ago, Dan Lipinski settled for being a decent politician. Lipinski, a Democrat, was an eight-term congressman from Illinois’ 3rd district. Plus, he was a political scientist with a doctorate from Duke. Then a pro-abortion candidate defeated him in the Democrat 2020 primary. Money mattered and Lipinski’s…

In July, a grisly video made the evening news. The video—apparently real—shows a Ukrainian prisoner of war being tortured by Chechen soldiers fighting for the Russian military. The Chechens castrate the Ukrainian prisoner with a box cutter and then shoot him dead. People in modern societies comfort themselves with the…

The City of New York recently released a 90-second public service announcement (PSA) on "Nuclear Preparedness." The Emergency Management department's video is so odd, it's hard to know whether to laugh or cry at the thought that people may put their trust in it. Imagine, the video's narrator says, that…