To the “woke” crowd, teaching civility and manners favors artificial concepts that reinforce power structures and control behavior. This Marxist perspective reduces everything to the class struggle terms of oppressor and oppressed. For this reason, manners must be eradicated and never taught to vulnerable children. So many things today reflect this anti-manners mentality. This trend … Read more
The American military has always had recourse to the draft in times of emergency. Through this means, combat soldiers can be quickly recruited from the most effective human resource pool—strong young men. The draft is not about finding careers for young people or helping them develop their full potential. War ruthlessly depletes the supply of … Read more
The Code of Chivalry cannot be assimilated to the Decalogue in the Old Testament consecrated by the New Law, popularized by the Church, a truly divine and universal covenant for all centuries, and adapted to all nations. The rules for the use of knights are necessarily of a more restricted and of a more special … Read more
Modern society obsessively avoids suffering, risk and danger. It secures everything with seatbelts and safety rails, air conditions the summer heat, prints warnings on coffee cups and advises that that safety glasses should be used while working with hammers. Certainly such precautions have prevented misfortune. However, since heroism and excellence are born from confronting rather … Read more
On June 20, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor of allowing the Bladensburg Peace Cross to stand at a busy intersection in Maryland. For nearly 100 years, this memorial has stood in honor of the 49 heroes of Prince George’s County who sacrificed their lives in WWI. Claiming to be offended by the … Read more
Modern media make much of the concept of “toxic masculinity.” Many commentators have dealt with this pernicious idea and its damage to men in today’s society. Helping young men overcome the pull of toxic masculinity is the unspoken purpose of a new book called Manual for Men. The principal author is the Bishop of Phoenix, … Read more
“Toxic masculinity” is one of those trendy expressions that is intentionally left vague and emotional so that it might wreak havoc on society. Once limited to women’s studies department, the term has broken out of its cage and now seems to be everywhere. In these #MeToo times, everyone can claim to be a victim of … Read more
The noted Catholic thinker, Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira once observed that the decay of the Middle Ages occurred in the fourteenth century with a “transformation in mentality.” He explained that “Chivalry, formerly one of the highest expressions of Christian austerity became amorous and sentimental.” This decadence paved the way for the errors of the … Read more
Nobody is really fooled by the latest policy shift of the Boy Scouts of America that will allow membership of girls. The announcement was packaged as a way to provide “more options for parents” who want a single site providing activities for all their children. However, everyone knows the move is just one more surrender … Read more
One may ask, but is this superior to the crusaders? There is no comparison. The crusaders are admirable. But part of the decadence of the Order of Templars came from the fact that in the intervals of their wars with the Moors, these would invite them to their city to see the luxury they had … Read more
