American law’s attachment to higher law dates back before independence as can be seen in this reference from renowned English jurist Sir William Blackstone: “This law of nature, being coeval with mankind, and dictated by God himself, is of course superior in obligation to any other. It is binding over all the globe, in all … Read more
Our ability to know things beyond the local and the small leads us to affirm that there can also be proportion in bigness. We must, of course, reject monstrous proportions. Yet it cannot be denied that nature does give us as examples huge mountains, great plains, or immense oceans that convey the idea of a … Read more
“The philosopher George Santayana once observed that Americans don’t solve problems, they leave them behind. If there’s an idea they don’t like, they don’t bother refuting it, they simply talk about something else, and the original idea dies from inattention. If a situation bothers them, they leave it in the past” (David Brooks, On Paradise … Read more
My friends often write to me about ways they have found to apply the principles of the book Return to Order. They especially mentioned the ways they avoid the “frenetic intemperance” of daily life where everything is rushed and out of balance. One friend has a special way of dealing with e-mail. I am not … Read more
As I sat down to read Thomas Piketty’s bestselling book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, I must admit I was not well disposed toward the book. Here is a voluminous 700-page tome written by a Frenchman that has garnered scathing reviews from the conservative press and glowing praise from liberal economists. What can you expect … Read more
If there was ever an unlikely ally in the fight for the unborn, it would be Thomas Piketty. Piketty is a French economist and bestselling author, who is notoriously liberal. Inside his massive 700-page book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, he holds just about every liberal position imaginable. His strong secular outlook avoids the sticky … Read more
I received an email from a friend that questioned my formulation that the State is a perfect society and that families depend upon the State. He contended that the opposite is true: the State needs families and the adjective “perfect” can never be used when referring to the State. Of course, the State does need … Read more
In looking at the debate over immigration, it is almost automatically assumed that the Church’s position is one of unconditional charity toward those who enter the nation, legally or illegally. However, is this the case? What does the Bible say about immigration? What do Church doctors and theologians say? Above all, what does the greatest … Read more
I don’t remember when the expression was coined but it started to appear a bit after the book Return to Order was published. I would find myself in situations where I could observe obvious examples of the book’s theoretical principles in daily life. When I would describe these incidents to others, people very naturally started … Read more
During some recent travel, I chanced to stay in a brand new hotel near a major American city. There was nothing extraordinary about the place. I had no complaints. The hotel was comfortable and clean and these are evidently things that must be appreciated. However, what bothered me was the fact that it was not … Read more
