What on Earth Happened on November 8?

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For some 150 years, the loudspeakers of progressivism boasted of the meritocracy of the college-educated, political policy by “experts,” and steady increases of the power of the federal government for the sake of “progress.” At the same, progressives disparaged the American founding, individual achievement, and business corporations. (Progressivism could be true only if the American founding were wrong.) The legend held that progressivism would lead to disinterested government — whereas corporations were the sole incubator of self-interest. Good and evil were easy to define: Good was more government, evil was more corporate power.

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Silver Linings for Never Trumpers

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Most of my friends decided very early to join the “Never Trump” ranks. Now that Trump has quite astoundingly been elected president, they must still be haunted by many fears and gloomy prognostications. These may, after all, turn out to be right. Who knows? But I do see a few remarkable silver linings among the dark clouds.

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Hillary no. But Donald? The difficult choice of American Catholics

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Hillary no. But Donald? The difficult choice of American Catholics

Who will Catholics then vote for? Weigel assures that "I will not assign my vote to either Clinton or Trump but only to a person worthy of the presidency". We do not know who he is, but he adds: "In any case it is fundamental to choose the Republican party in Congress".Siobhan is convinced that "in the end Catholics will vote for Trump. Not because of him, though, but thanks to Pence, a man who has the moral fiber to put money instead of his mouth. That is to do what he says ". For Novak, however, "the conflict that dwells in the conscience of every Catholic will be resolved only at the last moment. This is another reason why we must not trust the published surveys ".

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Great Catholic Parishes

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The thing I like best about the Catholic Church is how it breaks right through illusions. It does not promise us a rose garden. It promises us a life of suffering and taking up the Cross. It teaches us to turn evil into good, with grace and guts. “Look up at the Crucifix,” it says. “That’s what God did to His own son. Think he will be softer on you?” It is Freud who always struck me as living under illusions.

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Michael Novak Awarded Prestigious Lincoln Literary Award

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On September 12, 2016, Michael Novak was awarded the prestigious Abraham Lincoln Literary Award by the Union League Club of New York City. The Lincoln Literary award, which was established in 1977 and last bestowed in 2007, is given to “outstanding American authors” – past recipients have included John Updike, Neil Simon, Tom Clancy, Garrison Keillor, Tom Wolfe, Michael Crichton, Stephen E. Ambrose, and James Michener, among many other illustrious writers.

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Book Review: Social Justice Isn't What You Think It Is

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In Social Justice Isn’t What You Think It Is, philosopher and theologian Michael Novak and social work professor Paul Adams, writing with Elizabeth Shaw, seek to recapture an awareness of justice, and so of social justice, as a virtue in the ordinary sense—as a habit or disposition of the moral agent.

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George Washington’s Constitutional Morality

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In presidential election years, many Americans find themselves reflecting upon the lives and thoughts of previous presidents as they consider the type of person they want in the Oval Office. Some presidents inevitably loom larger than others—perhaps none more so than the position’s first occupant.

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Lose the Story, Lose the Culture

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We normally encounter morals through the language of moral codes and commandments. Do this, Don’t do that. But it is much more illuminating to approach ethics and morals through stories and narratives. The reason narrative is more helpful than a code or set of commandments is that it brings into play imagination, manner, style, and even tonal quality. For example, the Commandment says, “Honor your father and your mother.” But the Commandment does not tell us in what manner, with what tone of voice, with what degree of gentleness and/or firmness, or whether with renewed devotion or simply by routine.

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