Polemics No More

I am sorry to say that after its brief revival, my old blogging home of Polemics has closed up shop for good. My thanks once again to Jon Luker for his work on Polemics and for his tremendous support in making this blog possible.

Synaxis of St. John the Theologian at Diaconissa Commemorated Today

Apostle Onesimus Commemorated Today

Thou didst shine upon the world as a bright sunbeam, shining with the rays of Paul, the sun of most resplendent light, who hath enlightened the world entire. Thus, we all honour thee, blessed Onesimus.

Couldn’t We Have a Little Reaction?

The questions Crunchy Cons are posing are not about theocracy, or reaction, or nostalgia, but whether we can retain our humanity in this new era. ~Angelo Matera, Crunchy Cons
I take Mr. Matera’s larger point, and he is correct that crunchies and crunchy-friendly folks do not hold the views they hold out of a burning desire [...]

Stegall’s Challenge

So I’ll put the question to Jim and any other “conservative” very directly: Are you willing to state that “with a few exceptions, anyone who would place an infant in daycare is a negligent parent and a negligent citizen”? Let’s put some cards on the table. ~Caleb Stegall, Crunchy Cons
Caleb doesn’t kid around–he drives the [...]

Crunchy Cons Have a Longer Attention Span…

…or so Little Pod complains.

Those Pancakes

Happy Shrovetide! Kelly Torrance has a fun post on IHOP’s National Pancake Day. It appealed to me because one of my professors just had an early Pancake Day party on Sunday to which I was invited. It was a fine time, though I do have to wonder what meaning the pancakes had [...]

Of Course, Weaver Was Wrong On That One

Richard Weaver made a similar criticism of Edmund Burke in The Ethics of Rhetoric, which is not as popular as, but is a more important work, if you ask me, than Ideas Have Consequences. Weaver contrasts Burke’s “arguments from circumstance” with Lincoln’s “arguments from definition” to make the case that Lincoln was the more conservative [...]

Lies Have Consequences

The wide-ranging poll also shows that 58% of those serving in country say the U.S. mission in Iraq is clear in their minds, while 42% said it is either somewhat or very unclear to them, that they have no understanding of it at all, or are unsure. Nearly nine of every 10 – 85% – [...]

There’s Materialism, and Then There’s Materialism

Moreover, saying the free market is a materialist construct steals a base. Critics of the free market say it is materialist. But, with the exception of some Randians, defenders of the free market do not ground their case in materialism. Adam Smith didn’t. Friedrich Hayek didn’t. Michael Novak doesn’t. ~Jonah “Lie for a Just Cause” [...]