The Narthex
Whether & When to Read a Book
It depends on how that book will affect the person I am
By James Hanink | March 13th 2024 12:57 PMIn his classic How to Read a Book, Mortimer Adler, citing Francis Bacon, tells us that “some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.” Yes, but which books and in what order? Of the making of books there is --…
READ FULL BLOG POSTThe Immorality of Plagiarism
Stealing another's work, week after week, month after month, is a premeditated wrong
By John M. Grondelski | February 21st 2024 1:00 PMHarvard’s president, Claudine Gay, became its ex-president through the confluence of two factors, neither one of which seemed sufficient to remove her from office but, together, generated sufficient public (and, apparently, internal private donor) criticism to render her continued incumbency untenable. As you may remember, Gay was criticized for her…
READ FULL BLOG POSTJudging Not by the Color of One's Skin
Ethically speaking, judging a person on racial terms is intrinsically evil
By John M. Grondelski | February 1st 2024 1:05 PMFebruary is observed as Black History Month. This year was also the 95th birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. Both events are relevant to renewing our commitment to a colorblind society, especially after last summer’s Supreme Court decisions on discrimination in college admissions. The man who spoke at the Lincoln…
READ FULL BLOG POSTCatholic Education Should Be the Model
Real education treats the whole person -- spiritually, academically, socially, culturally
By John M. Grondelski | January 29th 2024 3:03 PM“Celebrate Catholic Schools Week,” an initiative of the National Catholic Educational Association, is observed January 28-February 3. Parishes with schools traditionally have a special student Mass on Sunday and at least one open house during the week. In that sense, “Celebrate Catholic Schools Week” seems a kind of recruitment tool…
READ FULL BLOG POSTParental Rights Are Not Just about Which School
Health care and education activists wrongly claim to be parents’ partners
By John M. Grondelski | January 26th 2024 12:02 PMI recently argued that “National School Choice Week” should be renamed “National Parental Choice Week” (link below). I did so because I want to recast the educational debate. School choice is not primarily about schools but about students. Schools are secondary. They are the tools by which students are educated.…
READ FULL BLOG POSTNational School Choice Week? No, National Parental Choice Week!
Schools should act subordinate to and on behalf of parents
By John M. Grondelski | January 23rd 2024 12:41 PMWe are in the midst of “National School Choice Week.” It runs January 21-27. I unequivocally support the idea of school choice. But I would rename this observance to “National Parental Choice Week.” Why? Because I think it is imperative that we recast the debate to answer the question Who…
READ FULL BLOG POSTWhat Hath Notre Dame to Do with Harvard?
Universities must embrace truth, not 'freedom of inquiry' and 'diversity of opinion'
By John M. Grondelski | January 15th 2024 12:51 PMAn Indiana state judge dismissed Notre Dame sociology professor Tamara Kay’s defamation suit against a Notre Dame student newspaper for exposing her abortion advocacy, including her seeming facilitation of abortions by providing students information where they could obtain abortifacients. Kay wanted to exact punitive damages from the paper for exposing…
READ FULL BLOG POSTA Crack in the Wall
Philosophy is about much more than critical thinking and landing a job
By James Hanink | November 29th 2023 2:52 PMThe L.A. Times, a newspaper that I love to lambaste, seems to have a crack in its “wokeness wall.” A fresh editorial headline announces that “Students lose when colleges trade humanities for STEM” (Nov. 26). But wait! Science, tech, engineering, and math programs (STEM) now rule the academic roost. Is…
READ FULL BLOG POSTThe Dawson Centre at Ten
Promoting the Catholic intellectual tradition
By David Daintree | November 20th 2023 4:47 PMIt all started in mid-2013 when the archbishop-elect of Hobart, Julian Porteous, asked me if I would help him “raise the profile of the Catholic intellectual tradition” in his new diocese. The cynic might say that raising the profile of something that was below the radar of public awareness wasn’t…
READ FULL BLOG POSTStamps and Civics
Once upon a time, stamps were miniature civics lessons, especially for collectors
By John M. Grondelski | October 25th 2023 3:00 PMLots of people bemoan the demise of civics. They argue that recovering civics might be a first step in recovering civility, a friendlier if not shared political discourse versus our contemporary polarization. There have even been government efforts -- state and federal -- to introduce mandatory civics education. Some critics…
READ FULL BLOG POSTRandom Ruminations #8
Must I Pay?... All Talk... Deliberate 'Errors'... Vague Values... more
By John M. Grondelski | September 18th 2023 12:42 PMI’ve explained in the past that I keep a subscription to The New York Times primarily because it is a source par excellence for the insane musings of the Left. But even I could not believe the number of such inanities the Old Gray Lady managed to publish in just…
READ FULL BLOG POSTColleges and AI Writing
If a student can’t write his admissions essay, how much of his college work will be machine-made?
By John M. Grondelski | September 5th 2023 2:06 PMIt’s the beginning of September, which means schools have either already started or will soon start new academic years. Most colleges and universities are back in session. So, like most Labor Day weekends with absolutely no immediately biting crises on the news cycle, editors filled space with “school stories.” The…
READ FULL BLOG POSTThe Name Game
Ideologues call living in accord with Catholic teaching 'dysfunctional'
By John M. Grondelski | August 23rd 2023 7:20 PMI recently applauded Worcester Bishop Robert McManus’s newly promulgated policy requiring Catholic schools in the diocese to use a child’s legal name, not a gender-ideology driven substitute, when addressing a child (and not just in official documents). The policy even goes further in establishing one’s given name identity: if, after…
READ FULL BLOG POSTProtecting the Integrity of Names in Worcester
Man is not self-made but a gift from God through parents who co-create under Him
By John M. Grondelski | August 21st 2023 11:37 AMBishop Robert McManus of Worcester, Massachusetts, has mandated that Catholic schools in his diocese use a child’s legal name, not substitutes a student, driven by gender ideology, might want. Congratulations to him for providing episcopal leadership! [To see McManus's policy, click here.] But, some may ask, doesn’t that harm…
READ FULL BLOG POSTTime, Weekends, & Childhood
The protective wall of childhood innocence is being breached
By John M. Grondelski | June 14th 2023 1:16 PMThe Psalmist sings of praise and wisdom from an unexpected source: “out of the mouth of children and of babes” (8:2). Occasionally one can find another source: in advertisements. An ad seen this morning in the Washington Metro was headlined “Childhood Passes Faster Than a Weekend.” Don’t it? Perhaps I’m…
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