The Narthex

Even before the thrilling movie 300 (2006), many Westerners were familiar with the even more thrilling history of the Battle of Thermopylae (480 BC). At the “hot gates,” the historical record tells us, Spartan king Leonidas I led his fellow Greeks against a much bigger invading force under “King of…

On March 6, 1981, Walter Cronkite concluded his final broadcast as anchor of CBS Evening News, and with that quiet farewell a chapter of American media culture gently closed. For nearly two decades, his voice entered millions of living rooms every evening with calm pacing, measured language, and disciplined restraint…

Bombs are falling on Iran. In this act of naked aggression many see the contours of another murderous rampage: the invasion of Iraq 23 years ago, which like the Iran adventure was also unwarranted chaos predicated on a tissue of lies. Here we go again, the war-weary American public groans.…

President’s Day arrives every February with historical aura but then gets swallowed by appliance discounts and mattress commercials, as though civic memory can be replaced by a coupon code. The holiday has become a soft cultural placeholder, a day people “enjoy” while forgetting what it was meant to teach. The…

American political mythology often introduces the Founders as secular craftsmen who constructed a democratic republic through sheer Enlightenment grit. Yet any careful reading of their correspondence reveals that these men never imagined a public order severed from divine authority. They lived in a world where appeals to Heaven were considered…

This year marks the 250th anniversary of the publication of "Common Sense," a slender pamphlet whose physical modesty concealed a civilizational provocation. On a winter day in 1776, an obscure British immigrant named Thomas Paine released a text that redirected the political trajectory of an entire people. Within three months,…

Amazon has produced a docudrama on the First Lady, Melania. You might love it or hate it (or, like me, haven't seen it) but promotion of an incumbent First Lady is not uncommon. If you doubt it, ask how many times Vogue featured Jill Biden on its front cover --…

Marriage is very much under assault in the Western world, in part by false notions of “freedom” that assume a person’s choices can reconstruct the nature and definition of marriage. Poland is one place where that assault is underway. Although the Polish Constitution defines marriage as a man-woman relationship, the…

I grew up in a New Jersey Rust Belt town which has lost its factories and is now somewhat economically depressed: Perth Amboy. Its name is unusual, a blend of cultures.  “Perth” comes from the Earl of Perth in Scotland, who was one of the backers of the city's 17th…

Not too long ago, Republicans were the party of free speech. Tired of being shut out of debates and shut up about everything, they styled themselves as free speech champions while trying to claw back some traction in the groves of academe and the halls of political power. But then…

The recent swearing in of New York mayor Zohran Mamdani on the Quran has reignited a conversation that America prefers to keep comfortably superficial. Thus, public debate has circled symbols, optics, and inclusivity language while missing the heavier matter that involves history, Scripture, and moral philosophy. In recent years the…

How Politicians Coopt the Christian Message – with Christian Complicity Earlier I voiced objection to the Massachusetts nativity scene that replaced Baby Jesus with an “ICE was here” sign because it diverts from the purpose of a Nativity scene. A manger on public view is a proclamation of faith in…

A vicious controversy has just erupted in Poland over the “Round Table.” The “Round Table” refers both to the literal circular table and the historic discussions held around it in early 1989, when some parts of the Polish opposition met with the ruling Communists to discuss the country’s future. Out…

December 15, 1791, stands as a quiet hinge of history, since on that day the ratification of the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution achieved final assent through Virginia’s approval, thereby giving formal civic expression to an idea whose roots run far deeper than Philadelphia, deeper than Enlightenment…

Why are Prisoners in Prison? On December 14, Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass for the “Jubilee of Prisoners.” His homily is replete with “hope.” Sometimes it almost suggests the Parousia is about to arrive, immanently. Leo says we must build a “society established on new criteria, and ultimately on charity…”…