Christmas movies tend to be sentimental, to emphasize the struggles that define our society and our souls, but ultimately they are hopeful and even joyful. Humanity triumphs at the end of the story—for evidence, read my series of essays on The Bishop’s Wife, The Shop Around the Corner, Christmas in Connecticut, and Miracle on 34th Street. Continue Reading...
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December 30, 2021
Acton Rome Fellow is making a difference in Africa
For over 20 years, the Acton Institute’s Rome office has enjoyed a number of extremely impressive academic fellows as part of its prestigious scholarship programs offered to graduate students at pontifical universities. Continue Reading...
December 28, 2021
Facebook is a symptom of a much deeper Big Tech problem
At this point, most have heard about Frances Haugen, the whistleblower who leaked documents to the Wall Street Journal this fall detailing how Facebook knew about many of the downsides of its platform, yet chose to prioritize engagement. Continue Reading...
December 24, 2021
Pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai wins one in court, as Hong Kong prosecutor’s appeal is denied
Hong Kong prosecutors lost their appeal against a magistrate’s decision in September 2020 that cleared charges against media tycoon Jimmy Lai on “intimidating a reporter from a rival newspaper,” according to the South China Morning Post. Continue Reading...
December 23, 2021
The American family needs a Miracle on 34th Street now
My Christmas movies series has hitherto considered church (The Bishop’s Wife), work (The Shop Around the Corner), and family (Christmas in Connecticut), the communities that constitute America. Continue Reading...
December 22, 2021
This Advent, the Christmas child calls you and me
We arrive at the Christmas stable. We have prepared. The Christ child is come to us—Immanuel.
We begin by taking a step back. The candle that is lit for the final Sunday of Advent reminds us of Mary, the one who brings the Lord into the world. Continue Reading...
December 21, 2021
Take recent polls about COVID hastening the demise of American religion with a grain of salt
The latest Pew Research Center survey on American religion reflects a familiar trend in recent years: declining levels of Christian affiliation and growing numbers of religiously unaffiliated (the “nones”). Almost 30% of those surveyed told Pew that they identify with no particular religion, compared to 16% in 2007. Continue Reading...
December 20, 2021
The University of Austin is scaring all the right people
Conservatives tend to be skeptical of the uses of the word diversity, but they love variety. They believe that American higher education is better when you have a rich choice among schools—uniformity being a feature of progressive ideologies—that each has a particular mission and identity. Continue Reading...
December 17, 2021
Christmas in Connecticut: the holiday movie that promises you can’t have it all
I continue my series on old Hollywood Christmas movies. After a movie about church as a community, The Bishop’s Wife(1947), and the workplace as a community, The Shop Around the Corner (1940), I turn to a movie about family, the smallest but most natural community: Christmas in Connecticut (1945), starring Barbara Stanwyck, one of the great Hollywood stars, Sydney Greenstreet (the Fat Man from The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca), and Dennis Morgan. Continue Reading...
December 17, 2021
Hong Kong high court initiates final stages of Next Digital’s demise
A Hong Kong high court has ordered the winding-up of Jimmy Lai’s prominent media company, Next Digital, following a local government petition.
The order came from high court master Jack Wong Kin-tong on Dec. Continue Reading...