Alain de Botton, philosopher and author of The Architecture of Happiness (which I recommend) has launched a project through The School of Life (theschooloflife.com)…
Driving with the Brakes On: Why Doing Justice Is So Difficult
Culture / Maturity and Flourishing / Pluralistic World
Why does the health care system continue to fail millions? Why have poverty rates remained the same for thirty years? Why do problems like…
Facing Guns and Horror
Community / Pluralistic World / Spirituality
In a thoughtful and pained reflection, “The Inexplicable: Inside the mind of a mass killer,” Norwegian writer Karl Ove Knausgaard tries to comprehend the…
The Power of Ideas
Over the years scholars have looked back on Stalin’s bloody and brutal dictatorship and tried to explain how such a man could have done…
Is Everything Political?
Community / Ordinary Life / Pluralistic World / Spirituality
In Our Only World (2015), Wendell Berry argues that people must be careful to resist the temptation of politicization: the habit of mind that…
Against Me!, Transgender Dysphoria Blues (2014)
Music for a transgender journey In the contemporary American dialogue about sexual expression, there are increasing numbers of individuals talking about the transgender experience.…
Slipping into politicization
One of the characteristics of 21st century American culture—part of what earlier generations called “the spirit of the age”—is the politicization of life. What…
Faithfulness in a Consumerist Society
As Christians we should be grateful for every aspect of society that allows human beings to flourish. Each is evidence of the common grace…
The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism Revisited or Pride Goeth Before a Fall
Twenty-one years ago the Soviet Union collapsed, marking the end of an era. After forty-five years of the Cold War, liberal democracy had emerged…
What to do with liberty?
In his thoughtful and intriguing Religion for Atheists, Alain de Botton argues that the libertarian fear of a paternal State can have unfortunate consequences.…