Secularism

Caesar vs. Islam: Whose Side Should Christians Take?

In The Great Heresies (1938), Hilaire Belloc wrote of the lifting of the Muslim siege of Vienna “on a date that ought to be among the most famous in history—September 11, 1683.” The date of September 11,...

Out of the Liquid City

Today’s offering in our Timeless Essay series affords readers the opportunity to join Stratford Caldecott in coming out of the liquid city, and embracing the order of love and beauty.  —W. Winston Elliott III, Publisher

The Balrog’s Whip: Secular Modernists and the Church

In a recent post, English priest-blogger Fr. Ed Tomlinson likened the threat of secular modernism in the church to Tolkien’s Balrog. You may remember the great demon pursues the members of the Fellowship as...

Virtue Matters: The Decline of the Secular University

“Without a narrative, life has no meaning. Without meaning, learning has no purpose. Without a purpose, schools are houses of detention, not attention.” - Neil Postman By now few are...

Has Christianity Become a Coward’s Religion?

Renaissance political thinker Niccolo Machiavelli castigated Christianity for making its adherents weak. Looking to the next world, he charged, Christians forget their public duties in this world, leaving their communities weak in the face of their enemies. Early...

October & the Opportunity for a New Language of Death & Dying

For B: Bone of my bone July 26, 1985 - May 9, 2015 "As of all foods, bread is the most essential, so the thought of death is the most necessary of all works. The remembrance of death amongst those in the midst of society gives birth...

The Challenge of Secularization

Secularisation is far more of a challenge to Christianity in England than is Islam, and yet by seemingly strengthening the case for secularism, the issue of Islam has moved centre-stage. I believe that England, or more widely...

Whither Human Dignity in the Secular Age?

In a recent article in The New Yorker, Rachel Aviv depicts how Belgium has “embraced euthanasia as a humanist issue.” Not only the terminally ill, or even those in intense pain, but also those suffering from depression...

Everyone Expects the Spanish Inquisition

It is almost fifty years since the “Spanish Inquisition” sketch by Monty Python’s Flying Circus was first aired on British television. Today its catchphrase, “Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition,” has an enshrined place in popular culture. It...

Is “Secular Morality” an Oxymoron?

I grew up in a secular humanist home with highly “educated” parents who were very much the product of the modern age when it came to morality. My parents were good folks, and when I would ask...

Christopher Dawson on the Spiritual Disease of the Secular West

Christopher Henry Dawson has been called "the greatest English-speaking Catholic historian of the twentieth century.“ He was also a profound conservative critic of contemporary Western culture and his indictments were based on a synthetic interpretation of...

A New Secularism: The Secular Franciscan Order

Francis of Assisi rapidly became the most universally popular of Christian saints, canonized only two years after his death. He is the patron saint of Italy as well as of ecology. There are three main Franciscan Orders...

Why We Are Arguing About Religion

Most of us have been told from a young age that religious beliefs cause strife. The early modern “wars of religion” are portrayed as merely the most overt form of what happens when religion is allowed too much...

Will The Modernists Inherit The Earth? The Dismal Prospects for Secular Liberalism

Everywhere one looks today, it appears that proponents of secular liberalism are celebrating another social victory lap. While eighteen states plus the District of Columbia currently allow so called ‘same-sex marriage,’ the recent Supreme Court decision striking down...