Monthly Archives: December 2011

Cannibalize This, Montaigne

Posted on December 26, 2011 by Dr. J

I trust everyone had a merry Christmas and is ready to plunge back into the reading of the Great Books today! Here are the readings for the upcoming week: Moby Dick by Herman Melville, Ch. 93-101  (GBWW Vol. 48, pp. … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Liberal Arts | 1 Comment

Does Christmas Have Pagan Origins?

Posted on December 24, 2011 by Dr. J

You know the drill: around this time of year the Christophobes try to debunk Christmas by alleging that it’s simply a hodgepodge of pagan traditions that Christians co-opted to ease the transition of converts into their religion. Mithraism, Vikings, blah … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | Tagged | 2 Comments

Dante Was Manly

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Dr. J

I don’t want you to choke on a surfeit of links to the Art of Manliness website, but there is another recent post there that dovetails perfectly with the Western Tradition: Andrew Ratelle’s “Lessons in Manliness from Dante.” Ratelle’s main … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Culture | Tagged , | Leave a comment

“Cut Me One From His Small!”

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Dr. J

Here are some observations on last week’s Great Books readings: Moby Dick by Herman Melville, Chapters 55-75: If Ahab’s soliloquy over the dead sperm whale didn’t give you chills, I think there must be something wrong with you. And since … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Liberal Arts | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Playing Catch-up

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Dr. J

It’s Great Books Monday, but I need one more day to complete last week’s readings; Mr. Gilbert eluded me through Sunday. For those of you who are more on top of things than I, here are the readings for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Liberal Arts | Leave a comment

Christopher Hitchens, RIP

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Dr. J

Christopher Hitchens, essayist, civil libertarian, and prominent New Atheist, died on December 15, 2011, after a battle with esophageal cancer. I asked readers of this blog to pray for Hitchens last year, contrary to his stated wishes. Hitchens was an … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Events | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Lantern-Bearers” Revisited

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Dr. J

If you’ve been hanging around this site for a while or have done some of the readings for our Great Books project, you may recall that one of the early selections we read (way back in February) was Robert Louis … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Culture | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

A Match Made in Camelot

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Dr. J

Although both of them are already permanently linked from this site, I feel obligated to mention here that the Chivalry Today and Art of Manliness folks recently got together to record a podcast: “Manvoted to Chivalry.” If you visit the … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Goodbye, Alexander Hamilton

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Dr. J

As we close in on the end of the first year of this Great Books reading program, I’m looking back over the list of works we’ve read and can’t help being impressed. That list will only grow, of course. I’ll … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Liberal Arts | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Welfare State: A Sinking Ship

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Dr. J

Washington Post columnist Robert Samuelson has laid out some uncomfortable facts that need to sink in with our policymakers before they do anything else stupid. In “The Welfare State’s Reckoning,” Samuelson points out that Americans who are currently scoffing at … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Events | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment