The Clorox splashed around and sanitized the black bucket. I watched with a lump in my throat; that meant they didn't make it. My dad had taken care of it by dumping the contents of the bucket into the gulley. Less than twenty-four hours earlier, there were four tiny, breathing kittens huddled together in that … Continue reading Inordinate Compassion for Animals as a Cure for the Unbearable Lightness of Being
The Modern World
Death Within, Devastation Without
There is a malady among us, a plague that is far more sinister than the coronavirus. While the coronavirus itself can only harm the body, this virus corrupts the thoughts of men and induces them, step by step, to commit acts of mass murder— in some cases, to slaughter innocent children. It is a virus … Continue reading Death Within, Devastation Without
Is the Body Positivity Movement Really So Bad?
Yesterday, psychologist and bestselling author Jordan Peterson decided to take a break from Twitter after posting a picture of a plus size model on the cover of Sports Illustrated and saying, "Sorry. Not beautiful." He then proceeded to criticize the choice of model, calling it "authoritarian" as though it were meant to re-wire our brains … Continue reading Is the Body Positivity Movement Really So Bad?
Self-Sustaining Lifestyle
There are many aspects of "the olden days" we feel a certain nostalgia for– a better connection with nature, strong communities, independence, and close families. These aspects can all be implemented today with one unifying goal: self-sustenance. I spent many years on the side of a mountain in Alaska at the end of a dirt … Continue reading Self-Sustaining Lifestyle
We Are Bound to Our Times
For the past year, I have been slowly moving through my resolution to finally complete Owen Barfield's Poetic Diction. (Barfield, Owen. Poetic Diction: a Study in Meaning. Wesleyan Univ. Pr., 1973). It is a relatively short but dense account of the philosophy of poetry that deserves a lot of time and annotations. Without the impetus … Continue reading We Are Bound to Our Times
On the Reading of Leo Strauss
When a Christian picks up Leo Strauss' work, two things strike the educated reader: 1) That this man knows his subject matter, and 2) He does not want to be read. Thus the experience of continuing to read Strauss, rather than tossing the book away with irritation and disgust, will not happen if the reader … Continue reading On the Reading of Leo Strauss
MacIntyre’s Concept of Inter-Tradition Conflict
During my recent reading of the prologue to the third edition of Alasdair MacIntyre's After Virtue, I realized that I had never, either for others' education or my own, written down my own understanding of MacIntyre's process of arbitration between rival traditions of rational inquiry. Since that process is central to MacIntyre's project and I … Continue reading MacIntyre’s Concept of Inter-Tradition Conflict
Deep Unraveling: Waiting for a Crisis
I suppose this train of thought begins with "Heroes of the Fourth Turning," which is a play I've actually never seen (but want to, obviously). It was the name of that play that made me eagerly pick up a book I saw on a student's bookshelf: The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy by William Strauss … Continue reading Deep Unraveling: Waiting for a Crisis
A Man For Our Season
In the preface to his play, A Man for All Seasons, Robert Bolt explains his motivation for choosing Thomas More as his hero. He describes an inability in the people of his time to answer the question of what and who they are. The individual is dissatisfied with defining himself as a Man because he … Continue reading A Man For Our Season
Nature Is Incomplete.
I recently found myself standing in the midst of a forest full of redwoods and feeling oddly uncomfortable. Surrounded by rare giants, some of whom had fallen and some whom were still proudly displaying their two-thousand-year-old glory, I didn't feel quite as I ought to have. At another time of life not so long ago, … Continue reading Nature Is Incomplete.
Lander's Forge 