The best of intellectual conservative thought, every Thursday

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CATEGORY: CULTURE (6 MIN)

A time to rebuild

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Perhaps you too saw the results of a disappointing Wall Street Journal poll this week. Americans’ value of patriotism, religion, child-rearing, and community involvement has plummeted—not just since the late ‘90s, but from merely four years ago in 2019. Meanwhile, our love of money has only increased.

How can conservatives approach a culture that seems to be slipping away as we speak?

Auron MacIntyre, for Blaze Media

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, argues that the culture war is a battle we must run toward and not away from. Now is the time, MacIntyre says, for those with a clear moral vision to make their goals known and build the institutions necessary to make that vision a reality.

MacIntyre points to the collusion between major private organizations, the government, and even some churches in adopting progressive social doctrine. In the face of such opposition, MacIntyre believes that the status quo is no longer in conservatives’ favor. And thus, MacIntyre pushes for new organizations that can connect America’s past with a bright future.

Read MacIntyre’s full analysis here

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CATEGORY: FOOD (5 MIN)

A faithful feast

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No matter how much the culture shifts, a good meal will hopefully remain one of the most universally loved human joys. Food, like all beautiful things, can also point us back to the divine truths that underlie our world. And some have undertaken the goal of specifically connecting mealtimes to religious tradition.

ISI’s National Director of Student Programs, Marlo Slayback, writes on this very topic for First Things

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. Slayback reviews a 2023 book by Rev. Leo Patalinghug and Michael P. Foley, Dining with the Saints: The Sinner’s Guide to a Righteous Feast. This work is much more than a mere cookbook.

“This book is the liturgical calendar of recipes, not only including recipes for each saint’s feast day, but also recipes for the fat and meager days of the year,” Slayback says.

Slayback commends both the Christian and the culinary aspects of the book, pointing out that the recipes which contain more exotic ingredients often refer readers to reasonable alternatives. Most importantly, she believes characterizing dining as liturgy has the power to shape our lives.

Discover Slayback’s article, and some of the book’s recipes, here

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Gender: Who Decides?

A Debate on Transgenderism & Womanhood

What does it mean to be a man or a woman? Can you be born a man and actually become a woman? Is identity tangibly attached to something inherent in us, or is it intangible and subjective? Is it merely some social construct or is it embedded in our genes, in our biological identity itself? ​​​​Can we actually conquer our human nature and identity in the same way we seemed to have conquered the other realms of nature? If we try, what are the consequences?

Join the Intercollegiate Studies Institute in Pittsburgh, PA, on April 18th at 7 PM as Michael Knowles and Deirdre McCloskey debate womanhood and transgenderism. Register here to attend in-person

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or online

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Join us in Pittsburgh >>>

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Because our student editors and writers are bravely bringing conservative ideas to their campuses, we’re highlighting their efforts here.

600+ W&L Members Move to Ban Matt Walsh

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via The W&L Spectator

"A petition composed by law students to prevent prominent conservative author and talk-show host Matt Walsh from speaking on campus on March 30, 2023, has circulated throughout Washington and Lee University this week..."

Interview with Spencer Klavan: ‘How to Save the West’

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via The Chicago Thinker

"In this interview, I ask Spencer about the five crises that he highlights in his book—of reality, of the body, of meaning, of religion, and of the regime—and about how Western philosophy, literature, and culture can help us chart a course ahead."

CATEGORY: AMERICA (39 MIN)

Our country, right or wrong?

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With patriotism in decline in America, and our culture trending away from conservative morals, it’s fair to ask whether our nation is still worth our devotion. It’s easy to be a patriot when America represents the values and policies we love. But without them, how should we think about this country?

In this week’s Intercollegiate Review

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archive, Bruce Frohnen uses the life and thoughts of Edmund Burke to discuss the value of patriotism and its proper place in a conservative mindset. For example, Burke, a British citizen, had to deal with the horrors of the slave trade, which he advocated against. He saw it as his duty to fight for laws that corresponded with natural law while not destroying the stability of the state.

Frohnen also discusses Burke’s belief that “little platoons” which make up our nation teach us virtues, including patriotism. Loving those around us often brings us to love our country more.

“Like Burke, we ought to love our country because it is ours, and because it is an important carrier of Western Civilization, making possible the pursuit of virtue within our traditions,” Frohnen argues.

Read Frohnen’s thorough and well-reasoned analysis here

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Thought of the Day:

“A love for tradition has never weakened a nation, indeed it has strengthened nations in their hour of peril.”

- Winston Churchill

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