The best of intellectual conservative thought, every Thursday

Email not displaying correctly?

View it in your browser

[link removed]

.



[link removed]

CATEGORY: GOVERNMENT (8 MIN)

A crowning commiseration

[link removed]

Last weekend, the United Kingdom crowned its new head of state, King Charles III. As is customary, commentators and protestors dutifully took to the internet and the street to bash the tradition. Their attacks carry a familiar message: what’s the point of an old, musty, hierarchical ritual in the 21st century?

Sohrab Ahmari, writing in UnHerd

[link removed]

, launches a unique defense of the coronation. He argues that instead of lifting the king above his subjects, the coronation ceremony actually humbles the king to a vulnerable state.

Ahmari draws on research into African rituals to discover a core element of most cultures’ crowning formalities. Many of them force the new king or chief to suffer humiliation at the hands of his people in what Ahmari calls a “liminal,” in-between state before ascending. This humiliation makes the king stoop to the level of his subjects to humanize him.

In the same way, Ahmari says, the British coronation melds Christian tradition with this common theme. He believes that by anointing the monarch, the bishops in some ways associate the new leader with Christ’s sacrifice—the ultimate humiliation.

Read Ahmari’s thought-provoking work right here

[link removed]

.

Read Now

[link removed]

Weekly Poll

RESULTS: 5/4/23

Last week, we asked: In your opinion, do you think John Stuart Mill's arguments are helpful to modern progressives or conservatives? 61% of respondents believe that Mill's arguments are helpful to progressives and 13% believe they are helpful to conservatives.

In your opinion, is the monarchy still a valuable institution in the UK?

[A] Yes

[B] No

[C] Just tell me the results

[link removed]

[link removed]

CATEGORY: CULTURE (8 MIN)

The death of birth

[link removed]

Repeated attacks on ceremonies like the coronation typify the modern response to tradition. After all, modernity has given us the greatest technological, medical, and (many progressives would contend) cultural advances of our time. Surely, there is no significant cost to throwing tradition aside!

The greatest cost, Louise Perry argues, is our very survival.

Writing for The Spectator

[link removed]

, Perry warns the U.K, and the rest of the West by extension our society’s fertility will collapse without tradition. And without fertility, society itself faces disaster.

“[T]here are not enough babies being born and the sticking plaster of mass migration is not going to hold for much longer. This is the most urgent political problem of our times and almost no one is talking about it,” Perry argues.

Perry points to statistics revealing a steep drop in birth rates, and she connects them to many progressive movements. Modern feminism, gender identity confusion, and falling religious attendance all combine to help cause this decline in delivery. Perry calls for the government and individuals to work together and use old traditions to find a way to stop this dangerous trend.

Discover some of her proposed solutions here

[link removed]

.

Read Now

[link removed]

[link removed]

ISI’s Annual Homecoming Weekend

June 2nd - 3rd, 2023

Hosted on ISI’s beautiful 20-acre campus in Wilmington, Delaware, this year’s Homecoming theme is “The Next Great American.” Through engaging presentations, we will explore the statesmen, titans of industry, and artists that have shaped our nation throughout its history. Special discounted rate of only $50 for ISI students and alumni under age 30! RSVP before tickets are gone here

[link removed]

.

Join us in Wilmington, DE >>>

[link removed]

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

“

[link removed]

UChicago Disciplines Transgender Student for Vandalizing TPUSA Free Speech Demonstration

[link removed]

”

[link removed]

via The Chicago Thinker

“The Turning Point USA (TPUSA) chapter at the University of Chicago held a pro-free speech demonstration on campus that was met with violent opposition and vandalism by a transgender student.”

CATEGORY: POLITICS (3 MIN)

The great uniter

[link removed]

Of course, Charles only ascended to the British throne this year because of his mother’s death last fall. Queen Elizabeth II reigned for more than 70 years, and during her long tenure, she commanded nearly universal admiration. Her passing led to worldwide outpourings of affection and sadness—a rarity in this age.

For our Intercollegiate Review

[link removed]

archive, Daniel McCarthy, Vice President for ISI’s Collegiate Network and editor of Modern Age, discusses the lessons Queen Elizabeth can teach America. McCarthy contrasts the unity around supporting the Queen with the disunity dogging both American and British politics today.

McCarthy notes the vital importance of the popularity of the Crown to the unity of the nation. He lauds the Queen for refraining from involving herself in political debates and keeping herself above the crises and scandals that could have otherwise tarnished her reputation.

And although America has no monarch, McCarthy draws a parallel between the reverence for Queen Elizabeth and the honor we ought to give the memory of our Founding. Without an attachment to the past that made us, McCarthy says, we face a drifting, aimless, vicious future.

Read McCarthy’s piece (featured in Modern Age) right here

[link removed]

.

Read Now

[link removed]

Thought of the Day:



“Where men are forbidden to honour a king they honour millionaires, athletes, or film-stars instead: even famous prostitutes or gangsters. For spiritual nature, like bodily nature, will be served; deny it food and it will gobble poison.”



- C.S. Lewis

Who We Are, What We Do

Too many college students feel isolated or attacked for questioning the ever-narrowing range of debate on campus.

We introduce you to the American tradition of liberty and to a vibrant community of students and scholars so that you get the collegiate experience you hunger for.



Become A Supporter

[link removed]



Follow on Twitter Friend on Facebook Forward to Friend

[link removed]



Copyright © 2023, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:

Intercollegiate Studies Institute

3901 Centerville Road

Wilmington, DE 19807

unsubscribe from all emails

[link removed]

update subscription preferences

[link removed]