Former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy wrote a New York Times piece arguing that anyone who obtains citizenship is just as American as anyone else, and anyone who disagrees is a “blood and soil” racist. But being an American is more than just citizenship, Colin Redemer writes—it’s a culture that has been maintained for 250 years. Others are welcome to join themselves to that project, “But as new arrivals, they do not get to tell us what that common project is, nor shame us when we correct them for misunderstanding it.”

For further reading: Last year about this time, Vivek caused a firestorm with a post on X claiming that “American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long,” and that Americans could learn from the striver attitudes of East Asian and Indian immigrants like himself. Redemer analyzed this clash of cultures in “Is Vivek Right About America?”

The liberal wing of the Church is usually short on theological justifications for its goals, but will find theologians and canonists who can muster a gleam of validity. One of these is Andrea Grillo of Sant’Anselmo, who is likely the mastermind behind Pope Francis’s motu proprio restricting the Latin Mass. Joseph Shaw writes, “Grillo’s embarrassing opinions underline the wider problem. The use of theological arguments as non-load-bearing decoration for arbitrary legal impositions is not a sustainable way for the Church to operate.”

For further reading: Shaw wrote about the future of the Latin Mass in “Pope Leo and Traditiones Custodes.”

From the January issue: There is a civil war on the right over what conservatism is. Is it fundamentally a moral project that safeguards institutions like marriage and religious freedom that transcends time and place? Or is it a defense of Western civilization’s concrete culture that is tied to a specific group of people? Glenn C. Loury discusses the fractures.

For further reading: Liel Leibovitz wrote about how the latter group can go off the rails in “False Patriots” for the December issue of the magazine.

Upcoming Events

• February 1, 2026: Second Annual Neuhaus Lecture at the New College of Florida: “Recovering the University’s Soul” ft. Bishop Robert Barron | Sarasota, FL. Register here.

• March 5, 2026: Annual D.C. Lecture: “Our Crisis is Metaphysical” ft. Mary Harrington | Washington, D.C. Details coming soon.

Until next time,

VIRGINIA AABRAM