CATEGORY: CONSERVATISM (8 min)

Joyful, joyful

In the midst of fierce debate both within conservative circles and without, it can be very easy to miss the goal of what we fight for. What, after all, is the point of constant philosophical and political battle? Are we arguing for the sake of argument?

Winston Elliott, in The Imaginative Conservative, gives a reminder to conservatives about the objects of our efforts. The point, he says, is to create joy, gratitude, and love.

To bolster his case, Elliott quotes philosophers across the ages, from Socrates to Russell Kirk. He pushes back against the instinct to cast stones across the aisle and hurl insults at our brothers and sisters, saying that we have become no better than those we fight against.

As Kirk once wrote: “The enlightened conservative does not believe that the end or aim of life is competition; or success; or enjoyment; or longevity; or power; or possessions. He believes, instead, that the object of life is Love.”

Find out more about the most important goals of conservatism in Elliott’s piece here.

CATEGORY: RELIGION(17 min)

The primary source

Perhaps no passage of the apostle Paul’s writings has generated more controversy than Romans 13, which tells Christians to “be subject to the governing authorities.” Many commentators have attempted to synthesize this passage with conservative thinkers such as John Locke, but are they looking in the wrong place?

In VoegelinView, Lamont Rodgers argues that interpreters of Romans 13, and of all of Paul’s work, should not look to people outside of Scripture but rather to Jesus as their “sage” and source of wisdom. He says that too many theologians have ignored the life of Christ as they wrestle with His apostle’s books.

“The practice of ignoring the life of Jesus to help interpret Paul is ubiquitous among our sermonizers,” Rodgers writes.

Rodgers reminds readers that Paul himself urged early Christians to emulate the life of Jesus, who lived in a time dominated by a totalitarian government. Political theorists, Rodgers urges, must hold up Christ as the model of excellent life under any regime.

Read more of Rodgers’ plea right here.

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CATEGORY: CHRISTMAS (2 min)

Merry Christmas to all

If you’re getting ready to give the toast for your friends and family at Christmas dinner, here are seven quotes that may come in handy:

“A good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely.” —Charles Dickens

“The fun of Christmas is founded on the seriousness of Christmas.” —G. K. Chesterton

“It is, indeed, the season of regenerated feeling—the season for kindling, not merely the fire of hospitality in the hall, but the genial flame of charity in the heart.” —Washington Irving

“I heard the bells on Christmas Day. Their old, familiar carols play. And wild and sweet the words repeat. Of peace on earth, good-will to men!” —Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“Another glass; it is Christmas time; it will do you no harm.” —William Makepeace Thackeray

“Heap on more wood! The wind is chill; but let it whistle as it will, we’ll keep our Christmas merry still.” —Sir Walter Scott

“A merry Christmas to everybody! A happy New Year to all the world!” —Charles Dickens

To learn more about the importance and joy of toasts, read our Intercollegiate Review article here!

From all of us at ISI to all of you, have a blessed, happy, healthy, and merry Christmas.

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