Christians Give Alms
New Polity Blog
by Jacob Imam
1M ago
The Catechism praises almsgiving as, “Money or goods given to the poor as an act of penance or fraternal charity.” It may sound like a humdrum practice, but almsgiving would have been unthinkable, strange, to the ancient, pagan world. For the ancient Greeks and Romans, it was no virtue to give to the poor. In fact, they didn’t even have a word that meant almsgiving until the Christians invented one. As Roman Garrison writes, “The lack of terminology in the Greek tradition (and the Roman as well) for the concept of almsgiving proves to be symptomatic of a certain disinterest in the plight of th ..read more
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Tech "Humanists" Are Inhuman
New Polity Blog
by Marc Barnes
2M ago
Human beings must become themselves before they die. And because they die, there is no such thing as unequivocal human “progress”—no such thing as a collective humanity growing better, faster, or stronger.  Each generation begins again, and whatever the last generation achieved does not repeat itself in their children as if encapsulated in their genetic code. Any improvement of the human lot depends on human love, that is, on the successful giving and receiving of reality by dying people to growing people. Fail in this regard, and the whole thing is a wash.  Of course, there are book ..read more
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Childish Labor
New Polity Blog
by Marc Barnes
4M ago
I am excited to have more children, largely because I have a lot to do, and after a certain increase in their muscle mass and spiritual faculty, a child can help me to do it. I tested this humdrum thought in my social circle, under the assumption that its busy occupants would agree. I was particularly interested in whether any of them planned on teaching their children to take dictation, translate foreign texts, lay bricks, or learn to repair socks, as these would be useful to my future plans—and perhaps we could go halfsies on the necessary schooling. To my dismay, they were dismayed. Most se ..read more
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Integralism Overlooks that St. Thomas “Speaks Formally”
New Polity Blog
by Reuben Slife
5M ago
The article below originally appeared as part of the essay “What Are We to Do?” in New Polity magazine, issue 3.3 (Summer 2022). It is reprinted here because Fr. Waldstein recently replied to it, in part, over at The Josias. It has been lightly revised for greater clarity. Considering that some of the positions I take above have recently been rebutted in these pages by Fr. Edmund Waldstein, O.Cist., it seems that I owe him, and readers, an explanation—especially since it may seem that in disagreeing with him I set myself against St. Thomas. The essence of our difference can be covered rather c ..read more
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The Weakness of Caesar and the Power of the Cross
New Polity Blog
by Andrew Willard Jones
5M ago
FROM THE PRINT MAGAZINE: This essay was originally published in New Polity Issue 3.1 (Winter 2021). Our print magazine releases four times a year. Subscribe to read our best work. My mother always told me that it was rude to discuss either politics or religion in polite company.[1] Ruder still, to discuss them both together.  Generally speaking, we are allowed to have political opinions. We are also allowed to have religious convictions. But it seems unreasonable, and vaguely un-American, to assert that one is relevant to the other; extremist, even Islamist, to assert that our political p ..read more
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Screen-use and the Temptation of Pornography
New Polity Blog
by Marc Barnes
7M ago
The history of screen technology can be roughly described as a process by which Californians slowly move screens closer and closer to everyone else’s face. From the movie theater, to the living room (where children were once warned, “Don’t sit too close to the TV!”), to the smartphone held a foot before our noses, to the innovations of these latter days—in which Apple et al would inch the screen past the nasal frontier and place it in front of our eyes, while Musk and his futurist cohort would stuff the thing even further into our heads—it’s all one, slow, move-in for a weird and uncomfortable ..read more
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The Politics of David and Goliath
New Polity Blog
by Marc Barnes
7M ago
Goliath represents the impulse to put all our hope in man; to stockpile; to amass; to find salvation in the strength of a singular Giant. This is why Goliath is so very big. David represents the Jewish impulse to put all our hope in God. This is why he, David, is so very small. Goliath is a tempter—he has “scaled armor” (1 Sam 17:5) like the Leviathan, Satan, of whom it is said, “his protective scales are his pride” (Job 41:15). Goliath tempts the Israelites for forty days. “Rabbi Yoḥanan says: ‘These days correspond to the forty days over which the Torah was given, as he [Goliath] wanted to d ..read more
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Against Moral Progress
New Polity Blog
by Marc Barnes
8M ago
I would like to diagnose a brand of conservatism—a mood shared by those on and offline alike. It consists in removing the center of the chest, clearing out the heart and lungs, and filling the resultant vacancy with a medium-sized oriental gong. This, one bares towards the World Gone Mad; toward the Wicked World which threatens all that is Good, True, and Beautiful with barbs of Moral Depravity. The barbs are shot—“men are becoming women!” “you can’t trust your neighbors any more!”—the missiles strike the gong, and the conservative resonates long and loud for all to hear. He is alarmed—hear hi ..read more
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Against Naming The Generations
New Polity Blog
by Marc Barnes
8M ago
It is stupid to name generations; furthermore, it is tasteless; also, I think it mean-spirited; and no, I do not know if I am a Millennial or a Gen-Xr; and yes, if you tell me I will kill you; and finally, if you look into it, you’ll find that I am quite correct in this and many other regards. Like the bra, the car, and the canning of meat, the regular naming of generations is a less-than-two-hundred year-old phenomenon which can be ignored as such. If you count from its popularization—rather than its academic origin in the theories of Auguste Comte—it’s only as old as the internet, which shou ..read more
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On Threatening Babies With Death
New Polity Blog
by Marc Barnes
8M ago
Generally speaking, the best way to make a baby laugh is to pretend to kill it. The effect can be achieved by different methods. Holding the baby to your face, engaging it in serious conversation, drop it two feet—three, if you are a Highly Skilled Father—and catch it again between your arm and leg. The baby will laugh. For optimal results, cry, “Oh no, the baby!” while it falls. Hanging the baby upside-down by its feet and/or threatening to eat it is also hilarious. Throwing it towards the ceiling: classic. Loving words are well and good, but “I’m gonna getcha” —replete with clawing, stalking ..read more
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