Four Ways to Defy the Culture on Black Friday

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Four Ways to Defy the Culture on Black Friday

Anyone can stand in a line for hours on end and burst into Walmart trampling people underfoot on Black Friday. The scene has become so ordinary and scripted that most people don’t even notice anymore. Shoppers fighting over Barbie dolls are as predictable as hockey match brawls. The reports from news crews … Read more

Honoring Those who Built Berlin’s Tunnels to Freedom

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Honoring Those who Built Berlin’s Tunnels to Freedom 2

  Review of, The Tunnels: Escapes Under the Berlin Wall and the Historic Films the JFK White House Tried to Kill (New York: Crown Publishing, 2016) by Greg Mitchell   The book, The Tunnels by Greg Mitchell tells an incredible Cold War story about the determination and courage of people oppressed under … Read more

The Macabre Dance of the Skeletons Out of the Closet

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The Macabre Dance of the Skeletons Out of the Closet

There is a certain point when a normal house becomes haunted. It is hard to say exactly when the change occurs, but when it does, things become strange and eerie. From the outside, the house seems to lose its air of respectability, and people sense something foreboding inside. They hear creaking noises. … Read more

Looking at Laudato Si’ in Theory and Practice

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Looking at Laudato Si’ in Theory and Practice

Ronald Reagan once said that an economist is someone who sees something happen in practice and wonders if it could work in theory. The new book, Pope Francis and the Caring Society, appears like a team of economists forced to study the encyclical Laudato Si’ in theory and then wonder if it … Read more

The ‘Weinsteinization’ of Everything Rotten

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The ‘Weinsteinization’ of Everything Rotten 1

The spectacular fall of Harvey Weinstein represents more than just the rejection of the appalling behavior of a Hollywood mogul. Rather, it is the unsurprising confirmation that Hollywood is rotten. The behavior of Hollywood producers and actors merely reflects the movies with their violence, immorality, and profanity. As the Weinstein case broadens … Read more

2017 TFP National Conference: Who Confides Wins

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2017 TFP National Conference: Who Confides Wins 1

During the last weekend of October, the American TFP held its National Conference for supporters at its main headquarters in Spring Grove, Pennsylvania. Over 200 friends and supporters of the TFP traveled from all over the country, and even from neighboring Canada, to attend the much anticipated three-day event. The theme of … Read more

Petitions Delivered at the Feet of Our Lady of Good Success

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Petitions Delivered at the Feet of Our Lady of Good Success 1

Recently, my fellow colleague John Siebenmorgen and I had the privilege of traveling to Quito, the colonial capital city of Ecuador. We were part of a large contingent of TFP volunteers who came to assist the Conceptionist nuns of the Convent of the Immaculate Conception in moving the miraculous statue of Our … Read more

How to Awaken Longings for Christian Order

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How to Awaken Longings for Christian Order

One thing that can be done to return to order is to awaken longings for Christian order in society. These longings can then bring about a change much like that of the prodigal son who then returned to his father’s house. A way we can awaken these longings is by introducing supreme … Read more

Legends About Luther: The 95 Theses He Never Nailed Up

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Legends About Luther: The 95 Theses He Never Nailed Up

Every revolution needs legends to capture the imagination of its followers. It needs some act of defiance in which a major character charges into the mouth of the lion and plants his manifesto for all to see. Such is the case of the October 31 commemoration of the five hundredth anniversary of Luther’s … Read more

Why Nothing Is Sacred Anymore

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Why Nothing Is Sacred Anymore

Recently, the word sacred was in the news, when White House Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly lamented the fact that nothing is sacred anymore, especially in light of the brouhaha over the president’s phone call to a soldier’s widow. “When I was a kid growing up,” he said, “a lot of … Read more