The Lenten fast is not an end in itself but an opportunity to unite with the poor, to work with an eye toward the needs of others, and to anticipate along with our brothers and sisters the feast e—not only on Easter Sunday but also in the Kingdom e. Read More… Before beginning his earthly ministry, our Lord Jesus Christ, “led up by the Spirit” (Matt. 4:1), wandered in the desert for 40 days, fasting, praying, and finally being tempted...

Cryptocurrency provides an exciting alternative to national currency as a decentralized alternative to fiat notes, but it’s no silver bullet. Read More… For those who’ve heard the word a lot but are still not sure what it means, cryptocurrency is a digital asset used to make purchases. It operates using puter network, often a blockchain, a shared ledger that acts as a mechanism to transfer value from one person to another and that records and stores information in chains of...

The political philosopher and classicist Leo Strauss continues to stir debate among Orthodox Jewish scholars as to just how Judaism can light the way in seeing the connection between faith and reason. Read More… Love him or hate him, it’s almost impossible to ignore the philosopher Leo Strauss (1899­–1973). Few individuals have drawn out so thoroughly some of the implications of philosophy for a range of political positions while simultaneously exploring perennial issues such as the meaning of the Enlightenment...

Is this sci-fi classic starring Charlton Heston a prophetic look at our day or a despairing look at the filmmakers’ own? Read More… According to an old monplace, nothing can beat the plot of a good sci-fi film when es to predicting the future. Many of the promotional taglines that pany these features assure us that, should we invest in a ticket, we’ll be “entertained” and “educated,” or even “enlightened,” by a product that “presciently signifies the all-but-inescapable fate of...

A new book about Jewish identity in Hollywood films inadvertently highlights much that is wrong in cultural criticism today. Unfortunately, it is too great an example of the problem to be much help in offering a solution. Read More… Literary Hub is one of the most widely read websites devoted to literature and the arts. Recently, pleted a poll of the nation’s academic presses. Its aim was to find out which of the books they’re putting out they are proudest...

Man does not live by bread alone—there is something in us that does not die. Call it love. And a love of justice, even for the stranger e to love. Read More… I will close this series on film noir with Laura, because it’s altogether more beautiful and it has something of a happy ending. In being the most beautiful noir, it also involves the most sophisticated reflection on beauty in its relation to American society and to tragedy. It...

The film industry likes to think of itself as the champion of civil rights, but when es to the genocidal Communist regime in China, it has proved to be not pliant but eager to please. Read More… Who’s in charge in Hollywood? Surely studio bosses, pensated executives, A-list actors, and celebrated writers and directors set the agenda in the American entertainment industry, don’t they? Not so fast, says Wall Street Jour­­nal reporter Erich Schwartzel in a rigorously researched, admirably hard-hitting...

Two clashing Americas emerge in this film noir classic starring Robert Mitchum. Can a down-on-his-luck private eye save one of them? Read More… Classic film noir wanted to reveal to America the depth of the problem of ambitious men in a democracy through crime stories—detectives, criminals, and victims caught in the quest for justice after the quest for happiness leads to catastrophe. Vengeance often turns out to be more reliable than love. I’ve already talked about The Maltese Falcon and...

The separation of church and state is a given in the American creed. But one of the most influential figures in Protestant Christianity, hence American Christianity, had a more nuanced view of the interplay of the “two kingdoms.” Is this the true source of our ongoing culture wars? Read More… John Calvin (1509–1564) was a towering figure of the Protestant Reformation. The author of the magisterial Institutes of the Christian Religion, published in numerous editions between 1536 and 1559, Calvin...

The answer, however, depends on what role Disney and its products play in your life. Read More… Disney, world famous entertainment and media conglomerate, is now at the center of controversy—in all kinds of ways. The state of Florida recently enacted the Parental Rights in Education bill, which has proven to be orders of magnitude more controversial than its name implies. It monly derided by opponents as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. It contains several parts, one of which mandates...