The state of resistance, in this case, is Florida. Many readers will be aware that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has prohibited mask mandates in the state, and faced some resistance from local school boards that have imposed mask mandates in defiance of the governor’s prohibition. Meanwhile, where I teach, at Florida State University, the...
Read More »

I am a faculty member at Florida State University, and for several months we have been told that the fall semester would be a return to normal campus operation. Last year, I taught in-person classes all year, wearing a mask, and was looking forward to teaching without one. The university’s announced policy was that...
Read More »

In the last two weeks, we have seen the weakness of many left-liberals’ support for civil liberties. Last week, progressive bloggers, activists, and politicians piled on Chick-fil-A, whose president Dan Cathy has spoken critically of and supported groups that oppose gay marriage. For his stance on this issue, which is not all that different...
Read More »

We live in an increasingly secularized world of massive and pervasive nation states in which traditional religion, especially Christianity, is ruled unwelcome and even a real danger on the basis of a purported history of intolerance and “religious violence.” This is found in most all “public” domains, including the institutions of education, business, government,...
Read More »

Aasif Mandvi from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Comedy Central hilariously skewers the hypocrisy, authoritarianism, and foolishness of “progressive” San Francisco’s Nanny-State ban of Happy Meals at McDonald’s restaurants in the city. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c The Daily Show on Facebook HT: Carl Haberberger

San Francisco, a wonderful American city known for its traditions of tolerance and freedom, banned Happy Meals. My home county of Santa Clara already had. So this isn’t just the most far-left radicals pushing this agenda; it’s the center-left progressives who dominate the Bay Area. Some friends have wondered why I care about this...
Read More »

Here Is the Final Part Continued from Part 2: Part 1 Scientism For Lewis, science should be a quest for knowledge, and his concern was that in the modern era science is too often used instead as a quest by some for power over others. Lewis did not dispute that science is an immensely...
Read More »

Continued from Part 1: Part 3 Moral Relativism and Utilitarianism Of central importance in Lewis’s discussion of natural law is his critique of the moral relativism of utilitarianism (“the end justifies the means”) as a theory of ethics and guide to behavior. Lewis claimed that the precepts of moral ethics cannot just be innovated...
Read More »

Before the USSR collapsed, “smart” observers bet that the regime had broad support and the people only wanted reform. This was a theme of writers like Stephen Cohen and required reading during my graduate school education. Similarly, outside observers assumed that nominally democratic Iran maintained broad support for the Islamic Republic. Sure, sure, college...
Read More »

And the media and respectable liberals were not nearly as hysterical about this. Of course, there was a kernel of truth to the left’s descriptions of Bush as a fascist, and there is truth to the criticism of the Obama administration as fascist. It is incoherent to say one is true and not the...
Read More »