Ecclesia et Civitas

Public Order, Identity, and the Church

September 4, 2015 James Kalb 0

The age of Jenner, Obergefell, and #BlackLivesMatter puts issues of identity at the center of public life. As Catholics and citizens we need to understand what that means. Personal identity orients us in the world. […]

Ecclesia et Civitas

Empire and its Discontents

August 4, 2015 James Kalb 0

Many people believe that ever more comprehensive global governance is needed for the well-being and even survival of humanity. During the Soviet/American Cold War such concerns mostly had to do with the threat of nuclear […]

Ecclesia et Civitas

Catholics and the Administered Society

July 7, 2015 James Kalb 0

Should Catholics today work, as a matter of conscience, toward ever broader bureaucratic responsibility for human well-being in general? That result seems to follow from current ways of thinking. “Love thy neighbor” implies an ethic […]

Ecclesia et Civitas

The Destruction of Thought

May 8, 2015 James Kalb 0

Thought is the attempt to understand the good, beautiful, and true in an orderly way. Man is naturally reasonable and oriented toward those things, so it’s a normal part of life. Even so, it depends […]

Ecclesia et Civitas

A Catholic Patriotism

April 13, 2015 James Kalb 0

How should we be good Catholics and good Americans? Until recently that did not seem to be an issue to most of us. Separation of Church and State appeared to reconcile the Faith with a […]

Ecclesia et Civitas

Catholicism and the Ideological Temptation

March 15, 2015 James Kalb 0

Stubborn differences on political and social issues usually come out of problems regarding basic understandings. It’s not always obvious what the problems are. Most often they have to do with something that goes without saying […]

Ecclesia et Civitas

Where to Go with Social Teaching?

February 23, 2015 James Kalb 0

To all appearances, everyday life is becoming ever more at odds with the Catholic vision of what it should be. It’s becoming less like life as traditionally conceived, a network of relationships, loyalties, and purposes, […]

Ecclesia et Civitas

Reality Matters

February 2, 2015 James Kalb 0

Basic issues have basic importance. Does God exist? If He does, what is He like? If He doesn’t, can an objective moral order survive His absence? It seems obvious that such questions are crucial to […]

Ecclesia et Civitas

Normality Is Not Hatred

December 3, 2014 James Kalb 0

Very recently the view that homosexuality is entirely normal has become not only widespread but compulsory in secular public discussion. Leaders of thought tell us the change has been part of a general deepening of […]