Once upon a time, in the English village of Ockham, a lad named William began an adventure in philosophy that left impressions on the wider world. Best remembered is a rule for problem-solving that’s come down to us as, “Ockham’s Razor.” It goes like this: when confronted with a puzzle, the simplest explanation, if not … More The Razor’s Edge of the Constitution
This Sabado Gigante of a primary season has seen no lack of comparisons between Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler. In the literal sense intended, they are are frivolous and unhelpful. For starters, apart from vulgarized marketing, The Donald is the proverbial man without a plan, while Der Fuhrer, from Lebensraum to Final Solution, never left … More MEIN TRUMP?!
As a child, tales of saintly heroism could launch my imagination to the clouds. As a Jesuit novice, I continued daydreaming about the glory of martyrdom. Headlines over the past few months, however, have chastened that vanity. At some point, a Christian will likely come across Tertullian’s dictum, “The blood of the martyrs is the … More How Martyrs Expose Theological Lies
The slaughter of James Foley was a watershed moment. Going forward, it will be far more difficult to avoid framing things within a Clash of Civilizations context — even if by that we mean something different than did Samuel Huntington. What a jury might then find indictable is the contortion-act that is Western resistance to … More Why We Have No ISIS Strategy
If we could imagine the instruments in a nation’s diplomatic kit as a set of keys, we’d find that some, like masters, fit a range of locks, while others must be cut to order. Before determining which type a given lock requires, we need to acknowledge that a lock exists at all. When it comes … More Can Theology Save the World?
timkelleher.org 