When we speak of people from a particular identity group—ethnicity, nationality, regional group, state, town, or one of many others—we often essentialize, that is, generalize. Sometimes that’s fair, sometimes not. Of course, it’s always inaccurate unless it’s stated as a tendency, not an absolute, and unless it’s offered as a viewpoint, not proven fact. What […]

Mrs. Doc watched the dancers swirl around the cleared hardwood floor of the Legion hall, and smiled to see her husband, Doc, waltzing with Ardis Fisher. But Mrs. Doc was never one to sit out a waltz, so she looked around at the menu. Over in the corner, smiling and tapping his foot, was Pop […]

Whether you liked it or not, Sen. Susan Collins’ speech on confirming Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court mattered. The Senate is supposed to give its “advice and consent” to Court nominations, but there are no rules about just what it ought to take into account.  Collins provided a clear statement on this point, important […]

It’s official: America has descended into a reality television show. That a nominee to the Supreme Court could utter multiple demonstrable falsehoods to the United States Senate during his coronation confirmation hearings and still go forward is startling. Perhaps equally astounding: that the same nominee, faced with plausible claims of sexual assault against him, could angrily put […]

News stories from around the country focus on hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, ice storms, tornadoes, droughts, and other natural disasters. It seems that we live at the mercy of Mother Nature. We do not control our lives; Mother Nature instead controls us.G. K. Chesterton, however, wrote in “Orthodoxy” that, “The main point of Christianity was this: […]

American history books typically focus on such luminaries as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Samuel Adams. However, another founder who made substantial contributions to American independence, John Hancock, is typically overlooked and underappreciated. Although he served as the first president of the Continental Congress, did more than any other man except […]