The establishment of a newly independent Ukrainian Orthodox church could have serious geopolitical implications.
— Read on www.nationalreview.com/2018/12/orthodox-church-of-ukraine-geopolitical-implications/

I will happily admit, I never understand when folks try to define the West by skin color, skin tone, ethnicity, or some other random accident of life. It’s not about race, it’s about an idea. The West is, ultimately, about human dignity, liberty, and self-sacrifice.

Here’s Dawson on the issue.

“I still profoundly convinced of the importance of the need for the defence of the West, though it is important not to understand the expression in too narrow a political and geographical sense, as is often done.  In my view the West is a cultural tradition like that of Hellenism and one which has an even wider and more universal mission.  Now if in the time of the Persian War not only Ionia and Thebes had ‘medized’ but Athens also, and Sparta had been left to stand alone, as were after Dunkirk, the Spartans would have been justified in saying that they stood for the defense of Hellenism, even though Hellenism was a far wider thing than Sparta and Spartan culture by itself was not to be identified with Hellenic culture.  And if the Scythians or the Acedonians had risen against Xerxes and attacked his rear, and the Lacedemonians could have accepted their alliance with gratitude without feeling that they had ceased to stand for the cause of Hellenism.  One can extend the parallel by recalling that just as the defence of the West is being carried on today by the Americans and the Australians in the Pacific so in the days of the Persian War, Hiero was defending Hellenism against the Etruscans and the Carthaginians in the Western Mediterranean.  These are the Wars of the Gentiles.  But we must surely admit that there were spiritual issues in the struggle between the Persians and the Greeks, and so it is today though the issues for us are not so simple as for the men who fought at Thermopylae and Plataeae.”

—Christopher Dawson to Walter Zander, Gerrards Cross, Bucks, 12 May 1942

Under the Watchful Sky ~ The Imaginative Conservative

Under the Watchful Sky ~ The Imaginative Conservative

— Read on spiritofcecilia.com/2018/12/15/under-the-watchful-sky-the-imaginative-conservative/

This was definitely one of my favorite reads of 2018. An excellent book. Tom Clancy with theology!

America’s Ship of Fools

America’s Ship of Fools

— Read on theimaginativeconservative.org/2018/12/ship-of-fools-tucker-carlson-jerry-salyer.html

The Fellowship of the Thing is raising funds for SECRETS of BLACKMOOR: The True History of Dungeons & Dragons on Kickstarter!

Volume 1 -The Evolution of Fantasy Role Playing Games (RPG’s)
— Read on www.kickstarter.com/projects/secretsofblackmoor/secrets-of-blackmoor-the-true-history-of-dungeons

–for the truly nerdy among us (including yours truly), a history of DnD that is not Gygax-centered. I’m eager to see this.

The organ is typically associated with bland church music, less favorite arrangements of Christmas carols, and haunted houses. But Mozart himself called it “the king of instruments,” and if the daring listener wishes to venture into solo organ music for the first time, then R. J. Stove’s “The Gates of Vienna” is an ideal starting point… (essay by Stephen Klugewicz)
— Read on theimaginativeconservative.org/2018/12/gates-of-vienna-baroque-organ-music-hapsburg-empire-robert-james-stove-stephen-klugewicz.html

Good fiction deals with powerful themes and does so by embedding them in the plot line and character arc—so the word becomes flesh. This is the power of great drama and fiction: that we get caught up in the story and the emotion opens our heart, and as our heart is opened so is our mind. Author Roger Thomas understands this and delivers powerfully and effectively in his heart-thumping, page-turning novel with strong Christian themes, “Under the Watchful Sky”… (essay by Dwight Longenecker)
— Read on theimaginativeconservative.org/2018/12/under-the-watchful-sky-roger-thomas-dwight-longenecker.html

If propaganda is a reality devoid of facts, a convincing narration which bewitches our reason, well, the bard of the wonder of colonization was doubtless, Kipling, while it was Conrad who lifted the veil that covered the embarassing truth. He resisted the charm of the sirens’  songs of his age and in a voyage down…
— Read on etinkerbell.wordpress.com/2018/12/15/piercing-the-veil-of-hypocrisy/

No government has ever made itself permanently wealthy through the plunder of its people—which destroys not just the productive capacity of a country but also its moral foundations… (essay by Bradley Birzer)
— Read on theimaginativeconservative.org/2018/12/edmund-burke-revolutionary-armies-taxes-bradley-birzer.html

No 16 of 16!

A week later, on yet another Sunday, his wife entered the house and predictable bedlam ensued. All the staff were gathered around the child, laughing and jabbering, and he could hear an occasional squeal of delight from the baby at the center of all the joyous noise. Unthinkingly he opened the door to his office and caught his first glimpse of this interloper who had ruined, by his count, sixteen of his last Sundays. He was a darling little thing. So little, in fact, that the Missionaries of Charity sisters had unintentionally been misfeeding him, assuming him much younger than he really was. By late April he was over five months old and surprisingly alert. Sharon noticed her husband at the door and beckoned him closer; he remained where he stood, ever ready to escape. “Joe, come on. Just hold him. Just for a second.” He slowly turned and went back into his office. He knew better than to fall into that trap! No, you never hold a baby—or a woman—unless you are serious. It’s just too hard to let them go once they are in your arms. He went back to his work, an endless pile of embassy memos and cables that rivaled the Augean stables for stench and uselessness
— Read on theimaginativeconservative.org/2018/12/christmas-that-almost-was-joseph-mussomeli.html