March 20th, 2013
J. Max Wilson has written an excellent post on the limits of the LDS doctrine of prophetic fallibility at his site Sixteen Small Stones. It is absolutely true that the church does not believe that its prophets and apostles are infallible. There is no infallibility doctrine. The prophets are undeniably human beings and subject to normal [...]
March 14th, 2013
When I was an undergraduate at Cornell , then Yale and a graduate student at Oxford, then Yale once again, the American university was an exceedingly lively place in which students were encouraged to explore a diversity of perspectives. The people in charge were, by and large, New Deal liberals — moderate in manner, open [...]
February 17th, 2013
Last fall France’s Chief Rabbi, Gilles Bernheim, published a courageous and incisive argument against homosexual marriage and adoption. In December Pope Benedict publicly praised the Rabbi’s essay in the strongest terms. That essay has now been published by First Things magazine somewhat abridged and lightly edited. It was translated from the French by Ralph Hancock, [...]
February 17th, 2013
John Dehlin asks Professor Hancock if he can sympathize with Mormon Progressives who have brought up controversial statements or positions of past church leaders in an honest effort to understand the truth. Dehlin believes that Church leadership treated these members unfairly or even hostilely, in some cases. He asks Dr. Hancock if he can understand [...]
February 12th, 2013
By Alan Williamson The recent sea change regarding social acceptance of the idea of same-sex marriage (SSM) — and the influence this increasingly has had on a good number of active LDS members’ views — has inspired me to commit a few thoughts to paper. I do not profess to be either an intellectual [...]
Our Latest Podcasts
- The Risk Factor of Loneliness May 19, 2013 Peter Lawler
- The Obama Administration's Neo-Puritanical Repression May 16, 2013 Peter Lawler
- Men Fading Badly? May 10, 2013 Peter Lawler
- Capitalism Has Won! And Conservatives Are Confused May 8, 2013 Peter Lawler
- MOOCS and the Stratification of American Higher Education May 3, 2013 Peter Lawler
- Crow's Nest : Genghis Khan and Climate Change May 20, 2013Normally when we read about climate change in the press, the stories center around the affect that human technology and carbon emissions have on the planetâs climate. So, we get doom and gloom, handwringing and finger-pointing stories like this one yesterday at Al Jazeera. What we tend to read less about is the manner in which climate conditions shape us. […]
- Dave Carter : The Continuing Relevance of the Founders May 19, 2013It is, to use one of President Obama's more overwrought phrases, a "teachable moment." To be sure, it is neither the lesson nor the moment he had in mind, but liberalism is nothing if not an ongoing tutorial in unintended consequences. Less than a fortnight after the President urged the American people to reject those who, as he disparagingly […]
- Judith Levy, Ed. : IRS: Tell Us What You're Praying For May 19, 2013Do you ever feel as though you've stepped into some kind of fictional parallel universe? The IRS scandal is starting to take on the dimensions of a dark satirical netherworld -- Evelyn Waugh with a dollop of Orwell thrown in.The Coalition for Life of Iowa applied for tax-exempt status in 2008, opening itself up to 10 months of interrogation by the IRS. […]
- Duane Oyen : Report from the States: Minnesota Edition May 19, 2013Our Esteemed editors have at time expressed a desire to know what is happening "out there on the ground." Here goes:Minnesota is the âLand of 10,000 Lakesâ. It is also the Land of 1,000,000 socialists, courtesy of the labor movement in the mining industry and the collectivist instincts of the Scandinavian immigrant farmers (who included my gran […]
- Jon Gabriel : Introducing the Obama Scandal Bracket! May 19, 2013With so many White House scandalsâand new ones popping up every dayâhow are average citizens supposed to keep track? Wouldn't it be nice if Obama went on ESPN and mapped them all on a bracket?Why wait for next year's March Madness when you can start May Madness today? Introducing the Obama Scandal Bracket! Click here for a full-size version and […]
- Jack Dunphy : On the Kevin Williamson Matter, or The Case of the Flying Cell Phone May 19, 2013Since reading Kevin Williamsonâs post at NROâs The Corner on his abbreviated night at the theater (previously discussed here on Ricochet), Iâve pondered how I, as a police officer, might respond to a similar set of circumstances if such were to unfold in Los Angeles. For those not yet abreast of the facts, they can be distilled thus: Last Wednesday, Mr […]
- Pejman Yousefzadeh : The Public Train Wreck that Is the IRS Scandal May 19, 2013Just when you think you have seen it all â¦Weâll start by noting yet more evidence that the IRSâs audits of political groups was entirely inequitable in nature: When the Barack H. Obama Foundation sought tax-exempt status to raise money for good works in Kenya, the Internal Revenue Service provided quick help.The IRS approved charitable status for the f […]
- Denise McAllister : Military Sexual Assault and the Conservative Response May 18, 2013Alongside the big three scandals currently rocking the nation, another is brewing within the U.S. military. According to a recent Pentagon report, 26,000 service members were sexually assaulted last yearâthatâs up 35 percent from 2010. The increase is due to victims being more willing to report the crimes and also a broadening of the definition of âsex […]
- Anne R. Pierce : Free World Rock and Roll May 18, 2013Rock and Roll can only happen - really happen - in the Free World. The protesting, rebelling and emoting; the open lusting, longing and exulting - these are Free World luxuries. Rock and Roll expresses the bigness of our wishes, hopes and dreams, and expresses our anxiety, frustration, and confusion in response to what the Free World has become. The joyful s […]
- Totus Porcus : The Difference it Makes: Hillary's Fingerprints on the Benghazi Video Narrative May 18, 2013âWith all due respect, the fact is, we had four dead Americans. Was it because of a protest or because of guys out for a walk one night who decide to kill some Americans, what difference, at this point, does it make?âThus did Hillary Clinton dismiss the question of why she blamed the attack on our Benghazi compound, resulting in the death of Ambassador C […]
- KC Mulville : What Is Corruption, Anyway? May 18, 2013Corruption is a slow change, a slow devolution, from what you ought to be ⦠to something less. You still keep the façade, but the reality is much less, or much different. In physical terms, the body doesnât have its former strength or smoothness. In moral terms, corruption is the distance between what you ought to be doing versus doing something else. C […]
- Nathan Harden : Nipples in New York May 18, 2013Lady Ricochet readers: If you were upset about potentially losing your right to bear an oversize soft drink in New York City, perhaps you will take comfort in knowing that at least some rights remain vigilantly protected by the Bloomberg regime: The command was read [in February] at 10 consecutive roll calls. Each of the cityâs 34,000 officers, in theory, […]
- Joe Malchow : IRS Planted Question May 17, 2013The audience question at an otherwise sleepy conference that allowed the IRS to ever so slightly frontrun the revelation that it targeted conservative organizations was, it turns out, planted by the IRS. The Internal Revenue Service wrote and planted the question asked on May 10 that led to the IRS scandal, the questioner said in a statement today.Celia Roa […]
- Nathan Harden : They Know They Didn't Know They Didn't May 17, 2013This week, we've been told over and over just how much members of the Obama Administration know they didn't know. It's the week of: ⢠the IRS "I dunno" ⢠the Benghazi blame dodge⢠and the AP-AG answer refusal/alleged recusal.But today I discovered something else that a member of the Administration maybe didn't know she did […]
- tabula rasa : The Modern World: What and Who Do You Love and Hate? May 17, 2013I've had occasion recently to read or re-read most of the works of C. S. Lewis. It's been a great experience, but it has caused me to ponder an issue that was often on Lewis's mind: Lewis was never comfortable with the modern world, and had an active dislike for much of it. His literary world was that of Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, and […]
- Jack Dunphy : Welcome Back, Milt Rosenberg May 17, 2013Back in January I posted here lamenting the sudden absence of Milt Rosenberg from the WGN radio lineup. Today I was gratified to discover that he has launched his own program on the Internet. Appearing as his first guest is friend of Ricochet Mark Steyn. Whatâs not to like about that?If youâre unfamiliar with Mr. Rosenberg you can consider yourself bless […]
- Troy Senik, Ed. : Yet Another Constitutional Problem for the White House May 17, 2013While we're all lost in the Benghazi, DOJ, and IRS scandals (and the anticipation that the President will eventually just decide to hit for the cycle and quarter troops in the homes of Americans), it bears noting that an earlier White House exercise in making the Constitution an outhouse accessory came back to the fore this week. From Damon Root at Reas […]
- Need To Know with Mona Charen and Jay Nordlinger : Abusing Power May 17, 2013Direct link to MP3 file This week, Jay (on location in Oslo, Norway) and Mona welcome the WSJ's Best of The Web columnist James Taranto. He discusses the IRS and the Associated Press scandals and gives us a tour of even more controversies currently flying under the media radar. James also explains why our current Alinsky-style of government doesn't […]
- Big John : Netflix Reloading May 17, 2013So, now that summer is here, we will replace our DVR patterns with off-season fare like AMC's Longmire and USA's Psych and Burn Notice. We also cycle through Netflix collections of British stuff. We loved Foyle's War and Inspector Lewis, and have now started George Gently. We need more stuff to watch in our Instant Queue while we escape the T […]
- Greg Lukianoff : WSJ: "Feds to Students: You Can't Say That" May 17, 2013Check out my op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal about the crazy campus overreach coming from the Department of Education and the Department of Justice: The scandals roiling Washington over the past two weeks involve troubling government behavior that had been hiddenâthe IRS targeting of conservative groups and the Justice Department's surveill […]
- Ralphism Redivivus May 11, 2013Naturally I appreciate the kind and intelligent attention to my ideas from Peter Lawler, Richard Reinsch, and Carl Scott. (I would not be dismayed in the unlikely event that the term “Ralphism” caught on, though I might have suggested a term more along the lines of “the Hancockian wisdom.” But be that as it may…) […]Ralph Hancock
- “Gay Marriage” and the End of Lockean Conservatism (Part 3, Conclusion) January 31, 2013Finally, as an example of such vision of substantive goods (as evoked by Roger Scruton, above), let me share a tidbit from an important essay against same-sex marriage (made world famous by the Pope’s high praise) authored by France’s chief Rabbi Gilles Bernheim. I have just finished translating this essay, very soon to appear in […]Ralph Hancock
- “Gay Marriage” and the End of Conservative Lockeanism (Part 2 of 3) January 30, 2013(This is a continuation of a post from yesterday; it will make most sense in that context.) When Maggie Gallagher answers John Corvino’s individualist argument for “gay marriage” (in Debating Same-Sex Marriage), she relies mainly on a good and important argument for man-woman marriage based upon universal human and social necessities: “Marriage is a word [.. […]Ralph Hancock
- “Gay” Marriage and the End of Conservative Lockeanism (Part 1 of 3) January 29, 2013Tom West – who, I want to make clear at the outset, can easily run circles around me in his knowledge of Locke’s writings – does well to remind us of the (now) conservative, pro-family conclusions that Locke draws from his very modern philosophical premises. And these conclusions are (or should be) still relevant to […]Ralph Hancock
- Politics and Christianity: The Rule and The Exception (Continued) December 11, 2012(Please read my previous post first, if you haven’t.) Try to follow me here: Christianity, I was arguing, necessarily implies an ambivalence towards any moral-political culture. On the one hand, it reinforces much conventional moral content by declaring it to be the object of a divine command: Thou shalt not steal, commit adultery, etc. At […]Ralph Hancock
- Politics & Christianity: the Rule and the Exception December 10, 2012The essence of Christianity is to love one another, to have compassion, not to judge, but to forgive, to accept – no? Applied to politics, the implication seems obvious: unlimited tolerance, equality of lifestyles, etc: in a word, extreme liberalism. What’s wrong with this picture? Everything, conservatives will say, and they will have a point, […]Ralph Hancock
- Come Let Us Reason Together January 13, 2011The outrage in Arizona has sparked another cycle of mutual recriminations between liberals and conservatives that points up what seems to be a growing chasm running through our political culture. Each side sees itself as faithful to good old American principles, and sees the other side as tending (at least) towards a dangerous extremism. It […]Ralph Hancock
- Propadeutic to a Thumotic and Erotic Ontology December 11, 2010[The following is the preface to my forthcoming The Responsibility of Reason: Theory and Practice in a Liberal-Democratic Age (Rowman & Littlefield)] Propadeutic to a Thumotic and Erotic Ontology. This is the fanciful and facetious subtitle I used to try out on friends when asked about the book I was writing. It was a serious […]Ralph Hancock
- THE CONSTITUTION AT RISK? Founding Principles and Today’s Politics November 13, 201017-20 November 2010 A Conference Hosted by the Tocqueville Project of Brigham Young University, with Funding from The John Adams Center for the Study of Faith, Philosophy and Public Affairs and The Sutherland Institute. Is the Constitution as understood by the Founders at risk? If so, then how so, and what caused this? And would […]Ralph Hancock
- Overheard at Yale: Pomocon Ontology II November 9, 2010[Conclusion of the astute synopsis by Mr. Entel, followed by his even more astute questions:] Plato, Hancock contends, enacts this yoke between being and knowing by seemingly affirming the simple superiority of theory to practice, thus suppressing the question of the relation between the good of thinking and the common good by appearing to answer […]Ralph Hancock
Books by Our Authors
The Responsibility of Reason by Ralph C. Hancock
The Conservative Foundations of the Liberal Order by Daniel J. Mahoney
Modern and American Dignity by Peter Augustine Lawler
Soft Despotism, Democracy's Drift by Paul A. Rahe