The John Adams Center: Peter Lawler

for the Study of Faith, Philosophy and Public Affairs

Peter Lawler

Peter Lawler is Dana Professor of Government at Berry College in Georgia. He is the author or editor of a dozen books, including Postmodernism Rightly Understood, Stuck With Virtue, Aliens in America, and Homeless and at Home in America. He has also written over 200 articles and reviews for scholarly and popular publications. Lawler is executive editor of the acclaimed scholarly quarterly Perspectives on Political Science and a member of the President’s Council on Bioethics. He was the 2007 winner of the Richard M. Weaver Prize in Scholarly Letters.

Ricochet

Radio Free Delingpole : Zombies, Liberals, and Fundamentalists May 22, 2013
Direct link to MP3 file James Delingpole, voted Britain's most dangerous podcaster, returns for another edition of Radio Free Delingpole. This week, fellow Daily Telegraph blogger and educator Toby Young joins for a rousing conversation covering James' jelly wrestling critics; the Oklahoma tornadoes and global warming; the last best hope for Britai […]
Troy Senik, Ed. : Lanny Davis: IRS Scandal "Will Make it Almost Impossible to Elect a Democratic President" May 22, 2013
Lanny Davis, the former Clinton aide -- no stranger to scandals he -- thinks that the recent surge in bad news for Democrats could have implications for 2016. Here's what he told Andrea Tantaros on her radio show, according to the Washington Examiner's Paul Bedard: The growing IRS-Tea Party scandal, which has robbed Democrats of the so-called […]
Troy Senik, Ed. : Failure is Not a Firing Offense May 22, 2013
Remember when, in the aftermath of the Benghazi attack, there was a dustup over the fact that none of the culpable parties at the State Department seemed to have lost their jobs? Despite the fact that it was announced that four of them would be leaving? Given the current atmosphere in Washington, you can be forgiven if it's not the outrage at the forefr […]
Ricochet Editor's Desk : Gruesome Attack in London May 22, 2013
Reports are emerging out of a London about a gruesome attack earlier today in which a British soldier appears to have been hacked to death with machetes in broad daylight by two men shouting "Allahu Akbar." Early details are here from theTelegraph.A news video has already been posted to YouTube as well. While the video does not show any violence or […]
Jon Gabriel : A Graduation to Remember May 22, 2013
Tatum Raetz' daddy couldn't make it to her kindergarten graduation. So hundreds of her adoptive daddies did.Her father, Phoenix Police Officer Daryl Raetz, was struck down in the line of duty over the weekend. While investigating a possible DUI, another driver killed him and fled the scene.As his daughter Tatum drove up to her elementary school, sh […]
Pejman Yousefzadeh : Savage Responses to a Natural Disaster May 22, 2013
So on Monday, as we all know, a tornado ripped through Moore, Oklahoma, destroying communities and leading to widespread fatalities. To say that this is horrifying is to understate matters.The calamity led blogger and public policy professor Michael OâHare to write this post at the âReality-Based Communityâ (try not to laugh). In its entirety, the orig […]
Mollie Hemingway, Ed. : So ... How About This White House Scandal Response? May 22, 2013
Yesterday, the White House had a special meeting with journalists even more loyal to President Obama than their compatriots. People on Twitter were enraged, because the White House has been so tightlipped with regular journalists.But I was looking forward to today, when we'd see what the White House was thinking by reading what these journalists had to […]
iWc : How Do You Measure Your Life? May 22, 2013
In recent years, it has become clear to me that most people want to rack up "experiences." They like to travel, to enjoy interesting food, to do things on their bucket list.Others, myself included, are much more focused on what we do, instead of what we experience. I am not interested in going to exotic places, or experiencing new and wonderful thi […]
Judith Levy, Ed. : Penelope Is In -- 22 May 2013 May 22, 2013
[Note: This letter was posted on the Member Feed as an open request for advice, not only from Penelope, but from the whole Ricochet community. I invite you to check out that thread to sample the wisdom of our fellow Ricochetti.] My dear Ricochetti, I could use some advice. The summer is upon us, which means it's wedding season. This Saturday is the wedd […]
Dave Carter : Murphy's Law and Me May 22, 2013
Maybe it's the solitude. I've been on the road for over a month now without a day off, on freight schedules that have me rising at 1 AM one morning, 9 AM the next, 4 AM the following morning, etc., etc., world without end, a-men. I don't especially mind the solitude either. The cab is comfortable. I have books, music, and I can reach out to th […]
MichaelC19fan : Gallup Poll On Moral Issues: SoCons Fading Away May 21, 2013
Gallup has released the results of a new poll regarding American attitudes towards some moral issues. The take away is that, on many key issues, the SoCon position is in the minority.For example, here are some of today's results with a comparison to 2001:Homosexual relationships: 59% morally acceptable (+19%)Giving birth outside marriage: 60% morally ac […]
Denise McAllister : The Pope and the Devil May 21, 2013
Is Pope Francis an exorcist? This is the question many are asking after Francis blessed a man in a wheelchair after celebrating Mass in St. Peterâs Square on Sunday. While the pope put his hands on the manâs head and prayed over him, the man heaved deeply, shook, then slumped in his chair. Exorcists who were surveyed by the television station of the Ital […]
Ricochet Editor's Desk : Just Try This at Your Next Audit May 21, 2013
From Politico: Lois Lerner will invoke her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself when she appears tomorrow before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, her lawyer told the panel in a letter.Lerner is the IRS official who triggered a Washington scandal by acknowledging that the agency wrongly targeted conservative groups. In the lett […]
Pejman Yousefzadeh : The Latest on the IRS Scandal May 21, 2013
Once again, I want to mention that I am really sick of writing about this issue. But it deserves the maximum amount of attention possible.First off, it would appear that the Obama administration knew that the IRS was targeting conservative groups for extra scrutiny back in the 2012 campaign: There were new questions Saturday night concerning if anyone in the […]
Troy Senik, Ed. : America, I Apologize May 21, 2013
On behalf of all conservatives living in California (a form of dhimmitude), I'd like to apologize to the rest of the nation -- but particularly to Oklahoma -- for the conduct of Senator Barbara "Don't Call Me Ma'am" Boxer, who has a nasty habit of twirling a baton at the front of the idiot parade. From the Daily Caller: California De […]
BTConservative : Rand Paul at Apple Tax Hearing May 21, 2013
The news always feels inconsequential after disasters and deaths like what we've seen in Oklahoma, but this video did give me some distraction. Worth a watch - there's not too much to preface here, but Paul does an excellent job defending the free market at the Apple hearings. (H/T: Townhall). […]
James Pethokoukis : What Tim Cook Should Say: Tax Me More, Apple Not At All May 21, 2013
According to US Senate investigators, Apple paid no corporate income tax to any national government on $74 billion in overseas income from foreign units over the past four years. Two key points: First, investigators found no evidence Apple did anything illegal. Second, Apple concedes the entities didnât pay corporate taxes but denies they were designed as […]
Jack Dunphy : If the Obama Administration Ran Your Local Police Department May 21, 2013
Transcript from dispatch center:911 Operator: 9-1-1, what is your emergency?Caller: Iâm calling from 1324 Elm Street. Iâm upstairs hiding in a closet, and some men with guns just broke in downstairs and theyâre robbing my family.Operator: Hmmm. 1324 Elm Street. I donât think we have anyone in that area.Caller: What?Operator: Well, thatâs pretty far […]
Mollie Hemingway, Ed. : Operation BBQ Deploys to Moore, OK May 21, 2013
I have trouble reading these stories about the death and destruction that hit Oklahoma yesterday. When disaster strikes, I try to focus on what I can do to help. My husband and I give to LCMS World Relief and Human Care.That so many people voluntarily respond to help others in need is a beautiful thing. I wanted to highlight Operation BBQ Relief: Operation B […]
Zafar : Fair Call or Long Bow? You Decide. May 21, 2013
From Slate: Profiling Is Great ... Except When You Do It to MeWill the IRS's scrutiny of Tea Party groups convince conservatives that all kinds of profiling are wrong? Excerpt: The deep irony of the IRS scandal is that people on the political right are being subjected to exactly the kind of profiling that theyâve long advocated in fighting terrorism a […]

Ralph Hancock

Ralphism Redivivus May 11, 2013
Naturally 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, 2013
Finally, 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, 2013
Tom 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, 2012
The 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, 2011
The 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, 2010
17-20 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