Tag Archives: history

Mythical heroes

Posted on November 23, 2009 by David Hume

There’s a new evangelical Christian college in New York, the King’s College. You can read a somewhat quizzical article in The New York Times about it. This part caught my attention: Clues about the college’s philosophical underpinnings reveal themselves here … Continue reading →

Posted in culture | Tagged | 14 Comments

The shoe on the other foot

Posted on October 25, 2009 by David Hume

Arnold Kling recently mentioned he was reading Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815. A little over halfway through the book, I am struck again by the historical contingency of particular foreign & social policy outlooks. For … Continue reading →

Posted in culture | Tagged | 6 Comments

From Christendom to the West

Posted on August 30, 2009 by David Hume

Rod Dreher has an interesting post, Is religion necessary to Western civilization? There are many specific points where I agree, and disagree, naturally. Some reactions:

Posted in culture | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Change does not always march in one direction

Posted on May 4, 2009 by David Hume

Over the past few days we have had some discussion on this weblog about the marriage of individuals of the same sex from different vantage points. As an empirical matter I think Andrew Stuttaford is correct to predict that this … Continue reading →

Posted in culture | Tagged , | 36 Comments

Muddle to the Right?

Posted on March 25, 2009 by David Hume

I’m reading Niall Ferguson’s The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World right now. I’ve not read Ferguson before, and I have to say he’s a rather good prose stylist. Though dense with data & concept The Ascent … Continue reading →

Posted in economics, politics | Tagged , , , | 18 Comments

Pagans & Christians

Posted on February 17, 2009 by David Hume

In the late 4th century the Roman Empire was diverting its state subsidies from the customary pagan cults to the Christian church.  At the same time the public space was evolving from one where tokens of pagan piety were being … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , | 29 Comments

On Judeo-Christian

Posted on January 15, 2009 by David Hume

I’ve recently triggered a round of discussion on several weblogs around the interwebs relating to the term “Judeo-Christianity,” especially when it comes to definiting the civilization of the West (as in, “our Judeo-Christian culture”).   I started the discussion here, … Continue reading →

Posted in Definition, history, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 24 Comments

An Anodyne Age?

Posted on December 24, 2008 by David Hume

I’m almost finished with What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848. Reading this and other books on this period of American history I’m struck by how milquetoast the public discussion of religion is in the political domain today … Continue reading →

Posted in history, politics | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Conservative Unitarian Presidents?

Posted on December 15, 2008 by David Hume

I just realized something strange the other day. Here are the American presidents who were affiliated officially as Unitarians: John Adams John Quincy Adams Millard Fillmore William Howard Taft   The first Adams, Fillmore and Taft were undeniably conservatives in … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, politics | Tagged , , | 13 Comments

Knowledge & the Second Bank of the United States

Posted on December 12, 2008 by David Hume

Reading about the controversy surrounding the Second Bank of the United States, I get the sense that we know more about how economics operates today than we did 180 years ago. But how much more? Enough to matter? I assume … Continue reading →

Posted in culture, economics, history | Tagged , , , | 15 Comments