I desire...only to put things into an orderly way @newputneydebates-blog - Tumblr Blog

Beggar with a crippled hand leaning on a stick, 1629, Rembrandt

"This means conservatives should think about preserving the pre-conditions for moral living in terms of building cohesive, attractive, moral subcultures in those mediating layers of society, rather than just struggling for control of the old institutions of a once-consolidated 'mainstream' culture. It means focusing inward and close to home. And it means the right must take note of the ways in which the distinct problems of our age are as much challenges of dissolution as of concentration, and therefore that the conservative struggle against the scourge of statism should more frequently employ a vocabulary of middling communitarianism rather than of radical individualism."

#yuval levin

And truley I wish we may be very wary what we do; and let us take heed of rejecting any bof the Saints of God before God rejects them.

Lt Col William Goffe - The Putney Debates (Oct 28, 1647)

#The Putney Debates #william goffe

Science and the Good: The Tragic Quest for the Foundations of Morality, by James Davison Hunter and Paul Nedelisky Denunciations of “scientism” are a dime a dozen these days, but this isn’t that ki…

“While the new science of morality presses onward, the idea of morality – as a mind-independent reality — has lost plausibility for the new moral scientists. They no longer believe such a thing exists. Thus, when they say they are investigating morality scientifically, they now mean something different by “morality“ from what most people in the past have meant by it and what most people today still mean by it. In place of moral goodness, they substitute the merely useful, which is something science can discover. Despite using the language of morality, they embrace a view that, in its net effect, amounts to moral nihilism.”

The terrible saving mysteries of the Nativity

“This is the snow falling in the temple: a baby born in a cave, whose fate was to suffer like us, and to die on a cross, and to rise from the dead. Suffering will go on until the end of time, but it will not have the last word, nor will the throat-slashers, the cathedral-sackers, the child molesters, the hatemongers, the profaners of all creation. Their time is short. They cannot steal redemption.How beautiful is that baby in the manger, and the face of his mother. Keep that memory of them alive. Strive to see them present today. These images are like snow falling in a temple. A blessed Christmas to you all, especially those most in need of God’s mercy.” Rod Dreher

#Rod Dreher

"This circumstance, if duly attended to, would furnish a lesson of moderation to those who are ever so much persuaded of their being in the right in any controversy. And a further reason for caution, in this respect, might be drawn from the reflection that we are not always sure that those who advocate the truth are influenced by purer principles than their antagonists. Ambition, avarice, personal animosity, party opposition, and many other motives not more laudable than these, are apt to operate as well upon those who support as those who oppose the right side of a question." Alexander Hamilton; Federalist #1

#yuval levin #alexander hamilton #national review #federalist papers

George Shaw - Ash Wednesday

https://goo.gl/images/TTmCXf

artist-rembrandt

The Apostle Simon, 1661, Rembrandt Van Rijn

artist-rembrandt

Self-portrait with Beret and Gold Chain, 1631, Rembrandt Van Rijn

Size: 57x70 cm Medium: oil, board

Thomas Cole - Sunny Morning On The Hudson

artist-rembrandt

Old Man with Flowing Beard, Looking down Left, Rembrandt Van Rijn

This means conservatives should think about preserving the pre-conditions for moral living in terms of building cohesive, attractive, moral subcultures in those mediating layers of society, rather than just struggling for control of the old institutions of a once-consolidated 'mainstream' culture. It means focusing inward and close to home. And it means the right must take note of the ways in which the distinct problems of our age are as much challenges of dissolution as of concentration, and therefore that the conservative struggle against the scourge of statism should more frequently employ a vocabulary of middling communitarianism rather than of radical individualism."

Yuval Levin

#yuval levin