American History Archives

IP#312 Dr. Kevin Starr – Continental Ambitions on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor

For the Audio only:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:11 — 38.7MB) | Embed

What a delight to speak with Dr. Kevin Starr about “Continental Ambitions: Roman Catholics in North America: the Colonial Experience”! This volume is a beautifully massive work of “historical art”; so thorough and engaging, I couldn’t stop turning the pages! Dr. Starr is a master storyteller. It’s as though he has you on a high precipice overlooking a grand vista, and with the broad swipe of his arm, he points out all the personalities and movements shaping an ever changing view. And during our conversation, it was an absolute joy to hear the enthusiasm and love he has for history and for this particular subject. I simply cannot recommend this book more highly!

You can find the book here

“These accounts of a human drama heroic and villainous, saintly and sanguineous, are a feast for the historian and, more importantly, food for our generation starved of the story of its own past. The romantic whose knowledge is airbrushed and the cynic whose knowledge is cobbled together with clichés will jointly be challenged. For everyone, reading this book could be a transforming experience, and a delight as well.”
Fr. George Rutler, Author, He Spoke to Us: Discerning God in People and Events

“To see in one book the history of Catholics in the New World, its glories and its tragedies, is almost like reading a secret history of a lost tribe. Kevin Starr s magisterial narration of European Catholic presence in North America the Norse, the Spanish, the French, the English, plus a few others is a contribution of the first order to our understanding of the whole foundation of this land of the free.”
James V. Schall, S.J. Professor Emeritus, Georgetown University

WOL6 – Democracy, Tocqueville, and St. John Paul II – Reflections on the teachings of St. John Paul II w/ Dr. Carson Holloway – Discerning Hearts

WOL6 – Episode 6- “Democracy in America” by Alexis de Tocqueville is the focus of this episode. What is “democracy” and why did it work it in the American experience. There is much that is good and sound in the founding of “modern western democracy”, but what has happened in the view of “Evangelium Vitae” that has possible knocked it off track.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:30 — 25.2MB) | Embed

The Way of Life, Carson Holloway examines the fundamental philosophers of modernity-from Hobbes to Toqueville-to suggest that St. John Paul II’s critique of modernity is intended not to reject, but to improve. Thus, claims Holloway, it is appropriate for liberal modernity to attend to the Pope’s thought, receiving it not as the attack of an enemy but as the criticism of a candid friend.

For other episodes in the series visit Dr. Holloway’s Discerning Hearts page

This series is based on Dr. Holloway’s book “The Way of Life”

WOL5 – The “Declaration of Independence” – Reflections on the teachings of St. John Paul II w/ Dr. Carson Holloway – Discerning Hearts

WOL5 – Episode 5- The “Declaration of Independence” and American political philosophy and what it involves. What is the “natural law” and how it applies to political thought. There are principals of political “rights and wrongs” and these are the foundations for political practice (which are not always followed by the human person). What are the “self-evident” truths? What are “natural rights”? Why did this system of thought survive given the American experience compared to the results of the French revolution and its theories? Both might be “children” of the Enlightenment, but one was hostile to Christianity, the other embraced it.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:54 — 25.5MB) | Embed

The Way of Life, Carson Holloway examines the fundamental philosophers of modernity-from Hobbes to Toqueville-to suggest that St. John Paul II’s critique of modernity is intended not to reject, but to improve. Thus, claims Holloway, it is appropriate for liberal modernity to attend to the Pope’s thought, receiving it not as the attack of an enemy but as the criticism of a candid friend.

For other episodes in the series visit Dr. Holloway’s Discerning Hearts page

This series is based on Dr. Holloway’s book “The Way of Life”

IP#189 Dr. Rodney Stark – America’s Blessings on Inside the Pages

“America’s Blessings: How Religion Benefits Everyone, Including Atheists” is outstanding; it’s the book most anti-religion pundits don’t want you to read.

Once again, it was a delight to speak with Dr. Rodney Stark about this subject. He is one of the leading authorities on the sociology of religion. The Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences and co-director of the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University, Dr. Stark has broken open for us a wealth of studies, polls, and data that indicate the tremendous benefits organized religion has had on the United States of America. He also presents, in his uniquely authentic style, the dangers of taking this blessing for granted.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:59 — 25.6MB) | Embed

You can find the book here

From the description:

Starting with a historical overview, Stark traces America’s religious roots from the founding of the country up through the present day, showing that religiosity in America has never been consistent, static, or monolithic. Interestingly, he finds that religious practice is now more prevalent than ever in America, despite any claims to the contrary. From here, Stark devotes whole chapters to unpacking the latest research on how religion affects different facets of modern American life, including crime, family life, sexuality, mental and physical health, sophistication, charity, and overall prosperity. The cumulative effect is that when translated into comparisons with western European nations, the United States comes out on top again and again. Thanks in no small part to America’s rich religious culture, the nation has far lower crime rates, much higher levels of charitable giving, better health, stronger marriages, and less suicide, to note only a few of the benefits.
In the final chapter, Stark assesses the financial impact of these religious realities. It turns out that belief benefits the American economy—and all 300 million citizens, believer and nonbeliever alike—by a conservative estimate of $2.6 trillion a year. Despite the atheist outcry against religion, the remarkable conclusion is clear: all Americans, from the most religious among us to our secular neighbors, really ought to count our blessings.

IP#75 Dr. Marc Guerra – Christians As Political Animals on Inside the Page

“Christians as Political Animals: Taking the Measure of Modernity and Modern Democracy” as fascinating work that looks at faith, reason, virtue, and the limits of modern liberty. Dr. Marc Guerra, professor of the graduate program at Ave Maria University, brings forward Augstine and Aquinas, as well as 20th century theologians and political philosophers, to help us recognize that Christian thought must keep a proper prospective in viewing the political realm, and not to surrender our call and response as members of the body of Christ. Is it heading stuff? Not at all, faith and reason anchored in Truth, is for all of us to understand…it should be the true rudder we use to navigate the political landscape.

You can find Dr. Guerra’s book here

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:02 — 25.7MB) | Embed

IP#134 Dr. Thomas Kidd – Patrick Henry: First Among Patriots on Inside the Pages

During this time when we are asked to remember the value of our religious liberty, our conversation with Dr. Thomas Kidd is an important one. Dr. Kidd gives us the life and passionate thought of “Patrick Henry: First Among Patriots”. Patrick Henry gave us the great rallying cry “Give me Liberty or Give me Death”, and yet many of us may not realize that he had huge reservations about the scope of the Constitution, because he feared it could one day seize that liberty and destroy it if allowed to go unchecked….very interesting. I found this to be a fascinating book. Would Patrick Henry’s concern turn out to be a prophetic one? Dr. Thomas Kidd handles his subject well, and presents the time, place and overall personality of Henry with clarity and insight in a very compelling read.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:25 — 25.1MB) | Embed

Dr. Thomas Kidd teaches history at Baylor University and is Senior Fellow at Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion. His newest book is Patrick Henry: First Among Patriots, published in 2011 with Basic Books. God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution was published in 2010, also by Basic Books. Additional recent books include American Christians and Islam, published in 2008 by Princeton University Press, The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America, published by Yale University Press in 2007, and The Great Awakening: A Brief History with Documents, with Bedford Books in 2007. He is a contributor to patheos.com and has written op-eds for USA Today and the Washington Post.

You can find the book here

Wilfred M. McClay, SunTrust Chair of Excellence in Humanities, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

“His (Patrick Henry’a) historical reputation has suffered somewhat because of his opposition to the Constitution, but as Thomas Kidd shows in this vivid and lucid new biography, that judgment fails to do him justice. Indeed, his fears of the Constitution’s tendency toward consolidation and empire turned out to be well-founded, and the principal themes of his life, including his emphasis upon the cultivation of virtue and the protection of limited government, have never been more relevant. May this fine book lead to a long-overdue reconsideration of a great but neglected figure.”

IP#76 Dr. Peter Augustine Lawler – Modern and American Dignity on Inside the Pages

“Modern and American Dignity: Who We Are As Persons, and What That Means For Our Future” by Dr. Peter Augustine Lawler is a must have for any who loves to read, think…and ponder. By drawing upon the wisdom from masters like Socrates to Solzhenitsyn, Tocqueville to Chesterton, John Courtney Murray to our “philosopher-pope” Benedict XVI (which I just LOVE), Dr. Lawler uses a charming blend of wit and elegance to fashion a contemporary and relevant understanding of today’s political and moral debates, all the while leaving his “Catholic lenses” firmly in place. He is fantastic. Dr. Lawler guides us through the minefield of contemporary thinking to the heart of the dignity and value of each human person.

You can find the book here

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:20 — 26.9MB) | Embed

Archbishop Dolan “simply put, she is one of the most significant women in life of the Catholic Church in the United States”

Six Insights from the Life of Dorothy Day from Province of Saint Joseph on Vimeo.

6 Insights from the Life of Dorothy Day –
(from Our Sunday Visitor)

“Dorothy Day is one of the most significant women in the life of the Church in the United States.” That’s how Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York began a moving and inspiring talk about the founder of the Catholic Worker Movement on the anniversary of her birthday Nov. 9 at St. Joseph’s Church in Greenwich Village. The video clip above is worth watching to the end. I had tears in my eyes by the time it was over, but I’ll give you the synopsis of what Archbishop Dolan labeled the six “insights” we can take from Dorothy Day.

1. “She was quintessentially American.” The archbishop went on to emphasize that Dorothy’s faith was freely chosen. She was raised Protestant and converted to Catholicism. Her faith was “her free choice,” something Archbishop Dolan said should resonate particularly well with Americans who more and more reject the faith of their births.

2. “Dorothy was from the beginning a social critic and activist in the best prophetic sense of American Christian spirituality, whether Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox.” The archbishop said that Dorothys’ vision and her intellectual contributions may well have “foreshadowed” what Pope John XXIII, Vatican II, and Pope John Paul II tried to advance “relative to the dignity of each person as a worker, as a human being created in the image and likeness of God.”

3. “Dorothy’s mission to the Church in every area — social and legal reform, workers’ rights, publications, her renowned pacifism, the ability to prophetically challenge even Church authority — all of that found its taproot in prayer,” something the archbishop said is too often reversed by reform-minded leaders. He stressed that Dorothy began and ended each day with prayer and rarely missed daily Mass, adding, “Her activism was the fruit of a profound prayer that I would say bordered on the mystic.”

4. “Dorothy lived through two experiences of her day that are particularly enlightening for us today. Experience one: loneliness, alienation and disconnection to foundational institutions such as marriage and family. Secondly, the sexual revolution…” Archbishop Dolan called her life one of “upheaval,” but said that her Augustinian model of faith reminds us that our sexuality cannot be cast aside as a weakness but is integral to our lives as an expression of our likeness to God. “She invites us to watch her grow in integrity in this most precious act of being human,” he said.

5. “Dorothy neither hid from sin nor would allow any person, no matter their motives, to be simply equated with the sum of their sins. We are not ever or only the sum total of our sins, are we?” The archbishop said that Dorothy’s life was “ever in process” and she was ever more converted to Jesus Christ every day. “Holiness of life, Dorothy would tell us, would have no chance without honesty at its base,” he said, stressing that we cannot deny or lawyer up when it comes to our mistakes.

6. “Dorothy was a woman of the Church. She loved being a Catholic. She loved the Catholic Church. I’m not talking about some nebulous, generic Church. She loved the one, holy, catholic, apostolic, Roman church…She was proud to be Catholic.”

Finally, Archbishop Dolan went on to say that our greatest pastoral challenge as Catholics today is to “respond to those who want Christ without his Church, and their name is legion.” Saying that many people don’t have a problem with Jesus but have “tons of problems” with his Church, he pointed out that Dorothy knew full well the flaws of her Church and loved it anyway:

“She loved the mystical body, but she new the mystical body had warts galore…Here’s one of her saltier quotes, and there were many: ‘Yes, the Church is the spotless bride of Christ, but at other times, she’s the whore of Babylon.’ Dorothy was well aware of the flaws, the wounds, the imperfections, the ugly side of the Church, but she loved it all the more.” Our Sunday Visitor