Samuel T. Francis
Championing
Joseph Sobran
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FGF Enters Transgenderism Battle: A Petition for Assistance by Fran Griffin August 19, 2024 FGF Books, 8/19/24 — Should biological males be allowed to be on women’s sports teams? Transgenderism was on prominent display at the recent Olympics. It is the view of FGF that women’s sports teams should be comprised of biological women, which oddly has become a controversial stance. Over the next few weeks, FGF is participating in the preparation and filing of seven amicus briefs in seven separate cases involving transgenderism being presented to the Supreme Court The first two cases are Bradley Little, Governor of Idaho, et al v. Lindsay Hecox, et al; and the State of West Virginia v. B.P.J., by Next Friend and Mother, Heather Jackson. READ REST OF ARTICLE Willa Ann Johnson, R.I.P., Reaganite, Sobran friend, conservative luminary by Fran Griffin March 8, 2024 FGF Books, 3/8/24 — Willa Ann Johnson, a lifelong principled conservative activist, a key member of the Reagan Revolution, an ardent pro-life Catholic, and a good friend of both Joe Sobran and Samuel T. Francis, went to her eternal reward on February 25. She was 81 years old. READ REST OF ARTICLE Susan Neff, R.I.P.: A humble, kind, and gracious soul returns to her Maker by Fran Griffin September 6, 2023 FGF Books, 9/6/23 — My friend, Susan Allen Neff, age 76, died peacefully on August 29, 2023 after having received the last rites and an apostolic blessing of the Roman Catholic Church just hours before. Sue suffered from several serious ailments over the past few years, particularly congestive heart failure which took a toll on her lungs. But her main affliction was her never-ending heartache over the death two years ago of her husband of 40 years, Ronald “Ronn” Neff. READ REST OF ARTICLE Appreciating Joe Sobran, and the Virtue of Gratitude in General by Harley Price February 27, 2023 Publisher’s Note: This is the speech by Harley Price, delivered eloquently at the launching of his new book, Give Speech A Chance: Heretical Essays on What You Can’t Say or Even Think fgfBooks.com — It is a great pleasure, and a deeply-felt honour, to be here today — though I must confess that it is also somewhat intimidating to address so distinguished an audience. Alas, I haven’t had much experience of late speaking to people who are educated, literate, rational, or even demonstrably animate: I have been teaching, you see, at an elite university for the past two decades. But then, I’m probably not qualified to differentiate between the animate and the inanimate; I’m not a biologist, after all.READ REST OF ARTICLE What if Strom Thurmond (or Goldwater) Had been Elected President by Samuel T. Francis February 21, 2023 Publisher’s Note: It has been 18 years since Sam Francis, an FGF Founding Board Member, went to his eternal reward. His brilliance can be seen in this classic column, originally written in 2002. Samuel Francis Classics, 2/21/2023 — For one brief shining moment, it was beginning to look like Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott was taking hormone shots. First he endorsed sending troops to the border to resist invasion by illegal aliens. Then, last week, at a birthday party for 100-year-old Senator Strom Thurmond he virtually endorsed the South Carolina senator’s presidential campaign 54 years ago — as a segregationist.Mr. Lott has now apologized at least twice and cringed and groveled appropriately for saying something that deviates from egalitarian dogmas, but whether Mr. Thurmond’s distinguished colleague from Mississippi was trying to utter some serious thoughts or had just swallowed too much eggnog at the birthday bash seems an open question. READ REST OF ARTICLE The Transforming Miracle of Christmas by Rev. Mark A. Pilon December 23, 2022 Littlemore Tracts, December 24, 2017 — One sometimes hears these days the trite expression, “the magic of Christmas”. But good Christians will prefer another expression, “the miracle of Christmas”, or “wonder of Christmas” because that is the most accurate description of Christmas for believers of all ages, in every age. In truth, the miracle or wonder of Christmas is only fully accessible to faith. In what sense, then, is Christmas seen as a miracle by believing Christians? READ REST OF ARTICLE Anne Libby Edwards by Fran Griffin November 12, 2022 Anne Libby Edwards, cherished wife of Lee Edwards, died on November 6, a week after suffering a stroke. Her demise at this time was unexpected. While she had a few medical issues, she was healthy and spry enough to attend the recent September 3rd wedding of her grandson, Daniel O’Connor in Latrobe, Pennsylvania (near Pittsburgh). READ REST OF ARTICLE The FGF Book Launching of Give Speech A Chance: Heretical Essays on What You Can’t Say or Even Think Watch the video and see photos of the September 23 Book Launching of FGF Books’ latest book, Give Speech A Chance. READ MORE A New Defense of Reason by Charles G. Mills September 17, 2022
A Book Review of READ REST OF ARTICLE Paul Gottfried To Extol Give Speech A Chance at September 23 Book Launching September 12, 2022 “Dealing Humorously with the Woke Enemy” will be the title of Paul Gottfried’s speech at the September 23rd Book Launching Event for Give Speech A Chance: Heretical Essays on What You Can’t Say or Even Think. The 326 page hardcover book by Harley Price was published in June by FGF Books. Tickets to the book launch luncheon are still available for friends of FGF Books. Paul Gottfried, the editor-in-chief of Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture calls Give Speech A Chance “A dazzling collection of mordant essays on the aberrant Zeitgeist.” His book review of the new book, published in Chronicles magazine, is reprinted below. READ REST OF ARTICLE Gnosticism, American Style by Bartholomew de la Torre, O.P. September 6, 2022
A Book Review of Hence my gratitude to Give Speech a Chance. For though author Harley Price does not offer a definition of Gnosticism himself, he does suggest one: READ REST OF ARTICLE Book Launching Event for Give Speech A Chance “Appreciating Joe Sobran, and the Virtue of Gratitude in General” Friday, September 23, 2022 11:30 a.m. McLean, Virginia Make a donation to support this event here. Friends of FGF Books are invited to attend a luncheon for Give Speech A Chance: Heretical Essays on What You Can’t Say or Even Think on Friday, September 23. This book launching event will feature a talk by author Harley Price titled “Appreciating Joe Sobran, and the Virtue of Gratitude in General” and three talks about the book: --“Dealing Humorously with the Woke Enemy” by Paul Gottfried. --“The Price of Being Free” by Bartholomew de la Torre, O.P. --“A Hetero-Normative, Cisgender Barbarian Tells All” by Allan Carlson. READ MORE FGF to join an amicus brief petitioning the Supreme Court to end vaccine mandates for health professionals by Fran Griffin June 13, 2022 fgfBooks.com — The Supreme Court will soon decide if it will consider a challenge by Missouri and nine other states to the Covid-19 “vaccine” mandate imposed on the health care sector. Ten states* have filed a petition of certiorari asking the High Court to take a second look at the legality of the mandate. The amicus brief, Missouri v. Biden, being filed on June 21, will encourage the Supreme Court to grant certiorari. The Fitzgerald Griffin Foundation will be a petitioner in the amicus brief arguing that the federal government has no constitutional or natural law authority to force medical treatments on Americans. The law firm of William J. Olson, P.C. Attorney At Law is preparing the brief. READ REST OF ARTICLE Today’s Aberrant Sexual Politics, in the Light of the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s, in the Light of Revolutions in General by Harley Price May 30, 2022 Publisher’s Note: Harley Price, author of the latest FGF book, Give Speech a Chance: Heretical Essays on What You Can’t Say or Even Think, will be speaking at the annual conference of the Academy of Philosophy and Letters on June 3. The theme of the conference is “After Disorder: Looking Backward to Move Forward.” His remarks, which are extracted from an essay in his book, can be read below. Give Speech A Chance: Essays on What You Can’t Say or Even Think — We flatter ourselves that we are very sophisticated about sex, but that sophistication is at most a technical one. One hears parents boasting, ironically, that their teenagers know more about the birds and the bees than they ever did when they were young.What these proud parents really mean is that their children now have more experience with sex, not that they have any deeper understanding of what has, until recently, always been regarded as a mystery. As Dr. Johnson has said, "Vulgar and inactive minds confound familiarity with knowledge." In spite of the word’s etymology, one doesn’t require experience with something to be an expert. The best expert on drowning is the man who can swim; the man with too much experience of it will have nothing to say on the subject. READ REST OF ARTICLE Joe Sobran Quote of the Week May 24, 2022 Cal Thomas writes in a May 24, 2022 article in The Indiana Gazette titled “Theology, politics, and abortion”: The late columnist Joseph Sobran, a Roman Catholic, summed up the danger of Christians conforming to the world’s thinking: “It can be exalting to belong to a church that is five hundred years behind the times and sublimely indifferent to fashion; it is mortifying to belong to a church that is five minutes behind the times, huffing and puffing to catch up.” What Would Joe Sobran Say? by Peter Maurice February 23, 2022 Today is the anniversary of Joe Sobran’s 76th birthday. The following article by Peter Maruice was published in the January-February 2022 edition of The New Oxford Review New Oxford Review, January-February 2022 — Comedians find it easy to imitate the distinctive voice of an actor. Not all actors have a trademark voice, but those who do make easy work for the impersonator.Joe Sobran (1946-2010) was a writer by trade, not a mimic, but he amused his friends on the police force by barking out from his car window, à la James Cagney, “You’ll never take me alive, Copper!” A passable takeoff is not so easy with a writer who has an identifiable voice. Try simulating a page in the tone of Charles Dickens or Samuel Johnson: satisfaction is not guaranteed. Sobran’s was one of those distinct voices, hard to define but easy to recognize. You might describe it — inadequately — as an erudite blend of moral earnestness and playful humor. READ REST OF ARTICLE Announcing our Latest Book: Harley Price’s Give Speech A Chance: Heretical Essays on What You Can’t Say or Even Think by Fran Griffin President, Fitzgerald Griffin Foundation (from the Foreword) November 12, 2021 fgfBooks.com, November 12, 2021 — It is with great pleasure that FGF Books adds author Harley Price’s sensational anthology to our reservoir of exceptional books. Give Speech A Chance is a remarkable, timely and prescient collection of some of the best essays on our culture and society available today. There is a common thread in this book, which is summed up in the apt subtitle, Heretical Essays on What You Can’t Say or Even Think. As the author himself states, there is “an ever-expanding list of things you cannot say in this age of progressive ‘tolerance,’ and it begets the sort of self-censorship that has always been the norm in totalitarian regimes.” FGF supporters have the opportunity to Pre-Order this book now for just $23 including shipping! READ MORE Ronald N. Neff: Renaissance Man, Devout Catholic, and My Friend by Fran Griffin November 11, 2021 November 11, 2021, fgfBooks.com — Ronald N. Neff, a close ally of Joe Sobran’s, managing editor of Sobran’s newsletter, long-time editor for the publications of the Fitzgerald Griffin Foundation – and my friend –died last week. An obit written by his loyal wife of 40 years, Susan Neff, can be read here. READ REST OF ARTICLE Kristin Kazyak: Warrior for Christ by Fran Griffin April 12, 2021 FgfBooks.com — Kristin Regina Kazyak, a passionate crusader for Christ and staunch defender of the unborn, died in California on March 20 after succumbing to non-smoker lung cancer. She was 68. Kristin was a lay secular member of the Order of Atonement of The Franciscan Minims of the Perpetual Help of Mary. The Order’s beginnings were inspired by the Cristero War in Mexico in the 1920s against the Communist persecution of Catholics and the Church. READ REST OF ARTICLE WATCH KRISTIN’S REQUIEM MASS The Hive by Joe Sobran February 23, 2021 Today is the anniversary of Joe Sobran’s 75th birthday. He and journalist Tom Bethell developed the metaphor of “The Hive.” Joe explains the metaphor, below. Sobran’s: The Real News of the Month, June 1999 — Twenty years ago, I was struck by the way various sorts of political “progressives” — Communists, socialists, liberals, “civil libertarians,” “moderates,” “pragmatists” — all spontaneously cooperated with each other. It wasn’t a conspiracy; there was obviously no central direction. But the pattern was too clear to be denied.The word “Left” was a dead metaphor; it said nothing interesting about the people it referred to. So I used the metaphor of an insect hive, which captured the way such people moved in harmony and communicated with each other. READ REST OF ARTICLE Resisting Jesus by Joe Sobran December 25, 2020 Subtracting Christianity: Essays on American Culture and Society — As always in our time, Christmas is provoking dissent from people who don’t want Christian symbols on public property or Christmas carols sung in public schools. Many Christians find this annoying and churlish. Some even feel that Christianity is being persecuted. The columnist Michelle Malkin writes, “We are under attack by Secularist Grinches Gone Wild.” Pat Buchanan goes so far as to speak of “hate crimes” against Christians. I disagree. READ REST OF ARTICLE You are invited to attend a talk “The Indwelling of the Holy Trinity: How Faithful Catholics Can Change the World” by Dominican missionary Rev. Gregory Maturi, O.P. October 11, 2020 Sunday, October 11, 2020 4 p.m. Sung Vespers 4:30 p.m. Talk by Fr. Maturi St. John the Beloved Catholic Church 6420 Linway Terrace McLean, Virginia 22101 See More Details On Imposing One’s Views by Joe Sobran October 7, 2020 Subtracting Christianity: Essays on American Culture and Society — I am sometimes asked, when in conversation it transpires that I oppose abortion, whether I am a Catholic. That this is deemed a pertinent question is a mark of confusion — and of the success of the pro-abortion campaign, which has managed to get an ethical and political problem turned into a credal problem. The result has been to further embitter an already thorny issue. READ REST OF ARTICLE The Catholic Position by Joe Sobran September 30, 2020 [Publisher’s Note: Joe Sobran’s depiction of the perpetual rage of anti-Catholicism is as apt today as it was when he penned this column in 2002. Today marks the 10th anniversary of his passing. May he rest in peace.] Subtracting Christianity: Essays on American Culture and Society — A few weeks ago I tried, in my feeble way, to express why I fell in love with the Catholic Church. I received many gracious and grateful responses from others who felt the same way, some of them converts like me.Inevitably, there were also a few jeers, directed not so much against me as against the Church. Some dredged up old scandals of wicked popes, or supposedly shocking utterances of Catholic saints, or mere clichés of traditional anti-Catholic polemics. Most of these were meant to embarrass, not to persuade; the usual ahistorical nuggets. What is startling is the perpetual passion of anti-Catholicism. You’d think that by now people who reject Catholicism would calmly ignore its teachings as old and irrelevant superstitions. After all, the Church has none of her old political power, adherence is now totally voluntary, and she has enough trouble getting her own children to listen to her. READ REST OF ARTICLE Hating Mother Teresa by Joe Sobran September 3, 2020 [Publisher’s Note: Mother Teresa of Calcutta was recently declared a saint by the Catholic Church. Her feast day is September 5, the date she went to her eternal reward in 1997. This column was written shortly after her death.] Subtracting Christianity: Essays on American Culture and Society — I’ve always resisted calling Mother Teresa a saint, not because I had any reason to doubt her holiness, but because I felt it was presumptuous to call any living person a saint. Besides, I suspect that a truly holy person — holiness being inseparable from humility — would hate being venerated in this life.Now that she is gone, though, it seems safe to say it: if Mother Teresa wasn’t a saint, it’s hard to imagine what one would look like. She not only lived, to all appearances, a holy life; she actually enlarged our conception of what such a life can be. She found joy in a kind of charity most of us would never dream of attempting, and in an environment we would dread setting foot in. Her example drew thousands of others to imitate her. READ REST OF ARTICLE A Giant Beset by Pygmies by Tom Piatak April 29, 2020 [Tom Piatak scrutinizes a First Things article on Samuel Francis on today’s 73rd anniversary of his birth.] Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture — Most newspaper and magazine articles are forgotten not long after they appear. Does anyone read the 25-year-old columns of Norman Podhoretz, William F. Buckley, or Richard John Neuhaus for insight into current events? It therefore tells us something when First Things prints a 20-page essay about a political journalist who has been dead for almost 15 years.This person, we learn, “won almost no access to major conservative outlets” in life, and indeed was “purged and marginalized.” It tells us even more when the journal running this long essay rarely agreed with the subject during his life. Thus, whatever else it may be, First Things’ lengthy essay on Sam Francis must be regarded as proof that he remains relevant to contemporary debate, and was what many readers of Chronicles knew he was: a genius. READ REST OF ARTICLE Religion: A Non-Essential Service? Failure to guard Religious Liberty during the Pandemic by Rev. Jerry J. Pokorsky April 27, 2020 The Catholic Thing — Protestant-Catholic relations have been volatile, to say the least, throughout American history. But in recent decades, there has been good reason for friendly collaboration. People of faith widely recognize Godless secularism as a common enemy. Hostility to religion has accelerated. With the COVID-19 shutdown, civic authorities in many localities have targeted churches for closure, but not, for example, liquor stores. Where is the pushback by Catholic leaders? READ REST OF ARTICLE One Year Later: The Fire at Notre Dame Eastertide Reflections by Harley Price April 15, 2020 [Publisher’s Note: Today is the first anniversary of the fire at Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.] Toronto, Canada, Priceton.org, April 21, 2019 — Like a multitude of others, apparently, I was taken aback by the intensity of my reaction to the news of the fire at Notre Dame in Paris. Until it was ascertained that the great rose windows in the transepts and west front had been spared, Mrs. P. and I were on what was rather like a death vigil for an old friend.READ REST OF ARTICLE Behold the Man, Behold Man by Rev. Mark A. Pilon Good Friday, April 10, 2020 Ecce Homo – Behold the Man Littlemore Tracts, Good Friday 2013 — One of the most horrific scenes in the movie, The Passion of the Christ, is certainly the scourging at the pillar, where Christ is so savagely beaten and tortured that it is difficult even to watch it on screen.READ REST OF ARTICLE The Coronavirus, the Constitution, and Natural Law by Charles G. Mills April 8, 2020 Front Royal, Virginia — It is hard to imagine a job worse than is now underway to deal with the effects of the Coronavirus. This is true both in the United States and in Europe. READ REST OF ARTICLE Psychic Pandemic: A Contrarian View of the Coronavirus Response by Harley Price April 3, 2020 Toronto, Canada — There may be a silver lining to the coronavirus. Parliament has now been officially quarantined. Mass shootings are being put on hold (there are no masses, sacred or secular). South of the border, Chuck Schumer, reflexively enraged at whatever Trump does, says, or thinks, may be moved to remind himself that the virus can be passed to others in airborne droplets, and thus stop foaming at the mouth for a while. And more Americans may, belatedly, come to recognize the prudence of Trump’s admonitions about our addiction to cheap Chinese labor, and the vulnerability of the U.S. “supply chain” to the malevolent whims of another communist dictatorship. READ REST OF ARTICLE The End of Internationalism by Charles G. Mills March 30, 2020 Front Royal, Virginia — The coronavirus killed internationalism. Specifically it has ended free movement between countries and international control over national budgets. READ REST OF ARTICLE Jon Utley (1934-2020): He learned History’s Lessons and was a Gracious Friend by Allan Brownfeld March 29, 2020 Alexandria, Virginia — It was with great sadness that I learned of the death of Jon Basil Utley. I have known Jon for more than fifty years after becoming a close friend of his mother, the distinguished writer Freda Utley. Jon was a great patriot, holding his adopted country to a high standard. “My country right or wrong,” was not a part of his worldview. READ REST OF ARTICLE The Schumer Threat by Charles G. Mills March 13, 2020 Front Royal, Virginia — On March 4, 2020, as he was standing in front of the U. S. Supreme Court, Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), Minority Leader of the U. S. Senate, made reckless and dangerous threats against the two most junior justices on the court, Neal Gorsuch and Brent Kavanaugh. On that day, the Supreme Court was hearing oral argument in the case of June Medical Services v. Russo, an important case about abortion chambers.* The abortion industry falsely claims that emergencies in abortions are very rare. This case challenges a Louisiana law that requires abortion chambers be located within thirty miles of a hospital at which the abortionist has admitting privileges. Louisiana argues that this is necessary to protect either the mother or the baby if something goes wrong and hospital emergency care is needed, or if care by a duly admitted doctor is required. READ REST OF ARTICLE [Publisher’s Note: To commemorate Joe Sobran’s birthday, (he would have been 74 years old today), here is a classic column from 2002.] The State and Heresyby Joe Sobran February 23, 2020 Sobran’s: The Real News of the Month, March 2002 — In recent weeks I've been debating with people I usually agree with: conservative Christians. Many of them feel I've gone too far in the direction of philosophical anarchism, in defiance of both Scripture and Catholic teaching. READ REST OF ARTICLE St. Valentine’s Day: Seeking balance in love and romance by Mark Wegierski February 14, 2020 Toronto, Canada — On Valentine’s Day, the subject of love and relationships is on the minds of men and women in society. What sort of societal changes and influences have impacted on the rapport between the sexes? READ REST OF ARTICLE Crucial Issue Politics by Joe Sobran January 22, 2020 Publisher’s Note: On this 47th anniversary of the Supreme Court legalizing abortion in America, Joe Sobran examines pro-abortion polemics. Single Issues: Essays on the Crucial Social Questions, Winter 1982 — Abortion might be called the single issue about which you mustn't be a single-issue voter. Civil rights, Israel, farm policy, nuclear energy, entitlement programs, whales -- you can be down-right obsessive about any of these, and nobody will say boo.Come to think of it, any political lobby is likely to be a single-issue affair. Even the hated oil lobby isn't criticized for not branching out into snail darters or something. Why is the charge of single-issue politics -- well, a charge? READ REST OF ARTICLE Leaving Iraq by Charles G. Mills January 20, 2020 Front Royal, Virginia — The Iraqi parliament has asked for the removal of all American troops from Iraq. This is a great opportunity for America. READ REST OF ARTICLE Could an Unintended Consequence of the Execution of Soleimani be President Bernie Sanders? by Patrick J. Buchanan January 17, 2020 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The directed killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Iran's blood-soaked field marshal in the "forever war" of the Middle East, has begun to roil the politics of both the region and the U.S.A. READ REST OF ARTICLE The Real News of the Century by Joe Sobran December 30, 2019 Sobran’s: The Real News of the Month, June 2000 — Whenever people praise my courage, I think: “If only they knew how little I really have!” Much as I venerate martyrs, I’ve done nothing to put myself in their company, and I dread the true test, especially after reading about those heroic souls who have endured it (as I’ll shortly explain). One reason I write as I do is to avoid living in a country in which I’d have to be truly brave. Here, at least for the time being, I can’t be jailed and tortured for my views, and I’d like to keep it that way. I have just enough courage to risk ostracism by people I would gladly ostracize myself, even if it costs me some income to incur their displeasure. We live in an age of hypocrisy that makes the Victorian Age seem an era of rowdy candor. READ REST OF ARTICLE Can God Speak to Us? by Joe Sobran December 23, 2019 Griffin Internet Syndicate, December 7, 2004 — Flash! Just in time for the Christmas season, Newsweek reports this week that the Gospel accounts of Christ’s nativity aren’t “fully factual.” Do tell. Talk about investigative journalism! Not to be outdone, Time assures us this week that “constantly evolving scholarship” casts doubt on the Gospel narratives. So what else is new? Scholarly attempts to diminish Christ through the “higher criticism” go way back. Thomas Jefferson simply edited all the miracles out of the New Testament and thought he’d produced Gospels that were fully factual. READ REST OF ARTICLE Article I: Remove This Beast from My Sight! by Ann Coulter December 21, 2019 AnnCoulter.com, December 18, 2019 — In the history of politics, there is no precedent for the media’s entire focus to be on undoing the last presidential election. True, the left has wanted to impeach every Republican president, but at least they used to wait a decent interval between the inauguration and concocting some preposterous “impeachable offense.” READ REST OF ARTICLE Wars of Regime Change by Charles G. Mills September 19, 2019 Front Royal, Virginia — Tulsi Gabbard, a war veteran and Democrat candidate for President, has described American policy for the last eighteen years as a succession of wars of regime change. This is a succinct and accurate description of our policy -- and it is at the heart of what is wrong with neo-conservatism. READ REST OF ARTICLE The Reality of Satan by Monsignor Charles Pope September 4, 2019 Washington, D.C. — Once again it is necessary to reiterate the true, Catholic, and biblical teaching on Satan and demons. Contrary to what Superior General of the Society of Jesus Fr. Arturo Sosa stated in a recent interview, the Church does not teach that Satan is merely a symbol or an idea. He is not the “personification of evil”; he is a person, an individual creature, a fallen angelic being (as are all demons). READ REST OF ARTICLE The Right of the People to Keep and Bear Arms by Charles G. Mills August 16, 2019 Front Royal, Virginia — Whenever there is a notorious misuse of a rifle, the enemies of the Second Amendment to the Constitution attempt to create and use hysteria to restrict the right of the people to keep pistols or rifles. Right now, there is a clamor to revive the former law against “assault rifles” or even to outlaw all “semi-automatic rifles.” This clamor ignores the role of the Second Amendment as a protector of freedom. READ REST OF ARTICLE Mary Dougherty Janetatos, R.I.P. --a reflection on her life by Fran Griffin July 19, 2019 Washington, D.C. — Mary Theresa Dougherty Janetatos, a lay Dominican, teacher, religious education instructor, staunch defender of the unborn, active member of the Angelic Warfare Confraternity, a founder, executive director and president of the North American Bluebird Society, and former president of Annunciation Academy, died on the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, July 16, 2019. READ REST OF ARTICLE Happy Birthday, America! by Charles G. Mills July 4, 2019 Front Royal, Virginia — Independence Day, the Fourth of July, is America’s birthday. On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. On that day, thirteen British colonies declared themselves an independent country. John Adams, one of our country’s Founding Fathers and our second president, said of this great event, "I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward for evermore." READ REST OF ARTICLE Canada Day by Mark Wegierski July 1, 2019 Toronto, Canada — July 1, 2019 is Canada Day -- the national holiday of Canada. Traditionally it was called Dominion Day. It is celebrated throughout Canada in a similar way to how the United States celebrates the 4th of July. All banks, government offices, and most businesses are closed. There are festivals, parades, concerts, and celebrations throughout the provinces. However, the patriotic aspects of the celebration are more muted in Canada than in the U.S. Although the national anthem is sung, the celebrations often focus on celebrating the diversity and multiculturalism of current-day Canada. READ REST OF ARTICLE Good Night, Sweet Prince by Joe Sobran June 28, 2019 Publisher’s Note: Philip Nicolaides, who was instrumental in the founding of the newsletter Sobran’s: The Real News of the Month, and Joe Sobran’s closest friend, died on June 25, 1994. Here is a column that Sobran wrote after his passing. Subtracting Christianity: Essays on American Culture and Society — Phil Nicolaides made national headlines only once. In 1981, as Ronald Reagan’s deputy director of the Voice of America, he urged the VOA to push pro-American and anti-Soviet propaganda. He used the word “propaganda,” too, because, knowing Latin as he did, he knew what it meant: things to be propagated. But the word scandalized the media, and there was a big uproar, and Phil was forced to resign. READ REST OF ARTICLE Will Hungary Save the West? by Charles G. Mills June 19, 2019 Front Royal, Virginia — The Hungarian government has recently announced some important steps to improve its birth rate without diminishing liberty. Like most of the West, Hungary has a birth rate that is below its replacement level. The failure of a civilization to replace itself is a tragic form of cultural suicide and a violation of God’s command to multiply. Now, however, Hungary may be showing us the way out of this tragedy. READ REST OF ARTICLE Sobran examines hatred of Christ: Disbelievers can be His best witnesses by Monsignor Charles Pope May 29, 2019 Washington, D.C. — The late columnist Joseph Sobran once pondered the special hatred of the world for Christ. He wrote: Great as Shakespeare is, I never lose sleep over anything he said … By the same token nobody ever feels guilty about anything Plato or Aristotle said … We aren’t tempted to resist them as we are tempted to resist Christ (Joseph Sobran’s “The Words and Deeds of Christ” from Subtracting Christianity: Essays on American Culture and Society, FGF Books, 2015, pp. 1-2). I have often contemplated this hostility toward and resistance to Christ and His Body, the Church; it is unparalleled. Few of the Protestant denominations experience this hatred. The Buddhists don’t seem to be subject to it. Even the Muslims are exempt despite the distinctly non-Western views that predominantly Muslim countries have on many social issues important to the American Left. READ REST OF ARTICLE President Jefferson Davis: Mistreatment continues of a war hero and devoted public servant by Charles G. Mills May 3, 2019 Front Royal, Virginia — Arlington County, located across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., has asked the Commonwealth of Virginia to rename the Jefferson Davis Highway in Arlington. Alexandria, Virginia renamed the sections of the Jefferson Davis Highway running through their city a few years ago. This is ironic because the great affection that many generations felt for President Jefferson Davis was primarily a result of the cruelty and injustice inflicted on him by the triumphant North. READ REST OF ARTICLE Notre Dame de Paris by Charles G. Mills April 19, 2019 Front Royal, Virginia — The Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris was not totally burned down. It will be restored, rebuilt, repaired, fixed, or something like that. The unanswered question is: Will it come out of the process as a cathedral or a patched-up victim? READ REST OF ARTICLE The Obama Legacy by Robert L. Hale March 22, 2019 Minot, North Dakota – I’ve asked dozens of friends and acquaintances if there is any limit on how much federal, state and local governmental entities can take from their citizens. Most look at me with a blank stare. Most have never given it a thought. Clearly the thought has not crossed the minds of many in Congress. We hear some, those that are proudly labeling themselves as “socialists,” righteously telling us the rich need to pay their “fair share.” The most vocal are calling for a 70% to 90% tax rate on the “rich.” READ REST OF ARTICLE Medicare for No One by Charles G. Mills February 28, 2019 Front Royal, Virginia — The left wing of the Democrat Party wants “Medicare for Everyone,” which is the economic equivalent of “Medicare for No One.” READ REST OF ARTICLE FGF Petitions Supreme Court to Keep Bladensburg Cross Standing: Files Brief Against American Humanist Association by Fran Griffin President, Fitzgerald Griffin Foundation February 25, 2019 Washington, D.C. — In keeping with our mission to preserve Christianity and the great traditions of Western Civilization, the Fitzgerald Griffin Foundation has filed a 32-page Amicus Curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of The American Legion v. The American Humanist Association to prevent the Bladensburg Peace Cross, a World War I monument to fallen soldiers, from being destroyed. READ REST OF ARTICLE Pedophilia and Hypocrisy by Joe Sobran February 23, 2019 [On the 73rd anniversary of his birth, Oddly enough, nobody bothered telling me exactly what I was ignorant of. None was able to point out factual errors in what I’d written. These were just people who assume that anyone who disagrees with them, or disapproves of their sanitation-defying deviancy, must be “ignorant.” (Or “igorant.”) READ REST OF ARTICLE The Value-Free Society by Joe Sobran February 8, 2019 Human Life Review, Spring 1982 — If most people retain anything of their first philosophy course, it is likely to be the convenient distinction between "facts" and "values" that was fashionable during the heyday of logical positivism. According to this still popular doctrine, we cannot derive "ought" from "is." An impassible gulf separates them. On one side are provable, objective realities; on the other, merely subjective preferences. Or: on one side science, on the other religion, esthetics, ethics. In these terms, a notable change has occurred in the abortion debate. The advocates of legal abortion used to claim the facts. While their cause was in the ascendant, their constant theme was that "the question when life begins is essentially a moral and religious question, not a scientific one." Nobody could say, they held, when, as a matter of fact, life begins. READ REST OF ARTICLE Join us for the 37th annual Evening of Viennese Waltzing on February 16, 2019 An Invitation from Fran Griffin and the Fitzgerald Griffin Foundation January 24, 2019 Washington, D.C. — On Saturday, February 16, you have the opportunity to attend the magnificent "Evening of Viennese Waltzing" in Washington, D.C. The Fitzgerald Griffin Foundation is one of the sponsors of the 37th annual Waltz Ball. READ REST OF INVITATION It's New Year's Eve: Will you help FGF expand our publishing of forthright authors? by Fran Griffin December 31, 2018 Happy new year (almost)! It is still New Year's Eve for a few more hours at this writing. Will you help FGF expand our publishing of forthright authors? Please help us in our mission to expand our publishing efforts to include all of Joe Sobran's work, all of Sam Francis's writings, and many other Old Right writers and prominent figures whose work has been forgotten, neglected, or deliberately eradicated. READ REST OF ARTICLE How the Gulf War Gave Us the Antiwar Right by Jon Basil Utley December 28, 2018 When George H.W. Bush made plans in 1990 for the first Gulf War, Joe Sobran asked Griffin Communications to organize a Press Conference to announce the formation of the Committee to Avert a Mideast Holocaust. Jon Utley recounts this historic moment which brought about a fractioning of the conservative movement and the beginning of the paleoconservative right. READ REST OF ARTICLE “Bah, Humbug” dishonors our Redemption by Christ by Charles G. Mills December 25, 2018 Front Royal, Virginia — Ebenezer Scrooge eventually was able to keep Christmas as well as any man alive, because he was redeemed, regenerated, indeed, saved. Every man alive needs regeneration because each is descended from Adam, who had committed the only wickedness he could commit. Every person needs individual salvation. READ REST OF ARTICLE The Man They Still Hate by Joe Sobran December 25, 2018 Griffin Internet Syndicate, December 2, 1999 — The world has long since forgiven Julius Caesar. Nobody today finds Socrates or Cicero irritating. Few of us resent Alexander the Great or his tutor, Aristotle. No, only one man in the ancient world is still hated after two millennia: Jesus Christ. READ REST OF ARTICLE Joe Sobran books make great presents! by Fran Griffin, president, Fitzgerald Griffin Foundation December 12, 2018 Merry Christmas (almost)! If you are looking for a special gift for someone for Christmas, Consider buying one or more of these outstanding Joseph Sobran collections: Public Hanging vs. Lynching: The Defamation of Senator Hyde-Smith by Charles G. Mills December 7, 2018 Front Royal, VA — Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi has won easy reelection, despite a negative media campaign based on a flagrant lie. At an event earlier in November, she had made a statement about being willing to sit in the front row at a public hanging. READ REST OF ARTICLE FGF Petitions Supreme Court to Reject Eugenics: Files Brief Against Planned Parenthood by Fran Griffin, president, Fitzgerald Griffin Foundation November 30, 2018 May a State restrict abortions for sex selection, “Whether a State may prohibit abortions motivated solely by the race, sex, or disability of the fetus – and require abortion doctors to inform patients of the prohibition.” READ REST OF ARTICLELynch Mobs in the Senate by Charles G. Mills November 16, 2018 Front Royal, Virginia — The Democrat campaign of defamation to keep Justice Brett Kavanagh off the Supreme Court failed — and may have backfired. The conduct throughout the hearings seems to have been more compulsive than rational. For more than 50 years, the behavior and rhetoric of Democrats in the United States Senate to Republican appointments to the United States Supreme Court have been more like those of lynch mob members than dignified senators. READ REST OF ARTICLE Kavanaugh Lynching: Dress Rehearsal for Trump Impeachment by Patrick J. Buchanan October 2, 2018 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court was approved on an 11-10 party-line vote Friday in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Yet his confirmation is not assured. READ REST OF ARTICLE High Court Pick Will Impact Religious Liberty by Charles G. Mills September 24, 2018 Front Royal, Virginia — America has a strong tradition of religious liberty. It also has a history of persecution that is less well known. The confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court could assure us that we are championing liberty for the next generation. We have frequently been disappointed by justices who appeared to be greater champions of life, liberty, and property when nominated than they proved to be once they were on the Court. Some of this is due to the decline in American jurisprudence over the past century, some is due to the unpredictability of the future decisions of justices, and some is due to the poor selections of nominees. In general, Judge Kavanaugh seems to be a friend of religious liberty, although some of his statements may disclose hints of positivist jurisprudence. READ REST OF ARTICLE Bill Clinton blamed U.S. mistreatment of Indians and slavery for 9/11 Attack by Samuel T. Francis September 11, 2018 [Two months after the September 11, 2001 attack on the Twin Towers, READ REST OF ARTICLE Trump’s America vs. Trudeau’s Canada by Mark Wegierski September 4, 2018 TORONTO, ONTARIO — Donald Trump is currently renegotiating free trade with Canada, a country where over 70% of its trade is with the United States, and where probably over 80% of the population detests him. READ REST OF ARTICLE McCain’s Legacy of Interventionist Foreign Policy by Patrick J. Buchanan August 31, 2018 [In addition to this column on John McCain by Pat Buchanan, see also Tom Woods’ article, “What the McCain Eulogies Tell Us” in which he says that Pat Buchanan and Ron Paul are the true mavericks; and Sydney Schanberg’s explosive column, “John McCain and the POW Cover-up.” ] WASHINGTON, D.C. — "McCain's Death Leaves Void" ran The Wall Street Journal headline over a front-page story that began: "The death of John McCain will leave Congress without perhaps its loudest voice in support of the robust internationalism that has defined the country's security relations since World War II."READ REST OF ARTICLE The Apotheosis of the Lie by Joe Sobran August 10, 2018 Publisher’s Note: Joe Sobran briefly discusses READ REST OF ARTICLE On Imposing One's Views by Joe Sobran June 26, 2018 Subtracting Christianity, 1979 — I am sometimes asked, when in conversation it transpires that I oppose abortion, whether I am a Catholic. That this is deemed a pertinent question is a mark of confusion — and of the success of the pro-abortion campaign, which has managed to get an ethical and political problem turned into a credal problem. The result has been to further embitter an already thorny issue. READ REST OF ARTICLE Calling All Grown Ups by Joe Sobran June 19, 2018 Subtracting Christianity, January 1, 1998 — Arthur Koestler told the story of an old priest he met during World War II. Fascinated that the man had listened to thousands of confessions and heard countless intimate secrets, he asked him what he had learned about human nature. The priest was naturally reluctant to discuss the secrets of the confessional, even in the most abstract terms. Finally, though, he offered one generalization: “Basically, nobody ever grows up.” READ REST OF ARTICLE Looking Back at Reagan by Joe Sobran June 12, 2018 Griffin Internet Syndicate Classic — Reading Ronald Reagan's newly published letters reminds me how much I've always liked him, even after I stopped admiring him as a president. He was always a modest, decent, good-humored man, with more common sense and a keener sense of proportion than most politicians. And he loved a good laugh. READ REST OF ARTICLE Acute Philophilia Publisher’s Note: Joe Sobran takes apart June 7, 2018 The National Review Years, July 25, 1980 — The nation is in the grip of rampant Philophilia — the unnatural love of Phil Donahue. Liking him is one thing; how can you not like Irish charm, even after filtered through a generation or two of Americans? But loving him: waiting months for tickets to his show, shrieking at his entrance, hanging on his words: that’s something else again. READ REST OF ARTICLE Faith Ryan Whittlesey, R.I.P. Faith Ryan Whittlesey, a friend of Joe Sobran, passed away on May 21. May 30, 2018 Faith Ryan Whittlesey, who as head of the Office of Public Liaison for President Ronald Reagan, was the highest ranking woman in the White House, died on May 21 at her home in Washington, D.C. She was 79. READ MORE Clever Lies to Promote War Publisher’s Note: May 11, 2018 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Official Washington and those associated with it have misrepresented the facts numerous times in the service of military actions that might not otherwise have taken place. In the Middle East, these interventions have killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Arab civilians, brought chaos to Iraq and Libya, and led to the expulsion of a million Christians from communities where they have lived since biblical times. READ REST OF ARTICLE Syria: Trump’s Vietnam? by Patrick J. Buchanan April 20, 2018 WASHINGTON, D.C — Ten days ago, President Trump was saying "the United States should withdraw from Syria". "We convinced him it was necessary to stay". Thus boasted French President Emmanuel Macron Saturday, adding, "We convinced him it was necessary to stay for the long term". Is the U.S. indeed in the Syrian civil war "for the long term"? If so, who made that fateful decision for this republic? READ REST OF ARTICLE Not J. Edgar Hoover's FBI by Charles G. Mills April 13, 2018 Front Royal, Virginia — A few days ago, agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the office, home, and hotel room of President Trump’s personal lawyer, seizing documents, financial records, electronic devices, and emails. Federal police power has grown to be many times greater than anything the Framers of our Constitution could have imagined. While this is true of the Secret Service, the United States Marshals Service, and the police departments of federal agencies and branches, it is particularly true of the FBI. READ REST OF ARTICLE John Bolton: An Oxymoron for President Trump? by Allan Brownfeld April 5, 2018 Alexandria, VA — President Donald Trump places great importance upon keeping his campaign promises. During the presidential campaign, he repeatedly criticized the Bush Administration's decision to invade Iraq as "the single worst decision ever made." He pledged not to take our country into any more "needless wars." Yet, he has now named as his National Security Advisor John Bolton, an architect of the Iraq war who still defends it – and who also advocates pre-emptive war and "regime change" in North Korea and Iran. READ REST OF ARTICLE The Risen Christ walks with us With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, by Rev. Mark A. Pilon Easter, 2018 LittlemoreTracts classic — The great English writer G. K. Chesterton was asked once by a reporter what he would do if the Risen Christ were now standing right behind him. The questioner knew of Chesterton’s firm belief in the bodily resurrection of Christ, but he was not prepared for the answer he got from Mr. Chesterton, who simply replied “but He is.” READ REST OF ARTICLE Mavericks in Lockstep by Joe Sobran March 23, 2018 The National Review Years, 10/14/1988 — The notion that the ACLU is some sort of “watchdog” over the Bill of Rights is wrong. Its interpretation of the Constitution is selective, shaped by a political agenda. READ REST OF ARTICLE Is Feminism Conservative? by Paul Gottfried March 16, 2018 Elizabethtown, PA — For about a week the conservative establishment lamented the fact that “AEI scholar” Christina Hoff Sommers was treated rudely by students while speaking at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. The New York Post (March 7, 2018) complained about “campus fascism on the march” and then proceeded to explain Sommers’s unique contribution to our political culture: “She argues that much of modern feminism betrays the movement’s founding ideals.” Unfortunately the “lefty kids” at Lewis & Clark did not appreciate her message and her achievement in keeping alive a better feminism than the one that has now replaced it. READ REST OF ARTICLE The Trump Tariffs by Charles G. Mills March 8, 2018 Front Royal, Virginia — President Trump has proposed significant tariffs on the importation of steel and aluminum. Should we support or oppose these measures? READ REST OF ARTICLE Russia is Not the Soviet Union by Charles G. Mills March 2, 2018 Front Royal, Virginia — The liberal communications media frequently speak of today’s Russia as if it were simply a current version of the former Soviet Union. There are, however, many significant differences between the two. READ REST OF ARTICLE You Can’t Mean It! Publisher’s Note: Today is the 72nd anniversary of Joe Sobran’s birth. February 23, 2018 Griffin Internet Syndicate, 10/28/2004 — I just got a message from a friend who nearly always disagrees with me. His disagreement usually takes the form of an irritable accusation: to wit, that I can’t really mean what I say. I know how he feels. It’s irrational, but we all tend to get angry when others disagree with us. That’s because we are so right that nobody in his right mind could honestly deny it, isn’t it? READ REST OF ARTICLE Unbelievers by Joe Sobran February 15, 2018 The National Review Years, 3/7/1980 – If there were a Thomas Aquinas among us, his talents would be needed to supply irrefutable proofs of the Soviet Union’s existence. A great many people seem unable to believe it’s really there. READ REST OF ARTICLE What on Earth Is the United States Doing in Darkest Africa? by Charles Mills February 9, 2018 Front Royal, Virginia – Four American soldiers were killed recently in Niger. Most Americans did not know that we had any troops in the field in Africa south of the Sahara Desert or understand the difference between Niger and Nigeria. READ REST OF ARTICLE Piety for the Future A review of Christian Humanism: January 29, 2018 READ REST OF ARTICLE Writing on the Wall by Joe Sobran January 19, 2018 Publisher’s Note: This classic Sobran column was written eight years before the fall of the Berlin Wall. The National Review Years, 9/4/1981 — Two decades ago the Berlin Wall went up nearly overnight, the most brutally unequivocal symbol of the division between our awed civilization and the clumsy barbarism that threatens it. In August the occasion was commemorated by two major American publications. Life did itself proud, with an astonishing 17 full pages of color photos of the 4,500-mile border of the Socialist Bloc, at every point of which soldiers stand ready to kill those who flee. READ REST OF ARTICLE Journalism v. Conservatism by Joe Sobran January 12, 2018 The National Review Years, 11/5/1990 – Words seem to form partnerships. At one time, you discriminated between. Now you discriminate against. “Discrimination” now betokens not a fine mind, but a character flaw: one that makes you Politically Incorrect, by the way. Liberalism has succeeded in imposing its verbal prescriptions on the whole population: everyone must now mind even his or her pronouns, or face obloquy. READ REST OF ARTICLE The Incomparable One by Joe Sobran January 1, 2018 Griffin Internet Syndicate, June 9, 2009 – Jesus was far from being an old man when his earthly life ended. He was probably well under 40, roughly the age of Mozart, who died at 35, as his genius was still approaching its unimaginable peak. By contrast, nobody thinks of Jesus as having died prematurely, as if he had been killed before his teaching had been fully developed, and as if it might have ripened into something more profound and interesting had his life span been longer. There is about his life a sense of completeness; he had done what he had come to achieve. At the very end, he said, “It is consummated.” He had foretold his own death and resurrection. READ REST OF ARTICLE
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Hustler: The Clinton Legacy,
Joe Sobran’s
book on Bill and Hillary’s years in the White House is now available! A new edition of this 2000 book has just been published by FGF Books.
See more.