Samuel T. Francis Samuel T. Francis

Championing
Western Civilization
and the great legacies of
Sam Francis and Joe Sobran
and their allies

Joseph Sobran Joseph Sobran
Joe Sobran

JOE SOBRAN


February 23, 1946 — September 30, 2010


Sobran’s classic 32,000-word essay, Pensées: Notes for the Reactionary of Tomorrow,
written when he was 22 years old, was published in 1985 in National Review magazine.


Thank you for your support of FGF and the Sobran column.

C-SPAN Video
of Committee to
Avert a Mideast Holocaust press conference

featuring Joe Sobran, Phil Nicolaides, Phillip Collier, and Sheldon Richman
September 4, 1990

Here’s what people are saying about Joe Sobran:

“No one so explicitly or deftly connects what is happening in the world today to the loss of our freedom and the systematic usurpations of government — absolutely no one. Sobran is a cross between Mencken, Nock, and Cato’s letters.”  — Sheldon Richman, editor of The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty

“Perhaps the finest columnist of our generation.”
— Patrick J. Buchanan

“Joe Sobran is a national treasure.”  — Llewellyn Rockwell Jr

JOE SOBRAN
The Reactionary Utopian

Joe Sobran received his B.A. in English from Eastern Michigan University and pursued graduate studies in English, specializing in Shakespeare. From 1969 to 1970 he taught English on a fellowship and lectured on Shakespeare.

In 1972, he went to work for National Review magazine, beginning what would be a 21-year stint, including 18 years as senior editor.

From 1979 to 1991, Mr. Sobran was a regular commentator on CBS Radio’s “Spectrum” series. Starting in 1979, his columns were syndicated by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate and later with Universal Press Syndicate and Griffin Internet Syndicate.

For 20 years, he wrote the weekly column “Washington Watch” for The Wanderer, a weekly Catholic newspaper. He has also written for numerous other publications over the years including Human Life Review, Celebrate Life! and Chronicles magazine, for which he writes a quarterly essay.

Mr. Sobran is the author of three books. Single Issues: Essays on the Crucial Social Questions was published by The Human Life Press (New York, 1983) and is now available as a data CD. His book on the Shakespeare authorship question, titled Alias Shakespeare: Solving the Greatest Literary Mystery of All Time, was released in May 1997 by the Free Press.

Hustler: The Clinton Legacy, a collection of essays selected and edited by Tom McPherren (with a foreword by Ann Coulter) was published in 2000 by Griffin Communications; and republished by FGF Books, the publishing imprint of the Fitzgerald Griffin Foundation, in 2016. Joseph Sobran: The National Review Years was published by FGF Books in 2012. Subtracting Christianity: Essays on American Culture and Society, a collection of 117 Sobran essays was published by FGF Books in 2015.

From 1994 to 2007, he was editor of SOBRAN’S: The Real News of the Month. a monthly newsletter of his essays and columns.

Joe Sobran died on September 30, 2010. Praised by Patrick Buchanan and many others as "the finest columnist of our generation" — his eloquent writing style is still enjoyed today. See some of the obituaries for him, below.

The copyrights for all of Mr. Sobran's columns and articles are owned by the Fitzgerald Griffin Foundation.


Comments on Joe's passing:

The American Conservative
by Michael Brendan Dougherty

The American Conservative
by Daniel McCarthy

The American Conservative: Joseph Sobran: Antiwar Prophet, RIP
by Jon Basil Utley

The American Spectator
by Tom Bethell

Arlington Catholic Herald
by Fran Griffin

The Boondocks.org & Not Your Average Joe
by Ann Coulter

Fitzgerald Griffin Foundation: A Tribute to an American Patriot – Part I & Part II
by George Krasnow

Fitzgerald Griffin Foundation: Joe Sobran and Hamlet
by Charles Mills

The Inspiration of Joe Sobran
by Paul Gottfried

The Independent Institute
by Robert Higgs

The American Conservative: Extraordinary Joe
by Kevin Lynch

Man With Black Hat & National Review Online
by Jack Fowler

National Review Online
by Matthew Scully

The New York Times
by William Grimes

The New American
by John F. McManus

Lew Rockwell & A Noble Heart
by Robert Royal

Scott's Catholicism Blog
by Scott Richert

Letter-to-the-Editor to The Washington Post
by R.J. Stove

Thornwalker.com
by Ronald N. Neff

Thornwalker.com
by Stephen J. Sniegoski

V-Dare Tribute
by Jared Taylor

The Wanderer
by Al Matt & Paul Likoudis

Middle American News
by Peter B. Gemma

LewRockwell.com
by Christopher Manion


Archives of
The Reactionary Utopian:

2021 Archives:

• February 23, 2021 –
The Hive

2020 Archives:

• December 25, 2020 –
Resisting Jesus

• October 7, 2020 –
On Imposing One’s Views

• September 30, 2020 –
The Catholic Position

• September 3, 2020 –
Hating Mother Teresa

• February 23, 2020 –
The State and Heresy

• January 22, 2020 –
Crucial Issue Politics


2019 Archives:

• December 30, 2019 –
The Real News of the Century

• December 23, 2019 –
Can God Speak to Us?

• June 28, 2019 –
Good Night, Sweet Prince

• February 23, 2019 –
Pedophilia and Hypocrisy

• February 8, 2019 –
The Value-Free Society


2018 Archives:

• December 25, 2018 –
The Man They Still Hate

• August 10, 2018 –
The Apotheosis of the Lie

• June 26, 2018 –
On Imposing One's Views

• June 19, 2018 –
Calling All Grown Ups

• June 12, 2018 –
Looking Back at Reagan

• June 7, 2018 –
Acute Philophilia

• March 23, 2018 –
Mavericks in Lockstep

• February 23, 2018 –
You Can’t Mean It!

• February 15, 2018 –
Unbelievers

• January 29, 2018 –
Piety for the Future

• January 19, 2018 –
Writing on the Wall

• January 12, 2018 –
Journalism v. Conservatism

• January 1, 2018 –
The Incomparable One

2017 Archives:

• December 25, 2017 –
Give Me that Old-Time Unitarianism

• December 15, 2017 –
Resisting Jesus

• September 14, 2017 –
The Cross and the Swastika

• August 11, 2017 –
Is the Pope Square?

• August 4, 2017 –
Violent Religions

• July 20, 2017 –
My Cane

• July 14, 2017 –
Belloc’s Prophecy

• June 30, 2017 –
Buzz Lightyear for President

• June 8, 2017 –
Patriotism or Nationalism?

• May 3, 2017 –
Crime and Mercy

• April 19, 2017 –
Christianity and History

• February 22, 2017 –
Lincoln and His Legacy

• January 18, 2017 –
Sacraments and Sodomy

• January 12, 2017 –
Love and Marriage


2016 Archives:

• December 30, 2016 –
The Man They Still Hate

• December 22, 2016 –
Resisting Jesus

• December 08, 2016 –
Eccentric Catholicism

• November 24, 2016 –
Hating Mother Teresa

• October 28, 2016 –
Our Debt to Paula Jones

• September 22, 2016 –
The Defection of David Brock

• August 25, 2016 –
Two Cheers for Theocracy

• August 11, 2016 –
Clinton's Gut Issue

• August 4, 2016 –
Legacy

• July 27, 2016 –
The Flying Clintons

• July 21, 2016 –
The Selfless President

• July 13, 2016 –
Diane Speaks His Piece

• July 6, 2016 –
Equality Run Amok

• June 29, 2016 –
The Infernal Presidency

• June 2, 2016 –
Educating for Damnation

• May 26, 2016 –
Sodomites All

• April 19, 2016 –
Happy Birthday, “Shakespeare”!

• March 23, 2016 – Happy Easter!

• March 3, 2016 – Bad News from Troy

• February 4, 2016 – Free Will and Freedom

• January 22, 2016 – None Dare Call It “Killing”

• January 14, 2016 – War and Moral Novelty

• January 7, 2016 – The Powers That Be


2015 Archives:

• December 10, 2015 – Our Chesterton

• December 3, 2015 – Subtracting Christianity

• November 4, 2015 – Do We Have Souls?

• October 15, 2015 – Falsifying the Past

• October 7, 2015 – Give Me that Old-Time Unitarianism

• August 6, 2015 – Abortion and the English Language

• June 24, 2015 – Sodomy and the Constitution

• June 3, 2015 – The Few and the Many

• May 4, 2015 – From Darwin to Kevorkian

• March 20, 2015 – The Heyday of Kennedyism

• February 26, 2015 – “For Fear of the Jews”
(Part Two)

• February 23, 2015 – “For Fear of the Jews”
(Part One)

• January 21, 2015 – The Missing Word

• January 9, 2015 – Brown Reconsidered 


2014 Archives:

• December 30, 2014 – Hollywood, Old and New 

• December 22, 2014 – Resisting Jesus

• November 15, 2014 – Making the World Democratic

• October 24, 2014 – Shrinking Our Rights

• October 10, 2014 – Left and Right

• September 26, 2014 – Calling All Grown Ups

• September 12, 2014 – Popes and Polls

• August 27, 2014 – Dark Ages, New Morality

• August 7, 2014 – Good Night, Sweet Prince

• July 29, 2014 – Who’s Self-Righteous?

• February 23, 2014 – On Imposing One's Views

• January 2, 2014 – History and Miss Couric


2013 Archives:

• February 23, 2013 – Looking Back at Reagan


2012 Archives:

• August 31, 2012 – “The Economy” and the Taxpayer 

• June 8, 2012 – Victory in 2004!

• May 26, 2012 – Lawyer and President

• May 25, 2012 – By Permission or by Right?

• May 18, 2012 – Coercive “Rights”

• May 17, 2012 – The Regime of the Sneaky

• May 11, 2012 – Seeing Both Sides

• May 10, 2012 – The Sobran Administration

• May 4, 2012 – The Lost Art of Speaking

• April 21, 2012 – Church, State, and School

• April 20, 2012 – Your Friend, the State

• April 11, 2012 – The Rise of Tax Slavery

• April 5, 2012 – Did The Passion of the Christ have "Excessive Violence"?

• March 19, 2012 – The Curse of Beatlemania

• March 14, 2012 – Celebrity and Mortality

• March 14, 2012 – What Do We Owe the State?

• March 1, 2012 – The Myth of “Limited Government”

• February 29, 2012 – Hail, Switzerland!

• February 23, 2012 – All We Like Sheep 

• February 3, 2012 – The Autonomous State

• February 2, 2012 – The Courtier Who Would Be King

• January 27, 2012 – The End of a Mad Century

• January 19, 2012 – How Killing Became a "Right"

• January 18, 2012 – Reagan v. Clinton

• January 12, 2012 – Defining Conservatism Downward


2011 Archives:

• December 30, 2011 – Christ the Culprit?

• December 22, 2011 – A Commie Christmas Gift

• December 22, 2011 – C.S. Lewis in the Dock

• December 16, 2011 – Is Darwin Holy? 

• December 15, 2011 – Can God Speak to Us? 

• December 12, 2011 – The Prophetic C.S. Lewis

• November 23, 2011 – The “Dangerous” David Irving

• November 23, 2011 – Courage and Fashion

• November 19, 2011 – The Weirdest Sister

• November 11, 2011 – Smearing a Pope

• November 11, 2011 – Fidel’s American Friends

• November 2, 2011 – Punishing “Hate”

• October 28, 2011 – The Papal “Apology”

• October 27, 2011 – Plugging Myself

• October 20, 2011 – A Large Whiskey

• October 11, 2011 – What About Elián?

• October 10, 2011 – The Nickname Game

• September 30, 2011 – The Man They Still Hate

• September 29, 2011 – Murder Most Patriotic

• September 1, 2011 – In Defense of Microsoft

• September 1, 2011 – Altering the Constitution

• August 26, 2011 – The Right to Secede

• August 25, 2011 – You Know Harry

• August 8, 2011 – Constitutional Amnesia

• August 2, 2011 – Debating Shakespeare

• July 29, 2011 – The Dark Side of Dolphins

• July 28, 2011 – Abortion and Authoritarianism

• July 23, 2011 – Reading Old Books

• July 22, 2011 – Change This Document!

• July 16, 2011 – Argument from Status

• July 15, 2011 – The Other Einstein

• July 8, 2011 – Government and Greed

• June 30, 2011 – Lies, As Usual

• June 20, 2011 – Structures of Deceit

• June 17, 2011 – It’s Power, Not Prayer

• June 12, 2011 – Dr. Johnson, Radical

• June 8, 2011 – The Prophetic C.S. Lewis

• May 27, 2011 – Rape, Slavery, Booze, and Interstate Commerce

• May 27, 2011 – The Words and Deeds of Christ

• May 18, 2011 – In Defense of Bob Jones

• May 14, 2011 – Honoring the True Bard

• May 14, 2011 – The Real Churchill

• May 6, 2011 – The Culture of Tyranny

• May 6, 2011 – The Church of Silence

• April 29, 2011 – Free Virginia

• April 28, 2011 – Why Can’t the Americans?

• April 21, 2011 – The Critics of Christ

• February 24, 2011 – Before the Hive (Part II)

• February 23, 2011 – Before the Hive (Part I)

• January 23, 2011 – Words of Choice

• January 21, 2011 – Roe and Rot

• January 13, 2011 – The Bard in Retirement

• January 12, 2011 – The Court Versus Federalism

• January 6, 2011 –  Shakespearean Masterpiece

2010 Archives:

• December 24, 2010 – Resisting Jesus

• December 3, 2010 – How to Handle a Woman

• October 29, 2010 –  Penumbras, Emanations, and Stuff

• October 28, 2010 –  ONLY MOZART

• October 22, 2010 –  The Philosopher and the Fossils 

• October 21, 2010 –  Jesus’ Government

• October 3, 2010 – “Getting To Know WFB”: Joe Sobran’s Last Testament

• October 1, 2010 – "YOU CAN'T MEAN IT!"

• October 1, 2010 – Tolerance and Progress

• September 24, 2010 – Advancing toward Savagery

• September 17, 2010 – Heritage of Savagery

• September 16, 2010 – The End of a Mad Century

• September 10, 2010 – The Uses of "Hate"

• September 9, 2010 – Cloning PSYCHO

• September 2, 2010 – Wilder and His Betters

• August 13, 2010 – Idealism versus Freedom

• August 4, 2010 – The State and Heresy

• June 22, 2010 – Allah Is Not Great

• June 16, 2010 – Legacy of Lies

• June 9, 2010 – Washington's New Confederacy

• June 7, 2010 – Abortion and Hatred

• June 4, 2010 – Farewell to Mayberry

• May 28, 2010 – Jefferson Was Right

• May 27, 2010 – Candor, Anyone?

• April 27, 2010 – Bard Thou Never Wert

• April 14, 2010 – The Decline of Rock

• April 7, 2010 – Smirking at Virtue

• April 6, 2010 – The Government We’re Stuck With

• March 30, 2010 – The Words and Deeds of Christ

• March 24, 2010 – Thank God for Atheists

• March 17, 2010 – Our Constitution, the "K" Word, and Samuel Johnson's Cure

• February 15, 2010 – No Cliché Left Behind

• February 2, 2010 – Sodomy, Abortion, and the Forces of Hate

2009 Archives:

• June 9, 2009 – The Absent-Minded Squirrel

• June 4, 2009 – The Incomparable One

• May 29, 2009 – Eccentric Catholicism

• May 20, 2009 – Progressive Hopes

• May 14, 2009 – Imagining Heaven

• May 7, 2009 – The Glory of Padre Pio

• April 8, 2009 – World War V, Anyone?

• April 2, 2009 – According to Fashion

• February 25, 2009 – Lincoln’s Horse

• February 17, 2009 – Obama and the “Right Wing”

• February 11, 2009 – King Barack

• January 21, 2009 – What Children Must Know

• January 15, 2009 – Defining Education

• January 1, 2009 – Do We Need the First Amendment?

 

2008 Archives:

• December 2, 2008 – Christianity and History

• November 27, 2008 – Can Dr. Laura Be Tolerated?

• November 13, 2008 – Patricia

• November 6, 2008 – The State v. Christian Culture

• October 24, 2008 – Patriotism or Nationalism?

• September 23, 2008 – Sins of Organized Irreligion

• September 4, 2008 – Annoying Words

• August 21, 2008 – A Prophecy Fulfilled: The Wisdom of Humanae Vitae

• August 7, 2008 – President Katrina

• July 24, 2008 – Apotheosis of the Lie

• July 10, 2008 – Unknown Unknowns

• July 3, 2008 – Obama and Abortion

• June 24, 2008 – Crime and Mercy

• June 3, 2008 – President Other

• March 6, 2008 – A Great Spirit Gone

• February 28, 2008 – Debts

• February 19, 2008 – Lincoln and His Legacy

• February 5, 2008 – Darwin and la Difference

• January 17, 2008 – Father Casey and Me

• January 15, 2008 – The Democrats