JIM WETZEL WRITES: That’s an interesting passage from Stevenson, and I had to read it all before my confusion cleared up. What he called “idleness” differs from what I think of by that term:  It is no good speaking to such folk: they cannot be idle, their nature is not generous enough; and they [...]

IN RESPONSE to my post on Josef Pieper and the “distracted society,” a reader sent this link to Robert Louis Stevenson’s much-loved essay on idleness. To Stevenson, ceaseless activity is not a sign of despair, but of ”deficient vitality.” That seems close to the same thing. Stevenson’s words are a perfect description of Betty Friedan-esque feminists who fled their homes because they [...]

  A READER WRITES: I’ve been going through much thinking about myself and my role in my marriage. I truly believe that I am meant to be the best housewife and homemaker for my family through being submissive, as it describes in the Bible. I already consider myself a bit controlling (not mean though), but [...]

  JOHN WRITES: Thank you for your excellent piece on “The Distracted Society.” You did a great service by providing such an informative and enlightening synopsis of the thought of Josef Pieper.  I think the key is the line you quoted: “Worship is the fountainhead of leisure.” Those who have made our society into what [...]

  IN OCTOBER,  I briefly wrote about the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca by Swiss director Luc Bondy, who succeeded in desecrating this lush tragedy with pornographic gestures and swipes at Christianity. If you recall, Bartlett Sher, director of another Met production, subsequently called the act of booing, which had been freely engaged in by fans at the Tosca opening, “a self-interested expression of ownership.” Bondy [...]

   SANDRA WRITES: I have been following your blog from the very beginning and I like it very much. You come across as a very intelligent, well-educated person. There is a question I’d like to ask you, concerning your thoughts on traditional family as you are one of the few voices on the Internet defending [...]