Memorial Day

This Veterans Day, growing disrespect for the war-dead seems a sad symptom of our ever-widening distance from the ways of our ancestors.

In this atmosphere of apathetic patriotism, G.K. Chesterton’s “Defense of Publicity,” an essay on public monuments, might draw focus back to the purpose of Memorial Day.

Providence editors Mark Tooley and Marc LiVecche discuss Abigail Lindner and Eric Patterson’s article on G.K. Chesterton and war memorials, Lubomir Ondrasek’s piece on Czech leader Vaclav Havel’s warning against hatred, and Lee Trepanier’s counsel for how Russian Orthodoxy, lacking the Just War tradition, can oppose injustice with church teaching on personhood.

Memorial Day should remind us of a debt that we, as citizens, owe to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice, and it is a call to action to appropriately honor those who have served in the armed forces.

Most critiques of Christian nationalism seem sweepingly to deride all reference to God relating to country.

General Frederick Kroesen, veteran of three wars and survivor of an assassination attempt, died last week, age 97.  Six years…

Memorial Day is the right time to reflect on the costs of war and why they are sometimes worth paying.

Cosmopolitanism can be a particularly pernicious temptation because it invites us to love the idealized reality of humanity above our actual flesh and blood neighbors who live next door.

We all live under debt.