On to the Conclave

Dear Intelligent American,

Easter Monday brings the news that Pope Francis has died. May he rest in peace. That he was not felled during his recent prolonged hospitalization seemed borderline miraculous: He was 88, after all, and not in good health. And yet there he was on Easter Sunday, riding the Popemobile through the cheering throng in Saint Peter’s Square, meeting with J.D. Vance, offering his annual “Urbi et Orbi” message—there was a sense of upswing.

But the bells do toll for all, including popes, even in the face of seemingly marked recovery.

The pontificate began with a thrill, energized by Francis’s focus on greater attention to those in need, and the call for more actual charitable engagement. But then came a fixation with mass migration—the thing that truly disrupts civil society—and embracing of various -isms and troubling diplomacy (with Red China) and nose-thumbing at traditionalists and . . . the list is not short. At the time of Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s death, today, as this missive is penned on Monday, the Church—and too Western civilization—seems in a more troubled place.

Maybe the next pope (in mid-May the College of Cardinals will convene and elect one) will bring a greater sense of the need for each of us, whether Catholic or non-Catholic, to consciously embrace that universal responsibility of loving thy neighbor, actively and personally, and through that accomplish the broad restoration of the pursuit of happiness—as a duty best performed by individuals and voluntary associations and not aggrandizing governments and the bureaucratic state.

Before moving on, the Center for Civil Society wants you to know we have unleashed another season of the acclaimed Givers, Doers, & Thinkers Podcast. Take it out for a test drive.

 

Prediction: The Following Will Prove More Satisfying than a Basket of Jellybeans

 

1. At Law & Liberty, fan favorite Daniel J. Mahoney reminds us of the profound importance of French political philosopher Pierre Manent. From the piece:

As Manent illustrates, Tocqueville sought to find broadly liberal ways to save human beings from a civilized “state of nature” in which individuals would become dangerously estranged from the “art of association” and the “moral contents of life.” The Frenchman sought to instruct the people of this democratic age that “the spirit of liberty” and “the spirit of religion” could be “harmonized” once again, without undermining the salutary effects of church-state separation. As Manent puts it in his 2007 book, Democracy Without Nations, “If the separation of church and state is precious as a rule of our actions, it becomes ruinous if we make it the rule of our thought. Politics and religion are never entirely separate or separable. One cannot understand either, therefore, unless one takes them together.” Manent recommends a delicate melding of a secular state (which within limits is good for both religion and politics) with a renewed appreciation of the multiple ways in which “human prudence and divine Providence” collaborate in the souls of men.

 

Manent thus sees beyond the dichotomy between demi-theocratic integralism and an extreme secularism that aims to radicalize and “complete” the original liberal separation of power and opinion, church and state, and religion and politics, as he interchangeably calls them. Taken to its logical extreme, the “neutral and agnostic state” risks becoming nihilistic and coercive, suffocating the deepest needs of the human soul. As Manent suggests in the newly published English-language edition of Challenging Modern Atheism and Indifference: Pascal’s Defense of the Christian Proposition . . . the much vaunted liberal “neutrality” has in recent times transmogrified into an illiberal attack on “the idea of the good” as it manifests itself in civil society and ordinary life itself. Moral claims and political opinions that appeal to “nature” or “tradition” are just too close to religious claims to be tolerated by the guardians of ideological correctness.

 

2. At Comment Magazine, Jeff Reimer makes the case for the virtues of small magazines. From the essay:

I am an editor, but you’re not. So am I recommending you all become editors of small magazines? No. But there are ways to participate in this life no matter what you’re doing. What I do in my job at my magazine vocationally is to provide a venue that others can participate in avocationally—that is, for enjoyment and enrichment and beauty, not for a paycheck or to get ahead. (Our magazine is quite beautiful, and we’re intentional about that, providing a lot of colour and artwork to make the experience of reading sensuous.) We publish essays and podcasts that are thoughtful but not specialized, attentive to current events but not determined by them. That are occasionally oriented to the political world but are not obsessed by what’s happening in Washington or Ottawa. We’re not so theoretical that there’s no connection to real life, but we’re not so practical that we forget to actually think. Part of our motto is that we are rooted in two thousand years of Christian social thought. We talk about what’s in Scripture but also what Augustine had to say about it, what Thomas Aquinas had to say, what T.S. Eliot or Hannah Arendt or Martin Luther King had to say. That gives us a wider and deeper perspective than the narrow focus of the now. What’s more, because our culture and our media and our communities do not always encourage this kind of perspective, we foster connection for our readers and listeners who value these things. Comment Suppers is one way to connect: have a meal with other readers and discuss a set of questions we provide. Another is to come to our festival: we’re planning the Understory Festival next spring, to provide a venue where people can convene and learn.

 

And we’re not the only ones doing this. Obviously I want you to read Comment magazine, but there are a lot of these, both Christian and not, that are doing a lot of this same work.

 

Hold Your Horses, Reader . . .

This just in: Our friends at The Heritage Foundation tell us that applications for America’s 250th Innovation Prizes will close on Thursday, May 1. This special round of the acclaimed Innovation Prizes recognizes and provides substantive financial awards that, in total, amount to $250,000 to nonprofits for projects focused on themes relating to the Semiquincentennial. (Say that three times fast!) Learn more here.

OK, Back on the Horse and Ride to the Sound of Excerpts!

 

3. More Small Magazines: At The Lamp, Peter Hitchens laments felled trees. From the piece:

Many great men have feared for our trees. J.R.R. Tolkien once said rightly, “Every tree has its enemy, few have an advocate.” He famously depicted the spiteful destruction of trees during the Scouring of the Shire, the ruination of that small land by enemies within, an episode which was mysteriously omitted from Peter Jackson’s film of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Was it, like Tolkien himself, too conservative? But he allows magic to restore the lost trees, presumably unable to bear the decades of glaring ugliness he would otherwise have had to inflict on the Hobbits. It is an interesting example of just how limited our scientific achievements are that nobody has yet developed a method of making great broad-leafed trees grow faster. But who would invest in that, which would create real lasting joy, when there is so much more money to be made out of “antidepressants,” which claim to alleviate gloom with chemical happiness?

 

4. At The Spectator, Gus Carter discusses the ways men who need saving can be saved. From the essay:

Traditionally when men have been angry they’ve acted out. There’s a glut of sociological research about ‘young male syndrome’: seeking out conflict, a desire for destruction, high levels of risk-taking and status-seeking activity. From an evolutionary perspective, such behaviour is seen as a form of mate seeking. These biological urges are filtered through culture, sometimes with unhappy consequences. See: the promise of 72 virgins in return for extreme Islamist violence.

 

Our forefathers found ways to harness these urges, either through conscription (desire for conflict), industrial employment (displays of skill, risk taking), hunting (blood lust, also risk taking), heavy drinking (camaraderie through trial), courtship rituals (changing the rules around honour), or duelling (conflict resolution). It’s what leads soldiers to jump on grenades, killing themselves and saving their comrades in the process. Or led men to cross the South Pole. It’s still what drives young techy guys to found start-ups. Competition, endurance, honour, domination.

 

In the contemporary West, we’ve ended up in a place where such urges aren’t so much filtered as rejected. A few years ago I wrote a piece about toxic masculinity teaching in schools. ‘Boys are now seen as potential perverts,’ a former teacher told me, while a child psychologist said teenage boys ‘can hardly move for fear of doing something wrong’. Young males are constantly told they’re a risk, which they are. But I don’t think telling them that is particularly helpful.

 

5. At The Public Discourse, Stephen Matter drills down on the importance of civic education. From the essay:

Secondly, but perhaps more importantly, students who never cultivate a reflective admiration or love for the American experiment run the risk of adopting a disposition that regards any theoretical or practical departure from the American political tradition as trivial. I refer to the tradition that originated in the first conscious attempt to realize democratic republicanism on a continental scale, and which never took for granted the problems that such scale posed to the task of protecting the natural rights of man. Yet today, when it comes time for the students described above to give a defense of these rights in the political sphere, they either find themselves unprepared to earnestly confront the alternatives to American democracy, or they take a position that unconsciously sacrifices institutional and cultural safeguards that were regarded as crucial to democracy by the political tradition.

 

If they have yet to understand the American order on its own terms, how can we trust that they will both critique and defend it with the proper care? Moreover, how can we expect them to bear the weight and significance of assessing any alternative to liberal democracy, as is required of students who pursue a true liberal education? It follows that for liberal education to have its greatest impact, it must be taken up by students who hold neither a childish love toward their country nor an outright indifference to it. An analysis of how civic education might contribute to a liberal education ought to begin along these lines.

 

6. At National Affairs, Steven M. Teles explains that thing that, like the air, is everywhere—Minoritarianism. From the essay:

Scholars from a variety of perspectives have noticed this pattern. Whether one focuses on NIMBYism in housing and infrastructure, the role of public-employee unions in local government, the cloistered boards who control licensed professions, or the governance of institutions of higher education, minoritarianism starts to look like the characteristic form of our government rather than an aberration. Majoritarianism may be a desirable goal for democratic government, but the enemies of majoritarianism are most certainly not just on the right.

 

In fact, many of the populist right's attacks are not aimed at the left's majoritarianism, but at its most minoritarian manifestations. One does not need to deny that voting restrictions, rural states' magnified power in the Senate, the filibuster, or the outsized role of the Supreme Court pose genuine problems for American democracy. But we should recognize that there is a kind of partiality in only attending to the non-majoritarian aspects of our politics embraced by the right. . . .

 

In search of the tyranny of the minority, one would be well advised to skip over the nation's capital and look instead to the crazy quilt of jurisdictions in which America's decisions about land use and infrastructure development are made. A growing field of scholarship has shown that America's unusually high level of local control over these decisions has led to a crippling undersupply of housing, coupled with dramatically higher costs for transportation and energy projects aimed at reducing carbon emissions.

 

7. At UNWON, Keely Covello reveals a theology of tending to animals, and laments those who decry the proximity to things not spotless. From the piece:

Adam’s efforts to cover himself was the original act of civilization, and since then, civilization has been the progressive march to show God we are above nature—and by extension, Him.

 

Think how complex and sophisticated a system is required to support this fantasy. It’s a feat, the exquisite construct of an advanced civilization. From birth to death, a modern Western person can live in the delusion of clean hands and a light footprint. This is the marvel of modernity, end product of thousands of years of dedicated human effort. Clothing, once shaped from animal skins and sharp cotton fibers, now bright polyester in a mall. Meat, not cut from a bleeding carcass and cooked over an open flame, but mashed and mixed and breaded or cut and wrapped, laid in a freezer or squeezed into meatballs or ground or dinosaur nuggets. Lettuce, not grown in manure and bone and cleansed of worms and insects and guarded by traps and fencing and poisons, just served sterile in a tidy plastic bag. Everything divorced from its origin. Milk, cheese, mixing bowls, wooden desks, boots, glue, candy, car tires, marshmallows, chewing gum, biofuel, beer, soap. Clean.

 

Last year the city of Denver tried to ban slaughterhouses within city limits. Not the process of slaughtering animals. Not the consumption of meat. Just the proximity. They wanted to push this dirty thing we all depend on, this barbarism we consume, farther from society.

 

8. More Animals: At Reason, Liz Wolfe explores urban self-reliance, found in the raising of backyard chickens. From the piece:

Nowadays, in Manhattan, you’d be hard-pressed to find a pig. But around the middle part of the 19th century, there were some 50,000 pigs raised on the island. Though urban farming is far less common in 2025, it still exists, more frequently for hobby rather than sustenance: Chickens are the animal of choice, with beekeeping also experiencing a renaissance.

 

Urban farming is derided by its critics as smelly and unnecessary. I beg to differ. I used to live in dense East Austin, Texas, and kept a manageable flock of five chickens. As a baker who makes custards and meringues and cakes, I looked at chicken keeping as less a cost-saving measure and more as a means of ensuring my ingredients would be high-quality. It was also a way to become more self-reliant, a modicum more grateful for how food ends up on my plate.

 

9. At The European Conservative, Adam Gazdiev bemoans what will become of the continent as its culture disdains civic virtues and responsibilities. From the piece:

Europe’s vulnerability lies in the loss of collective will to resist—particularly in Old Europe. This is not about military budgets or army size. It’s about a psychological and cultural shift that has occurred in Western societies over the past fifty years—intensified after the Cold War.

 

Across Western and Central Europe, values have shifted toward personal rights and comfort. Citizens increasingly prioritize individual freedoms and well-being, while collective duties fade into the background.

 

Among younger generations raised in peace and prosperity, mobilization and military service are seen not as civic duties, but as outdated relics.

 

Meanwhile, in countries like China, North Korea, and Iran, ideals of self-sacrifice and duty to the state remain central. Citizens are expected to defend national interests—even at personal cost. This creates an advantage in potential conflicts.

 

History illustrates how such shifts undermine empires. In the late Roman Empire, Romans became so attached to luxury that they outsourced defense to mercenaries—and lost the ability to fight for themselves.

 

10. At Philanthropy Roundtable, Jack Salmon explains the powers and progress of donor-advised funds. From the analysis:

Our report analyzes data from 40 large community foundations and the 10 largest national DAF sponsors, representing 76% of DAF grantmaking and 79% of DAF assets in 2022. The findings reveal key trends:

• • High Payout Rates: Community foundations averaged a 17.1% payout rate over three years, while national sponsors averaged 25.4%. These figures exceed voluntary industry benchmarks and highlight robust grantmaking practices.
  • Broad Accessibility: DAFs are widely accessible, with many sponsors requiring no or low minimum contributions to open an account. Median account balances are relatively modest, averaging around $20,000, which further demonstrates their accessibility to donors of varying financial capacities.
  • Strong Inactivity Policies: Every sponsor analyzed enforces stringent inactivity policies, ensuring funds are responsibly managed and remain engaged in the philanthropic ecosystem.

 

11. At American Enterprise Institute, edu-guru Bruno Manno makes the strong case for “earn-and-learn” apprenticeship degrees. From the paper:

College is the default option for many US high school graduates, so apprenticeship programs face a marketing challenge. Making them appealing to a wider audience includes demonstrating that apprenticeships need not conflict with a higher education degree. This is where the apprenticeship degree model comes in—a model that is far more common internationally.

 

Apprenticeship degree programs allow individuals to serve as apprentices while simultaneously earning a college degree. The United Kingdom developed such a program in 2015. The UK’s program provides a debt-free path to a bachelor’s or master’s degree from a university. The program is offered to 18- and 19-year-olds and lower-level workers who want to acquire new knowledge and skills to advance in their careers. Degrees are offered in fields that typically require academic work, such as health and the sciences, business and administration, and aerospace. Through this apprenticeship degree program, the employer and the government each pay a portion of the full program cost; the government covers the tuition cost through an employer apprenticeship levy. Therefore, students do not have to take out loans to earn their degree.

 

Degree apprentices spend the majority of their week at work, with at least 20 percent of their time used for off-the-job study. Individuals cannot apply directly for an apprenticeship but must apply through an employer. It then becomes the employer’s responsibility to arrange their study with an education provider. A program can take between three and six years to complete, depending on the particulars, and the degree is awarded by the university providing the coursework. Research indicates that UK apprenticeship degrees generally have positive outcomes like increased earning potential and improved social mobility, and participants report receiving valuable work experience.

 

12. At National Review, Matt Liles and Daryl James ask what’s really stopping America from building more houses. From the article:

Production has slowed in recent years, sparking a nationwide crisis, yet people who step forward with solutions meet resistance. One charity, Tiny House Hand Up, found that out when it tried to build affordable Southern-style cottages on its own land in Calhoun, Ga., north of Atlanta. Buyers loved the sizes—540 to 600 square feet per home. The only thing missing was approval from city planners.

 

Public hearings brought out the usual cries of “not in my backyard.” One opponent complained that the project would invite “riffraff” to the area. Other residents shared similar sentiments. They worried about crime, litter, and falling property values. Lower-income families deserve a place to sleep at night, they acknowledged, but not near them.

 

The city council sided with the NIMBYs and denied the charity’s special-use permit in 2021, relying on a minimum-square-footage ordinance that requires new single-family homes to be at least 1,150 square feet.

 

Lucky 13. At Oil City News, Tommy Culkin reports on a Wyoming fundraiser that brought in big bucks to support Special Olympics. From the beginning of the story:

Special Olympics Wyoming’s statewide Jackalope Jump fundraisers were able to raise roughly $127,191 for the nonprofit, which organizers say makes it one of the most successful Jackalope Jump seasons on record.

 

Across 13 events, 559 people took part this year. Of the total amount raised, roughly $40,000 was raised in the Casper event alone.

 

Money raised from the event goes toward uniforms, equipment, facility rental fees, travel costs, medals and trophies and much more.

 

Bonus. At Front Porch Republic, John Murdock considers post-pilgrimage impacts. From the piece:

Though enjoyable in the moment, the trip’s positive effects were most evident after I returned home. The noise and distractions of our digitized lives seemed more glaring and garish. To be sure, while on the Camino none of us had fully left our phones behind, but the devices became secondary to the simple rhythm of days spent walking and talking with friends amid the sights and sounds of nature. The surroundings were not always idyllic as those sounds could include the drumbeat of heavy rain while our eyes saw never-ending hills before us. Yet, the obstacles reinforced the step-by-step reality of life that our worry and overplanning often seek to conceal. The legendary sportscaster Vin Scully once said of an injured ballplayer that he was “listed as day to day” before adding “aren’t we all.” Jesus put it this way, “Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Thus in the immediate wake of my Camino journey I found myself less likely to obsess about things over which I had little to no control and was more likely to simply take the next step, and then the next.

 

Part of that perspective resulted from walking through rural parts of Europe where community life still showed signs of strength, stability, and sanity. We were more likely to be offered a “Buen Camino” greeting in the countryside than in the cities. Old stone walls spoke to patterns of life that have persisted over centuries, even amid wars and financial strains.

 

For those of us merely passing through, the state of the dead seemed a good proxy for the health of the community. Some cemeteries and columbaria were in sad states of disrepair, while others were well kept. One community with good graves also had a large pavilion nearby (useful for pilgrims looking to take a break from the rain) and outdoor ovens nearby that suggested regular well-attended festivals. In another village, streamers over the street announced your approach to the local church where two old women with their daily bread in hand conversed leisurely.

 

For the Good of the Cause

Uno. Got Board? A most unboring webinar awaits all people who worry, rightly, about the importance of a well-functioning board of directors at your friendly neighborhood nonprofit. Free, and via Zoom, and hosted by the great Celia Diem, this hour of wisdom (from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 15^th) will guide you in the basics of building and running a board that helps your mission flourish. You will want to attend, and by “you” we mean all of you. Get more information, and register for this important webinar, right here.

 

Point(s) of Personal Privilege

Uno. At Philanthropy Daily, Yours Truly celebrated the 250^th of Lexington and Concord by remembering the voluntary association at the center of it all—the Minutemen. Read it here.

Due. At National Review, Yours Truly marked Good Friday by reflecting on his grandfather’s fascinating crucifix. Find the article here.

 

Department of Bad Jokes

Q: What is the name of the sheriff with indigestion?

A: Wyatt Burp. 

 

A Dios

Nil nisi bonum: Taking spiritual inventory, the Pope too loved the Blessed Mother and the Rosary and was unembarrassed to call out the Devil, the being who hides in plain sight, willfully unseen by many. Thanks for that, Papa.

 

May the Cock Not Crow When We Account for Our Souls,

Jack Fowler, who is saying prayers at jfowler@amphil.com.

 

---