Theology Confounded
A friend recently recommended a slender spiritual book, Poverty of Spirit. Written by Johannes Baptist Metz, a German Catholic theologian, [...]
My Political Disgust
Call me a malcontent, if you wish, but I am disgusted with most politicians, their paid spokespeople, and the media [...]
Thinking Catholic with Mike Pence
The Vice-Presidential debate provided a perfectly articulated argument for the traditional Catholic view of a politician’s obligation regarding abortion. Ironically, [...]
The Marriage of Denial and Groupthink
When psychologists begin to ponder liberals’ refusal to acknowledge Islamic terrorism, they will likely stumble over one another in their [...]
Isn’t Self-Esteem a Good Thing?
A perceptive friend told me that, though she agrees with my often-expressed criticism of the self-esteem movement (see, for example, [...]
Foolishly Forsaking Humility
In 1980 Mac Davis wrote “Oh, Lord, It’s Hard to be Humble (if you’re perfect in every way)” He was [...]
The Faith vs Works Controversy, Part II
Summary of Part I: The ideas central to Humanistic Psychology have created a dismissive attitude toward righteousness and salvation. To [...]
The Faith vs Works Controversy
St. Paul claimed that we are saved by faith alone (Romans, 4:2,3,13); St. James claimed that faith must be joined by good [...]
Pokémon Go: One More Sign of Decline
You can see them walking singly, in pairs, or in large groups, moving like zombies, looking down at their cell [...]
How Did Trump Treat His Ghostwriter?
A friend of mine recently referred me to a New Yorker article entitled “Donald Trump’s Ghostwriter Tells All” and asked [...]
Trump’s Deus Ex Machina
Greek and Roman plays often ended with a divine being descending from above (by means of a crane) and resolving [...]
Eye of the Beholder, Cinema Style
If you had a choice between a movie that was rated 5% (out of 100%) and one rated 84%, which [...]
Ted Cruz’s Missed Opportunity
Senator Ted Cruz is a born-again Christian and the son of an Evangelical pastor who exhorts his congregation to “tithe [...]
Has Salvation Lost Its Meaning?
Salvation has always been the most important concept for Christians. Their core belief, regardless of denomination, is that from the beginning [...]
James Comey’s Costly Blunder
FBI director James Comey confirmed that Hillary Clinton acted “with great carelessness” in handling classified government information and was untruthful [...]
The Voters’ Dilemma
It is no exaggeration to say that the 2016 election will be one of the most important in many decades. [...]
Trump’s Intellectual Difficulties
Since Donald Trump began campaigning for the presidency a year ago, his name-calling and denigration of individuals and groups and [...]
Stimulating Catholic Intellects, Part III
Summary of Parts I and II: With Christianity under attack from secularism, selfism, socialism, and Islamism, Catholics need to be engaged [...]
Stimulating Catholic Intellects, Part II
Christians should be leading the defense of western civilization against the threats of secularism, selfism, socialism, and Islamism. Lamentably, they [...]
Stimulating Catholic Intellects
Ambrose Bierce, a master of insightful wit, once defined the term Scriptures as “the sacred books of our holy [...]
The Issue of Transgender Rights
When Solomon wrote “there is nothing new under the sun” in Ecclesiastes 1:9, he surely didn’t envision sexual reassignment surgery. [...]
Avoiding Hypersensitivity
Donald Trump ate a taco on Cinco de Mayo and some of his critics took great offense, calling his action [...]
The Teaching of Virtue
Jaime Primak Sullivan has taught her three young children to look people in the eye and say “please” and “thank you” [...]
Relieving Sports Fans’ Woes
Deep in every human heart is the wish to make a contribution to humanity. Not necessarily a big one like [...]
How Charitable Are the Candidates?
In evaluating political candidates, it is helpful to determine how closely their actions match their words. In the matter of [...]
Author Vincent Ryan Ruggiero
Since retiring from teaching, I have continued my work in promoting sound thinking in education and in the general culture. More specifically, I have kept refining my textbooks, four of which have been continuously in print for an average of 33 years. I have also continued to write books for the general public, the latest of which is Corrupted Culture: Rediscovering America’s Enduring Principles, Values, and Common Sense, and I write a weekly column for an online journal.