A Sensible Approach To Voting
It’s not hard to imagine the following conversation. Bill: I’m voting the same way I did in 2008, for Obama [...]
Common Sense About Abortion
It’s election season again and abortion defenders are casting the usual aspersions, which may be summarized as, conservatives are anti-choice extremists [...]
Where Credit Is Due
You didn't get there on your own . . . If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you [...]
Some Thoughts On Globalization
The article, which appeared in a respected American Catholic magazine, focused on “global consciousness,” and linked that concept to the [...]
How Reliable Are Your News Sources?
Like millions of other Americans, you will be soon making your election choices based on what you read and hear [...]
The Decline Of Leadership
Every day brings new examples of the intellectual deficiencies of people in leadership positions. Consider these examples. The U.S. Senate [...]
Cardinal Dolan’s Unfortunate Lapse
Cardinal Dolan’s book, True Freedom, is available from Amazon. Actually, it’s not a book but an essay, followed by an excerpt from [...]
A Crucial Distinction
If you've been successful, you didn't get there on your own. . . somebody along the line gave you some [...]
Unintended Consequences
Murphy’s law states that if anything can possibly go wrong, it probably will. A cynical view, to be sure, but [...]
Catholic Teaching On Homosexuality
In the space of four or five decades, homosexuality has changed from perversion to disorder to respectable lifestyle. In the [...]
Why Government Plays Nanny
Every day brings another story of a government agency banning something. New York’s Mayor Bloomberg banned large soft drinks and [...]
The Bishops’ Dilemma
A couple of months ago my essay American Catholics and Social Justice was published here. It traced the dramatic changes in the [...]
Supporting The Sisters
Supporting the Sisters? The email was from a friend who had just signed the petition to “Support the Sisters” and [...]
The Pinnacle Of Self-Esteem
A 36-year-old North Dakota woman, Nadine Schweigert, recently married herself! According to news reports, there was a ceremony attended by her friends, [...]
The Usefulness Of Political Blather
It’s election year and we are once again inundated with political blather. But all is not lost. Even the most [...]
An Elderly Man’s Wisdom
In the mid-1950s, during my first year out of college, I was a social caseworker. Like most of my colleagues, [...]
Can Poverty Be Created?
The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 (EOA) launched the “war on poverty.” This legislation, promoted by Lyndon Johnson and supported [...]
How Liberating Is Liberation Theology?
Many Catholics first encountered the term “liberation theology” during the 2008 presidential campaign, when then-candidate Obama’s pastor said from the [...]
Economics Déjà Vu
What are the causes of America’s economic problems? The most common response today, at least in Washington, DC, is that [...]
The Perils Of Cynicism
A friend recently sent me an email explaining some interesting facts about Mitt Romney. I’ve received enough stories of this [...]
An Old Lesson Not Yet Grasped
If you think American students’ language deficiency is a new problem, think again. It was first identified before World War [...]
Catholics And Atheism
Atheism is reportedly on the rise in America. Exact numbers are hard to determine, partly because many atheists prefer to keep [...]
An Odd Kind Of Hunger
As I write, The Hunger Games continues as the top box office hit. The film depicts a future North America divided into [...]
In Search Of Truth
After reading my essay, American Catholics and Social Justice, which recently appeared in this journal, a priest friend said he [...]
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.