Comments on: An Illiberal Moment

By: John Bauerschmidt

John Bauerschmidt — Mon, 09 Sep 2024 17:04:19 +0000

Thank you for this response. I think there is convergence between a liberal order’s “lack of ambition” (I’m indebted to Tony Judt’s analysis here) and the humility that Augustine calls for in De Civitate Dei 19.27. Not that a liberal order is really practicing humility, but it is creating space for its practice. And that is a good thing.

By: Jordan Pickering

Jordan Pickering — Mon, 09 Sep 2024 11:00:39 +0000

I really appreciate the distinction between the liberal order’s “lack of ambition” and the more imperial, social-media driven programmes of the current competing orders. There is a base humility to the conviction of another person’s dignity and freedom, and a peaceable disposition about a social order that lacks wider ambitions. As unspiritual as it may be, I think it provides the most compelling common ground between Christians and others in the pluralist societies we (unavoidably) inhabit. An interesting essay!

By: John Bauerschmidt

John Bauerschmidt — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 21:24:54 +0000

Thank you for the appreciative comment. As in so much else, Augustine provides a number of angles of approach for understanding this political moment. This is one attempt: may there be more! Thanks again.

By: Pierre Whalon

Pierre Whalon — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 12:06:43 +0000

My colleague Bishop Bauerschmidt is a creative, incisive thinker, and I thank TLC’s Covenant for giving him a platform. The Church, not just the Episcopal Church, needs more thinking leaders like him.