Brief Thoughts on Ten Conservative Principles by Russell Kirk

As part of an online reading group I’ve joined we’re starting out by reading the essay ‘Ten Conservative Principles’ by Russell Kirk which you can read for yourself online here. It’s fairly lengthy but the essay opens with a rather illuminating statement: Being neither a religion nor an ideology, the body of opinion termed conservatism …

Thoughts on Hazony’s “The Virtue of Nationalism”

I recently finished going through Yoram Hazony’s book “The Virtue of Nationalism” which I have come away from with really mixed thoughts. Some things resonated with me incredibly powerfully but there were other areas that left me somewhat concerned. What follows is an attempt to articulate what I imagine are both the good and the …

Whose children are these anyway? Thoughts on liberalism and schooling

In the news recently there’s been a story that has kept coming back to me about a conflict in a school between predominantly Muslim parents and an initiative promoting same-sex relationships. The initiative itself was introduced by the Assistant Headteacher, who is gay himself, at Parkfield school in Birmingham. One news report stated that as …

Liberalism and schism in the Church of England

Not too long ago I had written out a post on liberalism, particularly in the Church of England. It was precipitated by a mixture of a piece in the Telegraph and some interactions my wife had with a liberal anglo-catholic friend. However after reading Anthony Smith's take on the Telegraph article I've found myself reforming my views on the …