From the Center

Why would God require that we not covet? Is it for our benefit somehow? Or maybe it is just so that God won't have to listen to us whine? What if the answer to most of our social conflicts today is as simple as keeping the tenth commandment? In another solo podcast, Director Hodges muses about the meaning and application of the call God gives to resist the temptation to desire what others have.

GK Chesterton -- remember him? -- said once, that "Art is like morals: you have to draw the line somewhere." In this episode, Director Hodges goes solo again offering a meditation on drawing moral lines. Are we SURE that we are not falling into traps laid by our Enemy when we demonize others over political and social issues, pointing fingers, claiming injustices, accusing others? How would our Lord have us address injustices and wrongs? They are real. aren't they? Of course they are real injustices and wrongs - otherwise they would not need to be forgiven.

How did we get to the point of skepticism about reason? Do we trust our reason to give us a picture of reality? Or do we allow our fears, passions, concerns, anxieties, and experiences to lead us more than trusting our reason? What is the place for the imagination in reasoning? Are the two in opposition? Director Hodges gives a meditation on Reason and the Imagination, discussing how we can best apprehend the transcendent God through metaphor.

Can we still afford to have children? Are we putting them off for good reasons? What about the future generations? Hodges and Vowell discuss whether children are an asset or a liability in a technological society. What are the benefits of career over homemaking? How have we lost sight of the importance of the home? Could it be this is the fruit (or lack thereof) of the sexual revolution? Lower birthrates, but higher sexual confusions, pornography, sexual slavery, prostitution, divorce rates, and later marriages all because we are bored with sex?

What with several of the candidates for the US Presidency claiming to actually BE Socialists, we thought it would be good to discuss the characteristics of Socialism in all its manifestations. Hodges and Vowell address the misguided assumption that all human problems can be solved by way of the federal government. Once accepted as true, this assumption makes the claims of Socialism far more compelling, as the essence of Socialism is the promise of Utopia here and now. Who can argue against free education, free health care, and a guaranteed basic income for all? To be against these things is to appear self-centered and expose one to all sorts of insulting labels (racist, sexist, homophobe, bigot, et c.). But aren't there two things to consider here? Diagnosis AND Treatment? Can't one agree to a diagnosis without endorsing the latest proposed Socialist solutions?

Hodges recommends Hayek's writings on economics, and Vowell recommends Roger Scruton's writings, in particular, On Beauty (renamed Oxford Very Short Introduction to Beauty.)

Being ironic is the way of our world. But is it possible to be "hip" enough to tell and know the truth? If we "see through" everything, as CS Lewis asks, how is it any different than being blind? When does our cynicism end and our genuine enjoyment begin?

Happy New Year From the Center!

It is Advent, and ALMOST Christmas! So we thought we would do a special Christmas episode where we recall Christmases from years past, discuss favorite recipes, Christmas songs, Christmas movies, do each others' hair...well, ok, not really that... but sometimes we need a break from talking about cultural Marxism and warning of the dangers of land wars in Asia...so come join us! Hear a few tunes, and allow us to wallow a bit in nostalgia!

The problem with giving thanks is that we need someone to thank. In this episode, Hodges and Vowell discuss the importance of giving thanks and never more than for the gift of the Birth at Christmas. It seems even psychologists recognize the need human beings have for gratitude -- instead of complaining about the failings of...well...everything: family, job, country, the other political party, neighbors...perhaps we need to learn to be grateful for the good that we DO have. The family we were born into has given us much...the job we do can be done for the glory of God...the country we live in may have been the source of bad things, but do we take the good things about it for granted? What will it take for each of us to look for the good in whatever aspect of life we consider? Did you create yourself? Raise yourself? Did you find your friends, spouse, co-workers? Did you grow your own food? Build your own house? Install your own plumbing? Most of us have others to thank for those things. And all these things come from the Source, the One who spoke all things into existence. Thanks be to God.

Recommendations: GK Chesterton's A Short History of England, and Winston Churchill's A History of the English Speaking Peoples.

Donations can be made to the Center for Western Studies at centerws.com/donate. Questions and comments on this or any other podcast can be sent to our Director at [email protected]. We would love to hear from you!

Director Hodges sat down in the studio recently and recorded the entire book A CHRISTMAS CAROL for the Center. All the great language, humor, horror, and profound truth captured in audio book form! Here we have placed a short excerpt to whet your appetite for the entire thing...

And this book is available to donors to the Center! If you make a donation of $100 or more to the Center for Western Studies this Christmas, we will send you the link with which you can download the entire mp3 file just in time for Christmas! Donations can be made through Pay Pal at www.centerws.com/donate. Or checks can be sent through the mail to the Center's address: 3896 St. Philip Drive, Bartlett, TN 38133. And a Merry Christmas! God bless us every one!

There have been only a few elections in US history in which a presidential candidate won the election without winning the popular vote. The 2016 election was one of those times, and that, combined with the 2020 election coming up, has reignited the debate about the significance of the Electoral College. Does it fairly represent the country? If not, how could it be bettered? If so, how does it answer the accusation that it grants more weight to one man's vote than another's? Hodges and Vowell dig into the "steel man" arguments on both sides, and compare the EC with the Bill of Rights.

Hodges recommends Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane mysteries (complete with accents): Strong Poison, Have His Carcass, Gaudy Night, and Busman's Honeymoon.

Vowell recommends CGP Grey's video "The Trouble with the Electoral College" as an intelligent anti-EC argument.