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Plato presents a vicious circle that every regime goes through: from a limited aristocracy, to a timocracy of honor, an oligarchy based on wealth, a democracy based on liberty, and, finally, the tyranny of the one against all. While some regimes may be more just than others, it is bound to collapse eventually. Alex Denley and Dr. Andrew Jones discuss Plato's description of the individual and his regime, the circle of regimes, and how Christianity can provide an answer to the circle.

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Everyone has a sense of what is just and unjust, but what is the source of justice? In this episode of "The Politics of Paganism," Alex Denley and Dr. Andrew Willard Jones discuss Plato's "Republic." Through a discussion of the luxurious city, the myth of the mixture of the elements, the Allegory of the Cave, and finally the Philosopher-King, Alex and Andrew show the tension in Plato between relative and absolute justice; between the shadows of justice in the city and true justice that the philosopher contemplates.

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Death comes for everyone. For the Christian, death is the passage into eternal life; but, what about for the Pagan? Alex Denley and Dr. Andrew Jones discuss the problem of death for pagan regimes. Using St. Augustine's "City of God," they discuss Cain's murder of Abel, the founding of the city by violence, the inferior law of violence, and the overturning of death by Christ.

If you want to read ahead, next up is Plato's "Republic."

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As the liberal order continues to collapse, rival voices have gained popularity—groups that aren’t content secularizing religion, but rejecting Christianity altogether. Old pagan arguments are resurrecting: the aesthetics of power, might-makes-right, vitalism and tyranny. Alex Denley and Dr. Andrew Willard Jones discuss their new series “The Politics of Paganism” and how Christianity can understand and defeat the pagan attacks against it.

If you’d like to read ahead for the series:

1. Selections from the City of God by St. Augustine

2. The Republic by Plato

3. The Politics by Aristotle

4. Laws by Cicero

5. The Treatise on Law by St. Thomas Aquinas

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Gender season 2 has come to a close. Marc Barnes and Maria Brandell answer your questions and discuss the second season of Gender.

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Marc Barnes and Alex Denley discuss the latest New Polity magazine, Issue 5.1. Articles include D. C. Schindler on totalitarianism and America, a debate on the stock market, Marc on the medieval practice of sanctuary, and more.

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Marc and Maria discuss how the Third-Person perspective of pornography changes the way we view sexual difference.

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Euthanasia is becoming legalized across the Western world. Pat McGeehan, Delegate of West Virginia, is fighting against it. Advocates employ slogans like “death with dignity,” and appeal to compassion; but, the actual results are much different. Already, a “suicide tourism” phenomenon has begun, with people flying to states like Oregon to get legal doctor-assisted suicide. Pat tells a story of one of his constituents who, tragically, was a victim of this.

Likewise, Canada’s MAID (Medical Assistance in Dying) program has resulted in the deaths of over 40,000 people since 2016; with legislation only being passed recently to curb the amount of suicide tourism. By legalizing euthanasia, the door is open for gross misuse: the elderly who feel they are a burden to their children could be pressured into an untimely death, people with treatable illnesses could elect to end their lives, hospitals and health insurance providers could increase euthanasia recommendations to patients to decrease costs.

But, Pat is fighting for the dignity of his constituents in West Virginia. Euthanasia denies the dignity of the person; Pat is working to uphold that dignity by constitutionally banning euthanasia in the state of West Virginia.

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Marc and Maria continue their conversation on Humanae Vitae; specifically on the desire to control the body and its reproduction through abortion. They discuss how abortion not only plays the function of the killing of innocent children, but reshapes the experience of the body as such.

This episode is part 2 of a conversation on the Control of the Body. Listen to part 1 here:

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READINGS

Contraception, Abortion Episode (I-II)

Donum Vitae: https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19870222_respect-for-human-life_en.html

(All hail the parchment background)

Humanae Vitae: https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae.html

(All mourn the loss of the parchment background)

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Maria and Marc read Humanae Vitae, the Catholic Church's decisive rejection of contraception, as a text which prophesies and makes sense out of the meaninglessness we ascribe to our male and female bodies today.

This episode is part 1 of a conversation on the Control of the Body. Listen to part 2 here:

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READINGS

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Introductory Episode

We don’t have any readings for our introduction, but it may be helpful to give Gender, by Ivan Illich, a read, to get hip to a medieval/pre-industrial vision of Gender. Here’s a pdf: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/libra...

Capitalism

We are reading Silvia Federici’s “The Accumulation of Labor and the Degradation of Women” in her book “Caliban and the Witch,” which is available in our magazine, Issue 4.4: https://newpolity.com/single-issues/i... But if you are POOR or CHEAP here’s a pdf. The essay in question starts on pg. 60: https://files.libcom.org/files/Caliba... This is also a great time to read Karl Polyani’s “The Great Transformation,” which gives a (non gender specific) account of the transition to liberalism/capitalism in Europe. Here’s a pdf: https://inctpped.ie.ufrj.br/spiderweb...

The Loss of the Virgin

We are reading Martin Luther condemning virginity, not because he was the only guy to do it, but because (a) he has a flair for exhortations and (b) we had to pick someone. The point is to understand how what had been an unquestioned symbol of perfection in Christendom is now being characterized as a merely individual calling. The only free source for this exhortation in English appears to be this pretty intense website: https://www.godrules.net/library/luth... If you need an example of previous Christian enthusiasm for virginity, try Gregory of Nyssa “On Virginity”: https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/290...

The Beige World

The kids aren’t just bored, they are navigating a society of consumption through the power of efficacious vanity! For a primer on consumerism, we read William Cavanaugh’s “Being Consumed.” https://www.eerdmans.com/978146743829... Then we read Christopher Lasch’s “Culture of Narcissism.” Available wherever books are sold a momentarily at this link: https://thezeitgeistmovement.se/files... Marc mentioned Eberstadt’s “Primal Screams.” Here’s his review: https://humanumreview.com/articles/ma...

Contraception, Abortion Episode (I-II)

Donum Vitae: https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/co... (All hail the parchment background) Humanae Vitae: https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-v... (All mourn the loss of the parchment background) The Problem of Individualism We read the meanest book in the world so you didn’t have to. You will learn very little from Otto Weininger’s effort to destroy the woman and her sign, but here it is if you want to: https://brittlebooks.library.illinois...