The media have replayed the Christmas greetings of many religious leaders, all of which are edifying – at least the number I have seen. I have the welcome impression that the general community is concerned to preserve the cultural aspect of Christmas, if not the religious foundations of the Christmas festivity. It is reassuring the cultural initiative has been taken. It indicates that the elitist purveyors of materialism have not succeeded in blotting out the natural feelings of the ordinary person.

One of the most inspiring Christmas greetings linking the feast day with the transcendent is that of the Rev. Robert A. Sirico, President of the Acton Institute. Fr Sirico’s greeting can be viewed here.

Gerard Wilson

Yesterday I was reflecting that treason and sedition have always been considered the worst of civil offences, punishable by death. It was not with reference to Muslims in Western countries on this occasion. Then I came across the following on a Facebook page:

A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to be feared. The traitor is the carrier of the plague. You have unbarred the gates of Rome to him.”

A quote attributed to Marcus Tullius Cicero – 107 BC – 43 BC. And so history repeats itself, so it would seem.

Gerard Wilson

The Annual General Meeting of Edmund Burke’s Club welcomed quite a few new attendees whom the President Gerard Wilson warmly welcomed before beginning the business of the meeting. A special welcome was given to Dominick Bondar, Vice-President of Sydney University Liberal Club, who had just become the Club’s newest member. The President then gave an account – and an assessment – of the Club’s activities over the previous year.

Our membership not only remained steady but increased slightly. For various reasons we lost some but gained others. Our meetings with the supper afterwards continued to be thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended. The presentations stimulated much discussion which carried over to the supper. Continue reading →

Andrew Bolt’s portrait of Tony Abbott which appeared shortly after Abbott’s carefully planned assassination is not only objectively fair. It is true – true about Abbot’s qualities as a person, true about his loyalty, true about his achievements, true about the enormous obstacles that stood in the way of his administration, and true about the media’s unrestrained and shameless politicking to tear him down. When one is confronted yet again by a detailed account of Abbott’s demise, depicting Abbott as master of his own fall, one should return to this piece to be reminded of reality and not fantasy.

Loss of PM Abbott is a time of Sorrow
by ANDREW BOLT

NOW Tony Abbott is gone I can finally tell the truth about him. Folks, you made a big mistake with this bloke. No, no. The mistake wasn’t that you voted for him. In fact, you got one of the finest human beings to be Prime Minister.

In many ways he seemed too moral for the job, yet he achieved more in two years than the last two Labor prime ministers achieved in six. Compare. Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard left us with record deficits after blowing billions on trash — on overpriced school halls, “free” insulation that killed people, green schemes that collapsed, “stimulus” checks to the dead. Continue reading →

Fr Paul Stenhouse MSC PhD, an acknowledged expert on Islam and the Middle East, is currently presenting a five-part series on Islam in the ANNALS. The first part appeared in the March 2015 issue. With Fr Stenhouse’s kind permission the first part is reproduced here: Understanding Islam I

Professor Garrett Ward Sheldon, keynote speaker at the coming Edmund Burke Conference, has received a prestigious academic award from the University of New Mexico. The citation is as follows:

The University of New Mexico Alumni Association announces the recipients of its prestigious James F. Zimmerman, Bernard S. Rodey, Erna S. Fergusson and Faculty Teaching Awards. They include: James F. Zimmerman Award – John Mateczun; Bernard S. Rodey Award – Garrett Sheldon; Erna S. Fergusson Award – Michelle Coons; and Faculty Teaching Award – Steven McLaughlin.

“This year’s awards recipients are making important contributions to our nation, state and university communities,” said Karen Abraham, Executive Director of the UNM Alumni Association. “They are a distinguished and diverse group of talented individuals.”

Bernard S. Rodey Award – Garrett Sheldon (’77 BA)
Garrett Ward Sheldon is The John Morton Beaty Professor of Political and Social Sciences at the University of Virginia College at Wise. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from the UNM Honors Program in 1977 and earned a Ph.D. from Rutgers University. Sheldon has published 10 books in the fields of political theory and political theology, including “The Political Philosophy of Thomas Jefferson” and “Religion and Politics: Major Thinkers on the Relation of Church and State.” He has been a Visiting Scholar at Oxford University; the University of Vienna, Austria; and Trinity College, Dublin. Sheldon received the Outstanding Faculty in Virginia Award, the highest honor conferred on an academic by the Commonwealth. He is also an ordained Christian minister and author of the novel “What Would Jesus Do?”

For full details of the awards go HERE

It quickly became clear in 1970s that feminism was a Marxist-Leninist political movement that aimed to destroy the natural relationship between men and women. That was, of course, in line with the general objective of the Marxist-Leninist, that is, the destruction of traditional European society, particularly its moral norms.

Looking back from 2014, one cannot deny that feminism has booked an overwhelming success. Its hierarchy of furious frightbats won’t rest, though. There remains much to be done for a complete destruction of the relationship between men and women. Indeed, that whole concept of ‘men and women’ – the words themselves – must be outlawed. What, then, must the frightbats of feminism think of the treacherous movement of young women who have formed a group called WOMEN AGAINST FEMINISM – and want the traditional partnership between women as women and men as (masculine) men? Have a look at what they’re saying HERE – and be surprised.

UPDATE

There was, as expected, little delay in the sisterhood response. This is how one representative frightbat responded – HERE. Notice how her satire depicts her opponents as dumb and ignorant bimbos – in just the way feminists accuse men of doing. Only a man could never generate that sort of spite – a women on women spite.

Unfortunately, due to computer problems the main mailing list of Edmund Burke’s Club has been lost. If you would like to receive email updates about EBC meetings and other activities, please go to the contacts page.