Tag Archives: John Paul II

Leadership: The Ethics of Leading, Being Effective, The Family as Foci

Posted on February 27, 2014 by William Holland

Bush was right when he exclaimed, “getting hammered is what happends when you take a principled stand.”  I often think of this in contrast to the ubiquity of ‘thought leadership’ and other catch-phrases indicative of branding. The problem is this: … Continue reading →

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Why Popes & their Managerial Style Matters

Posted on July 26, 2013 by William Holland

Everyone remembers the destitute attitude consuming the United States immediately before the election of Reagan in November of 1979.  For those too young to remember, it was the perfect embodiment of the ‘END’ of Western Civilization. Jimmy Carter became like … Continue reading →

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The Limits Of Political Accommodation: Herodian Strategy For Survival In An Age Of Absolutes

Posted on December 13, 2011 by William Holland

The Roman Catholic Church has a very long distinguished history of playing a Machiavellian hand with secular leaders.  Witness the long tenure of John Paul II in Poland regarding both his strategy to break the Warsaw Pact along with hardened … Continue reading →

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Holy Ignorance

Posted on May 19, 2011 by William Holland

How can one study the failure that is political Islam and Protestantism?  The former dwells on an archaic vision that simply cannot address contemporary issues while the latter remains permanently entangled in the cultural morass of exalted personal autonomy.  For … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservatism, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Islam, John Paul II, Morality, Mysticism, Politics, Pope Benedict XVI, Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Holy Ignorance

A Critique Of Eastern Orthodoxy: Dangerous Idealisms In A Fallen World

Posted on August 23, 2010 by William Holland

My very first post on this blog was delivered on May 16, 2010.  I titled it “A New Beginning”.  It is posted on my home page after my bio.  It explains much of the tradition that I carry as I … Continue reading →

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Rocco Buttiglione: The Work That Was John Paul The Great

Posted on August 23, 2010 by William Holland

It is simply not possible to speak of greatness without referring to Karol Wojtyla (pronounced Why-tee-wah), otherwise known as John Paul II.  No other person than Rocco Buttiglione, Professor of politics, social ethics and economics at the International Academy for … Continue reading →

Posted in Hans Urs von Balthasar, Identity Development, John Paul II, Morality, Mysticism, Philosophy, Pope Benedict XVI, Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

The Promise Of Secular Life: Dystopic Mania For A Shapeless Freedom

Posted on July 8, 2010 by William Holland

Most Catholics can remember when Karol Wojtyla (John Paul II) began criticizing the foundations of our capitalist ethic in admonishing the wests embrace of materialism.  He challenged us to become more by having less.  As a poet he understood the … Continue reading →

Posted in Alex Tocqueville, Ethics, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Harry Jaffa, International Relations, John Paul II, Kant, Morality, Politics, Pope Benedict XVI, Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

George Orwell & Aldous Huxley Fathers of Doublespeak: A Clarion Call To Church & Artists

Posted on July 7, 2010 by William Holland

Both Orwell (real name Eric Blair) and Huxley left a substantial body of work that bore out the conviction that modern man was incapable of coping, resolving the demands of his time.  Other writers, less artistic yet still formidable in … Continue reading →

Posted in Alex Tocqueville, Arnold Toynbee, Conservatism, Eric Voegelin, Hans Urs von Balthasar, International Relations, Islam, John Paul II, Morality, Politics, Pope Benedict XVI, Raymond Aron, Reagan, Sociology, solzhenitzen, Theology, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Domestic Challenge Facing The West

Posted on June 24, 2010 by William Holland

Just what exactly is a culture war? It’s about competing forms of authority, and how they inform and shape human freedom. Today that war is waged within the once sacred, confined domain of the family, sexual ethics, law, technology, even … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservatism, Ethics, Feminization Of Men, John Paul II, Morality, Mysticism, Poets, Politics, Pope Benedict XVI, Sexual Ethics, Shakespeare, Theology | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

John Paul II: Sex

Posted on June 22, 2010 by William Holland

“In fact it is one thing to be conscious that the value of sex is part of all the rich storehouse of values with which the female appears to the male; it is another to reduce all the personal riches … Continue reading →

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