Deacon James H. Toner (M.A., William & Mary; Ph.D., Notre Dame) is Professor Emeritus of Leadership and Ethics at the U.S. Air War College, a former U.S. Army officer, and author of numerous books, articles, reviews, and monographs. He has taught at Notre Dame, Norwich, Auburn, the U.S. Air Force Academy, and Holy Apostles College & Seminary. He has contributed many columns to The Catholic Thing, Crisis Magazine, One Peter Five, and the Wanderer, as well as myriad academic and military periodicals. He and his wife Rebecca have three sons and eleven grandchildren.
Author: Dcn. James Toner, PhD
Saintly Conformity
“The only real sadness, the only real failure, the only great tragedy in life, is not to become a saint.” –Leon Bloy (1846-1917) Suppose someone contended that saints are conformists. Would we not shrink from that assertion, thinking it an …
Deacon to Priests: Stop Tickling Their Ears and Preach the Gospel!
This column is a response to a piece written by a priest in a diocesan newspaper, essentially arguing that we must always seek common values and common views with all people who disagree – a false irenicism. While it is …
Profane Logic: Plagues of the Mind
Conferences at various places and conversations with many people over the past few years have persuaded me that there is a torrent of profane (meaning impious and irreverent) “logic.” This is increasingly evident, not only in our institutions, but even …
The Purposes of Our Local Church
“Cry, cease not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their wicked doings” (Isaias 58:1 [DRB]). A recent statement from the Parish Council of Holy Trinity Church in the District of Columbia benightedly and truculently exclaims that …
Infamous Falsehoods and Distortions: The Catholic Democrat Statement
Charles Peguy (1873-1914): “It will never be known what acts of cowardice have been committed for fear of not looking sufficiently progressive.” Elsewhere, I recently published a piece pleading for the universal reinstatement of the Traditional Latin Mass. This …
Of Scorpions, Frogs, and Politics
“But my people would not listen to me . . . . So I let them go their stubborn ways and do whatever they wished” (Psalm 81:11-12; cf. Romans 1:24-25). One version of a famous fable is this: A …
The Grand Impostor
Proverbs tells us: “What a joy it is to find just the right word for the right occasion” (15:23). So it is with the word imposturous, which ideally captures the essence of the deceit which characterizes what currently masquerades as …
Vanquishing the “Magisterium of the Mirror”: On Knowing and Doing the Right Thing
“Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?” -The Evil Queen in Snow White “Remember the Lord in everything you do, and He will show you the right way” -Proverbs 3:6 Precis: The right …
Aligned With My Values
“With God and Jesus Christ excluded from political life, with authority derived not from God but from man, . . . human society is tottering to its fall, because it has no longer a secure and solid foundation.” – Pope …
The Nursery of the Antichrist
Bioethically, we no longer know men from women; legally, we no longer know when life starts or stops; morally, we no longer know right from wrong or virtue from vice. Too often, our personal lives are squalid, our political affairs …
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