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: Deacon James Toner
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 …
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 …
On the Authentic Practice of Social Justice
Pope Pius XI: “No genuine cure can be furnished for this lamentable ruin of souls, which, so long as it continues, will frustrate all efforts to regenerate society, unless men return openly and sincerely to the teaching of the Gospel” …
Our Modern Teacher, Adolf Eichmann
“The priests are to teach my people the difference between what is holy and what is not” (Ezekiel 44:23 GNB). “But now you priests have turned away from the right path. Your teaching has led many to do wrong” …
Currentism: The Perennial Lie
“Justice being taken away, then, what are kingdoms but great robberies?” —St. Augustine, The City of God Precis: Currentism is any political ideology which insists that it is rapidly progressing toward some vision of a human paradise. It recognizes only …
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 …
Read More