Young America's 2012 Update of 'Top Conservative Colleges'

Young America’s Foundation has released the 2012 update of their popular “Top Conservative Colleges” list.   The organization points out that this is not an exhaustive list of conservative institutions and should not be taken as such. They also add that the list should not be the only source consulted in a college search. Rather, "parents and students should seek several information sources, read admissions materials thoroughly, consult with friends and counselors, and make visits.  Additionally, Young America’s Foundation is not a college rating organization; we decided to publish this list to help address a frequently asked question."

Young America's Foundation Names "Top Ten Conservative Colleges"

From Young America's Foundation

Young America’s Foundation is pleased to release our fifth annual “Top Ten Conservative College” list in response to the frequently asked question of which schools we recommend to those seeking conservative colleges.

Each year, hundreds of thousands of students begin their college search. Admission guides, seminars, advice from friends, and help from advisors all offer different perspectives. Presented with so many options, confusion often clouds this important decision-making process. Given the requests for Young America’s Foundation’s recommendations, and to aid in making the right decision, we are proud to release our fifth annual “Top Ten Conservative Colleges” list.

A wide variety of rankings exist for the market of American colleges and universities. Each year, U.S. News & World Report releases its “America’s Best Colleges” edition. The magazine grades each institution based on factors including peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, and student selectivity. Yet, U.S. News does not rank the overall experience that colleges offer. That is why Young America’s Foundation presents the following list of ten institutions that offer a conservative experience for students. Young America’s Foundation deemed these ten institutions the best, and they are listed in alphabetical order. We are also pleased to list additional colleges we feel deserve honorable mention.

Many conservative students seek alternatives in higher education, but they may not be fully aware of institutions that fit these criteria. The 2008-2009 “Top Ten Conservative College” list features institutions that proclaim, through their mission and programs, a dedication to discovering, maintaining, and strengthening the conservative values of their students.

The colleges offer an alternative to the liberal status quo, because they allow and encourage conservative students to explore conservative ideas and authors. They offer coursework and scholarship in conservative thought and emphasize principles including smaller government, strong national defense, free enterprise, and traditional values. Furthermore, they avoid trends in academe by continuing to study Western Civilization instead of straying toward the study of Marxism, feminism, sexuality, postmodernism, and other distractions that do not give students a complete understanding of our country, our culture, and its founding principles.

Young America’s Foundation highly recommends service academies such as West Point and Annapolis for people interested in serving their country and receiving a top-notch education. However, these schools do not appear in the top ten. They are not liberal arts colleges but rather military colleges that follow a training model for future officers. There is nothing more honorable than serving our country, and we strongly encourage qualified students to consider this option.

This is not an exhaustive list of conservative institutions and should not be taken as such. Nor should it be the only source consulted in a college search. Young America’s Foundation recommends that this list serve as a starting point. Parents and students should seek several information sources, read admissions materials thoroughly, consult with friends and counselors, and make visits. Additionally, Young America’s Foundation is not a college rating organization; we decided to publish this list to help address a frequently asked question.

If you have another college you think should be on this list, please contact us. For more information, please contact the listed colleges, or call Young America’s Foundation at 800-USA-1776 or visit our website at www.yaf.org.

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Christendom College
Front Royal, Virginia

Christendom College in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia is a Catholic college with more than 400 undergraduates. Six majors and a master’s degree in theological studies are offered. All undergraduate programs begin with a core curriculum that includes study of Catholic doctrine, as well as philosophy, mathematics, and science.

The college was founded in 1977 by a group of Catholics concerned with the direction of higher education, especially within the Catholic church. “Only an education which integrates the truths of the Catholic faith throughout the curriculum is a fully Catholic education,” stated the founders. Led by Dr. Warren H. Carroll, the visionaries also envisioned how, “the only rightful purpose of education is to know the truth and to live by it. The purpose of Catholic education is therefore to learn and to live by the truth revealed by Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…”

The original vision of Christendom lives today through the institution’s devotion to Catholic theology and way of life. The core curriculum reinforces a Catholic worldview and teaches students to “distinguish truth from error or distortion, and then to communicate truth accurately, effectively, and convincingly to others.” Required courses include “Literature of Western Civilization,” “Introduction to Philosophy,” and “Fundamentals of Catholic Doctrine.”

For more information, contact Christendom College:

Christendom College Admissions
134 Christendom Drive
Front Royal, Virginia 22630
(800) 877-5456
www.christendom.edu

College of the Ozarks
Point Lookout, Missouri

The College of the Ozarks is a unique Christian college with about 1,400 students,
located in Point Lookout, Missouri. Dubbed as “Hard Work U.” by The Wall Street Journal, it has a special work-study program in which students work in lieu of paying tuition.

In addition to the 34 majors, 38 minors, and eight pre-professional programs it offers, the College of the Ozarks has an extensive character education program. As soon as students arrive for freshman orientation, they begin character education programs and abide by a dress code and an honor code.

A core liberal arts curriculum is required of all students and an optional character-based curriculum is available but not required. The general education curriculum is “purposefully complemented by an emphasis on the development of vital competencies,” such as writing, critical thinking, and interdisciplinary connections. Overall, the College of the Ozarks offers a robust array of programs and excellent opportunities to receive a well-rounded education.

One of the most distinctive features of the College of the Ozarks is the work-study program. All students work 15 hours per week instead of paying tuition. Many students find interesting jobs at the college such as working at the college’s own restaurant & lodge, in the print shop, as a campus landscaper, or on the farm. Two 40-hour weeks are also required during longer breaks, including Christmas or Easter.

For more information, contact College of the Ozarks:

College of the Ozarks Admissions
P.O. Box 17
Point Lookout, Missouri 65726
(800) 222-0525
www.cofo.edu

Franciscan University of Steubenville
Steubenville, Ohio

Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio is a dynamic Catholic university with 2,049 undergraduate students and 400 graduate students. Majors are available in 36 undergraduate subjects, and the college offers 33 undergraduate minors and seven graduate programs. As a devoutly Catholic institution, Franciscan lives by a conservative intellectual and social philosophy based on the strong liberal arts tradition and the teachings of the Catholic church.

Many of Franciscan’s programs are devoted to obtaining a deeper knowledge of the history, philosophy, and culture that shaped Western Civilization. For example, the university offers five specific programs in which students learn directly about Western Civilization and the role of the Catholic church in its formation. Franciscan also offers an honors program devoted to great books of the Western world.

Many faculty members have distinguished themselves in conservative scholarship. Political science professor Dr. Stephen Krason penned books about the founding fathers and the Constitution. Legal Studies program director Brian Scharnecchia authored a three-volume work outlining and advocating a conservative approach to family issues. The University sponsors the nation’s only human life studies minor, which teaches students to think, speak, and act intelligently on human life issues. Using reason and logic, the newly-established Institute of Bioethics at Franciscan University sponsors forums and provides advanced training for students on abortion, euthanasia, the institution of marriage and other issues that impact society.

Campus life at Franciscan is different than most colleges. Many students choose to live in a “household,” a mix between a fraternity and a faith-sharing group. Through sports, Bible study, prayer, and other social activities, households provide an essential bonding experience that parallels the mission of the university. A large portion of the student body’s free time is spent serving the community and attending Mass held on campus.

A factor that distinguishes Franciscan is the student body’s devotion to activism on traditional religious values. Public policy, civic participation, and conservative activism groups remain popular among students.

For more information, contact Franciscan University:
Franciscan University Admissions
1235 University Boulevard
Steubenville, Ohio 43952
(800) 783-6220
www.franciscan.edu

Grove City College
Grove City, Pennsylvania

Grove City College is a Christian college located north of Pittsburgh with 2,500 students. It offers 55 undergraduate majors. Its mission is to offer a rigorous academic education in a thoroughly Christian environment at an affordable cost.

As a liberal arts institution, its web site also states: “Rejecting relativism and secularism, [Grove City College] fosters intellectual, moral, spiritual, and social development consistent with a commitment to Christian truth, morals, and freedom.” The atmosphere created at Grove City College through its policies and programs encourages “the spiritual, moral, intellectual, and character development” of its students and staff.
Grove City has a commitment to conservative scholarship in various fields. For example, Dr. Paul Kengor (political science) has written several best-selling books and is an expert in the American presidency. Dr. Tracy Miller (economics) is an expert on international economics who has written on the subject. Many of Ludwig von Mises’ papers are housed and researched at the College. In addition, Grove City boasts a strong department of religion and a major in entrepreneurship. Engineering, education and business round out the most popular majors. Additionally, the Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College is a think tank offering annual conferences, noted speakers and a chance for faculty members to share their editorials in media outlets around the country.

Given its legal and financial independence from the federal government, Grove City College’s tuition fees are surprisingly low. Annual tuition is about half the national average, thanks to the college’s fiduciary responsibility and private loan program. As a result, Grove City has been called a “best value” time and time again.

For more information, contact Grove City College:
Grove City College
100 Campus Drive
Grove City, Pennsylvania 16127
(724) 458-2100
www.gcc.edu

Harding University
Searcy, Arkansas

Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas is a robust Christian college with 6,500 students. Ninety majors, thirteen pre-professional programs, and twelve graduate and professional degrees encompass the academic offerings. As the largest private university in Arkansas, Harding offers a well-rounded intellectual experience in a Biblical context. The Honors College also offers in-depth and supplementary study for accelerated students.

Majors from all programs are required to fulfill liberal arts requirements that include seven categories: spiritual and moral values, communications and critical thinking, the individual and social environment, the natural world, the creative spirit, the historical perspective, and global literacy. A moral code signed by all students creates an atmosphere where everyone is held to high standards.

Each year, Harding students participate in a variety of programs from the American Studies Institute, including the Distinguished Lecture Series. Young America’s Foundation is proud to co-sponsor several lectures each year that expose students to conservative ideas. Past speakers include Margaret Thatcher, John Ashcroft, William F. Buckley Jr., Sean Hannity, Zell Miller, Lech Walesa, and J.C. Watts.

Harding’s American Studies Institute puts a strong emphasis on its entrepreneurial development programs. For example, the Belden Center for Private Enterprise Education, led by noted scholar Dr. Don Diffine, educates students on the importance of freedom and private enterprise in relation to the success of business.

For more information, contact Harding University:
Harding University Admissions
915 E. Market Street
Searcy, Arkansas 72143
(501) 279-4000
www.harding.edu

Hillsdale College
Hillsdale, Michigan

Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan is a liberal arts college with 1,300
students. Offering 34 traditional majors, eight interdisciplinary majors, and nine pre-professional programs, Hillsdale consistently ranks highly nationwide in U.S. News & World Report, among other publications. Its core curriculum exemplifies the tradition of a classic liberal arts program. All students, regardless of major, are required to take courses in humanities, natural science, and social science during their first two years. Highly respected conservative professors teach at Hillsdale including Dr. Burt Folsom (history), Dr. Ivan Pongracic (economics), and Dr. Mickey Craig (political science).

Students at this southern Michigan campus hear from one of the largest and most distinguished lecture programs in the country. Hillsdale’s Center for Constructive Alternatives (CCA) has sponsored more than 1,100 speakers since 1971, including conservative luminaries such as Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and Walter Williams. Students are required to attend two hours of CCA seminars in order to graduate.

Independence is an important theme at Hillsdale. Upon its founding in 1844, it was the nation’s first college to prohibit discrimination based on race, sex, or religion in its charter. Ever since, the institution has not taken a penny from the federal government. When some students received federal loans in the 1970s, Hillsdale quickly reacted by maintaining independence and rejecting government quotas. Even given the absence of government funding, Hillsdale remains a great value because it continually provides privately funded financial aid packages.

Hillsdale provides students with a well-rounded education that focuses on liberty. Students learn what liberty means and the moral conditions of its preservation. They develop the skills to be productive citizens and the character to be good ones. The mission statement sums up the college well. It reads: “The College considers itself a trustee of modern man’s intellectual and spiritual inheritance from the Judeo-Christian faith and Greco-Roman culture, a heritage finding its clearest expression in the American experiment of self-government under law.”

For more information, contact Hillsdale College:
Hillsdale College Admissions
33 East College Street
Hillsdale, Michigan 49242
(517) 607-2327
www.hillsdale.edu

Indiana Wesleyan University
Marion, Indiana

Indiana Wesleyan University is a Christ-centered academic community located in Marion, Indiana. As Indiana’s largest private university in total enrollment, it boasts approximately 15,400 students. Despite record enrollment, IWU has been able to maintain a 16:1 student-to-faculty ratio for the 3,200 students on the main campus in Marion. Among the members of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities, the main organization of Evangelical schools of higher education in the U.S. and Canada, IWU has become its largest member with the Marion campus and at regional sites throughout Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.

The bachelor’s degree curriculum at IWU is centered on a core of several requirements, including studies in Biblical literature and world civilization. The university is also home to several prominent scholars in conservative and libertarian thought. IWU faculty members have terminal degrees from institutions as prestigious as Oxford University, Pepperdine University, University of Michigan, Virginia Law School, University of Texas-Austin, University of Chicago, The Ohio State University, and Indiana University.

Academic Convocation speakers have included Attorney General Ed Meese, M. Stanton Evans, and Dr. James Dobson. Noted authors highlighted in the curriculum include Friedman, Toqueville, Bastiat, Hayek, and a course that discusses Ronald Reagan’s autobiography, An American Life. In addition, the university has worked with student organizers to bring in Young America’s Foundation speakers including Dinesh D’Souza, Star Parker, and Oliver North.

Lifestyle expectations at IWU promote a Christian atmosphere on campus. The primary values center on “Christ likeness,” and include commitment, learning, serving, and stewardship. IWU is defined by producing “world changers” through an “integrated experience of intellectual challenge, spiritual growth, and leadership development.” All first-year students take a course called “Becoming World Changers,” which provides a common experience that directs students toward fulfillment of IWU’s mission.

For more information, contact Indiana Wesleyan University:
Indiana Wesleyan University Admissions
4201 South Washington Street
Marion, Indiana 46953
(866) 468-6498
www.indwes.edu

Liberty University
Lynchburg, Virginia

Liberty University, founded in 1971 by the Rev. Jerry Falwell, is located in Lynchburg, Virginia, and is the largest evangelical university in the world with more than 40,000 students enrolled in residential and online programs. Total enrollment for the 2008-2009 school year is expected to top out at 50,000. The chancellor of Liberty University is Jerry Falwell, Jr.

The mission of Liberty University is, “to develop Christ-centered men and women with the values, knowledge, and skills essential to impact tomorrow’s world.” A common motto of the late Rev. Jerry Falwell for Liberty University was, “If it’s Christian it should be better.”

In turn, Liberty offers 56 majors and 33 minors, as well as 92 graduate programs. Notable schools include the Liberty University School of Law, the Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, and the Jesse Helms School of Government.

Liberty University students are known for their theologically, socially, and fiscally conservative views on issues like “…an absolute repudiation of ‘political correctness,’ a strong commitment to political conservatism, total rejection of socialism, and firm support for America’s economic system of free enterprise,” among other things. This was recently evidenced during the 2008 presidential election, where more than 80% of the Liberty University student body was registered to vote, the university closed for election day, bussed students to the polling places, and garnered international media attention (including a front page article in the Washington Post) for their trendsetting civic involvement.

Liberty’s faculty is committed to the universities Christian worldview and to furthering the mission of the University, and each faculty member begins their classes in prayer and adheres to the university doctrinal statement.

The Christian experience at Liberty does not stop with the classroom. Dormitories are supervised by a small army of “student leaders” who work to maintain the spiritual and social health of the halls. Liberty mentors one student leader for every five residential students, assuring that no single student is left without adequate social, spiritual, and academic support.

The thrice-weekly, university-wide chapel service plays hosts to 60 national leaders each school year. It is considered to be a required stop on the national, conservative campaign trail.

The university has gathered dozens of “Big South Conference Championships” through the 17 NCAA Division 1 sports offered at Liberty, has a national champion debate team, Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) programs, and hosts numerous special conferences devoted to Biblical and contemporary issues.

Liberty University Online is considered among the nation’s most respected, collegiate Distance Learning Programs (www.luonline.com). Liberty University also offers a residential and online K-12 program via Liberty Christian Academy and Liberty University Online Academy (www.libertyonlineacademy.com).

For more information, contact Liberty University:
Liberty University Admissions
1971 University Boulevard
Lynchburg, Virginia 24502
(434) 582-2000
www.liberty.edu

St. Vincent College
Latrobe, Pennsylvania

St. Vincent College is a traditional Catholic college in rural Pennsylvania, just outside Pittsburgh. With almost 1,700 students, it offers a comprehensive liberal arts program in the Benedictine tradition.

Archabbot Wimmer, the founder of St. Vincent College, noted that students should learn “first what is necessary, then what is useful, and finally what is beautiful and will contribute to their refinement.” The college continues that vision with a strong core curriculum promoting hard work and the study of philosophy. In addition, St. Vincent boasts a strong writing program and is committed to theology, mathematics, and the natural sciences in the core curriculum.

The student life at St. Vincent is unique given its proximity to the monastery and influence of the Benedictine community. The college is committed to service learning and volunteering. Everyone in the first-year class participates in an orientation community service event. There is a very active campus ministry, and President Jim Towey takes a service group of 12 students each year to serve in Mother Theresa’s mission in Calcutta.

The Alex G. McKenna School of Economics and Government highlights conservative ideas through its programs including the Center for Political and Economic Thought, where internationally recognized guests interact with students and faculty through lectures and events. A focus on philosophy and principles instead of current events and polling data, especially in political science, allows students to learn more deeply about the importance of Western civilization.

For more information, please contact St. Vincent College:

St. Vincent College Admissions
300 Fraser Purchase Road
Latrobe, Pennsylvania 15650
(724) 537-4540
www.stvincent.edu

Thomas Aquinas College
Santa Paula, California

Thomas Aquinas College is a small Catholic college located in southern California with
351 students. No majors or minors are offered since all students participate in the prescribed great books curriculum. The somewhat secluded location in the hills of rural southern California provides a metaphor for the unique nature of this fine institution.

The “great books” of Western civilization comprise the entire curriculum of Thomas Aquinas College, and all students graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts. Works on many subjects are included in the program, including music, mathematics, and science as well as philosophy, language, and theology. Faculty members serve less as lecturers and more as facilitators using the Socratic method. Catholic faculty members publicly take the Oath of Fidelity and make a Profession of Faith at the beginning of their terms in office.

Campus life at Thomas Aquinas follows with traditional Catholic morality and teaching, and there are many groups in which students participate. For example, the St. Genesius Players is a drama group that puts on productions, the choir often performs, and the “bushwhackers” maintain local trails and organize hiking trips. Student groups are also involved with activism on issues related to traditional religious values.

For more information, please contact Thomas Aquinas College:

Thomas Aquinas College Admissions
10000 North Ojai Road
Santa Paula, California 93060
(800) 634-9797
www.thomasaquinas.edu

Honorable mentions:
Brigham Young University
Patrick Henry College
Regent University
The King’s College
Thomas More College

Christian Formation Is The Very Opposite Of Indoctrination

Richard Dawkins’s latest outburst reveal a lack of understanding about religion

From the Catholic Herald (UK)
By Francis Phillips

Dawkins: not keen on religion

Richard Dawkins, evolutionary biologist and the enfant terrible of religion, is at it again. According to a report in the Daily Telegraph for Monday 22 April, in a speech at the Chipping Norton Literary festival last weekend he told his listeners that he was “passionately against” the teaching of religion as fact. “I’m not against the teaching of religion” he stated; apparently what he dislikes intensely is “the indoctrination of religion”. The good professor thinks that “What a child should be taught is that religion exists; that some people believe this and some people believe that. What a child should never be taught is that you are a Catholic or Muslim child, therefore this is what you believe. That’s child abuse.”

He went on to say that “there is a distinction between fact and fiction”, agreeing that “there is value in teaching children about religion. You cannot really appreciate a lot of literature without knowing about religion. But we must not indoctrinate our children.”

I understand that Dawkins is a very good scientist. Scientists deal in facts as he likes to put it; they might start with a hypothesis which they then test, making experiments that lead to certain conclusions; these can be charted, measured, examined and the results laid out. Religious truths aren’t like that; you don’t “measure” the activity of prayer or its results – though you can witness how religious belief can change a person’s life for the better. It provides an inner light, or conscience (not to be demonstrated in a test tube) that informs moral decisions and behaviour. In other words, the inward life of faith and the actions that flow from it are simply of a different order from the intellectual processes involved in the study of science. They are not “fictions” merely because they don’t pass the laws of scientific scrutiny.

It has been said that Margaret Thatcher’s early training in chemistry gave her a love of facts. This might be true; but as Damian Thompson’s blog post on her Christian faith argues, her actions were also influenced by the Methodism of her childhood: for her, faith meant you should act in a certain way; Christian charity had to be seen in action, in acts of kindness towards others. Thatcher had to attend the Grantham Methodist chapel three times on a Sunday; she also accompanied her father during his lay-preaching activities. Certainly, in the Roberts household you could not have been a freethinker.

Dawkins would see all this as “indoctrination.” I would rather see it, not unlike in some ways the Catholic childhood I experienced, with its regular Mass-going, Benediction and the celebration of liturgical feasts, as parents wanting to impart to their child’s imagination and understanding the consciousness of a wise and loving creator personified in the Gospels by the life of Jesus. As you grow older, you either incorporate these realities and the doctrines that flow from them into your adult intelligence and understanding – or you are free to reject them.

“Indoctrination”, as Dawkins should know (if he were not so exercised by his antagonism towards religion and the publicity he receives whenever he pronounces on the subject) is not the same as forming a child’s mind and heart towards spiritual truths that will, one hopes, help to make him a better, more loving and self-sacrificial person; it is to brainwash him with a particular political ideology such as is evident in North Korea today or which was practised in Russia under the Soviet system. Indeed, indoctrination is the antithesis of Christian formation; it leads the mind, not to wonder, mystery, beauty or love, but to rigidity, mindless control, propaganda and slogans of hatred towards one’s enemies.

Thatcher Aide: America Would Be Better Off If Britain Left EU

 

The Heritage Foundation's Nile Gardiner speaks at David Campbell Bannerman's alternatives to EU conference on February 18th 2015.

From Breitbart

By Andre Walker

The Washington-based foreign affairs analyst and political commentator, Nile Gardiner has called for the British public to ignore both Downing Street and the White House by backing the UKs departure from the EU.

 

The former aide to Margaret Thatcher made the call in a video to be shown at today’s conference on Brexit held in London. Gardiner explains the need to unite the English speaking world, and for America to “stand with the British people”.

Today’s conference is being hosted by David Campbell-Bannerman MEP and includes speakers from a range of political parties.

Ronald Reagan Statue to be Unveiled in London's Grosvenor Square

A statue of Ronald Reagan is to be unveiled in London's Grosvenor Square, as part of a year of celebrations to mark the 100th birthday of the former US president.

From The Telegraph

By Harriet Alexander

The 10 foot bronze will be positioned on a pedestal close to the American Embassy, and stand alongside existing statues of two other 20th Century US leaders, Dwight Eisenhower and Franklin D Roosevelt. The Embassy is moving to a new location next year, but the statues will remain in Mayfair.

With the unveiling scheduled for July 4, US Independence Day, the Ronald Reagan Foundation has invited Margaret Thatcher and David Cameron to attend the ceremony.

Condoleezza Rice, the former US secretary of state who worked for the Pentagon during Mr Reagan's presidency, will represent Nancy Reagan, 89, who will be following proceedings from her Californian home.

"President Reagan always referred to the United States' special relationship with Great Britain, especially his personal friendship with Baroness Thatcher," said Rob Bauer, director of external affairs for the Ronald Reagan Foundation.
 

"The Reagan Foundation commissioned the statue to honour that partnership and to celebrate an enduring alliance."

Mr Reagan, who was US president between 1981 and 1989, died in 2004 at the age of 93.

The statue is to be created by Chas Fagan, the American sculptor who created a likeness of Mr Reagan for the Capitol Rotunda in the US Congress.

The Foundation, which is funding the work, hopes that the statue will have as much impact as the 2009 US version.

Mrs Reagan cried as the image was revealed. She said: "This statue is a wonderful likeness of Ronnie. He would be so proud." 

 

 

Thatcher Finds a Permanent Home at No 10: First Look at the £100,000 Portrait Brown Ordered as a Lasting Tribute

From The Mail on Sunday
By Simon Walters

A portrait of Margaret Thatcher, commissioned by Gordon Brown as his personal tribute to her achievements, is to be unveiled in Downing Street next month.

The stunning work by Richard Stone, one of the world’s leading portrait artists, is revealed for the first time today by The Mail on Sunday.

Read the rest of this entry >>

Thatcherite Wins Backing for Reagan Statue in London

From The Times
By Philippe Naughton

The former US ambassador apparently thought it a good idea. His replacement, when Barack Obama eventually names him, may not be so keen.

An interior designer from Chelsea who is a leading light in the Thatcherite Conservative Way Forward group has won approval for a statue of the great American conservative Ronald Reagan to be erected outside the US Embassy in London. The project was given the nod on Thursday night by Westminster City Council’s planning sub-committee in a break with its policy of allowing memorials only to people who have been dead for at least ten years. The former US President died in 2004 aged 93.

The 10ft bronze statue of the man hailed by Margaret Thatcher for winning the Cold War without firing a shot will be placed on a 6ft plinth of Portland stone outside the embassy building in Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, near an existing statue of Dwight D Eisenhower, the war hero President, unveiled by Mrs Thatcher in 1989.

The architects behind the project, the same firm responsible for the statues of Nelson Mandela in Parliament Square and the Queen Mother near Buckingham Palace, say that it was enthusiastically backed by the former ambassador, Robert Tuttle, who left office in February. It was also supported by the Ronald Reagan Foundation in California, which chose the sculptor Chas Fagan to create the statue.

Unsurprisingly, perhaps, the current inhabitants of the embassy — who are still waiting for President Obama to confirm Mr Tuttle’s replacement — appear less keen to have a larger-than-life statue of the darling of the American Right on their doorstep.

“This is not something that we have requested oractively tried to get brought about,” an embassy spokesman said yesterday. “We’re happy to have our presidents honoured but this statue was not a US Government initiative.” Asked whether the mission would take the statue with it when it leaves Grosvenor Square for its new head-quarters in Nine Elms, south of the Thames, he replied: “It’s not our statue.”

Read the rest of this entry >>

Margaret Thatcher on Leadership: Lessons for American Conservatives Today

Mandela, Churchill and the War for the Future

By Patrick J. Buchanan

By their heroes shall you know them.

In his eulogy, President Obama put Nelson Mandela in the company of three other heroes: Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Abraham Lincoln.

What did these men have in common? Three were assassinated, and all four are icons of resistance to white rule over peoples of color.

Lincoln waged the bloodiest war in American history that ended slavery. Gandhi advanced the end of British rule in India. King led the civil rights struggle that buried Jim Crow. Mandela was the leader of the revolution that overthrew apartheid.

Obama's heroes testify to his belief that the great moral struggle of the age is the struggle for racial equality.

For the neocons, the greatest man was Winston Churchill, because he stood up, almost alone, to the great evil of the age -- Nazism.

Thus, to neocons, Munich was the great betrayal because it was there that Neville Chamberlain, rather than defy Hitler, agreed to the return of the Sudeten Germans to German rule. [To the Old Right, Yalta, where Churchill and FDR ceded Eastern Europe to Stalin, a monster as evil and more menacing than Hitler, was the greatest betrayal.]

But what did Churchill think of Obama's hero Gandhi?

"It is alarming and nauseating to see Mr. Gandhi, a seditious Middle Temple lawyer, now posing as a fakir of a type well known in the east, striding half naked up the steps of the Viceregal Palace ... to parlay on equal terms with the representative of the Emperor-King."

What did Churchill think of ending Western white rule of peoples of color? Here he is in 1937:

"I do not admit ... that a great wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America or the black people of Australia ... by the fact that a stronger race, a higher grade race ... has come in and taken its place."

Here is Churchill during World War II:

"I have not become the King's first minister in order to preside over the liquidation of the British Empire."

In short, Dunkirk defiance aside, Churchill's convictions about the superiority of some races and civilizations, and their inherent right to rule what Kipling called "the lesser breeds without the law," was and is the antithesis of what Obama believes.

Any wonder Obama shipped that bust of Churchill that "W" kept in the Oval Office back to the British embassy. Any surprise Obama failed to show up at the funeral of Margaret Thatcher, a Churchillian who sent the fleet to retake the Falkland Islands from Argentina.

The point: Obama's vision of an ideal world and Churchill's are irreconcilable.
Second, not only is Churchill dead, his empire is dead, his world is dead, and his ideas on superior races and civilizations would be censured and censored if spoken in any international forum.

We are in Obama's world now. It is a world where not only are all races, religions and civilizations equal, but within nations the greater the diversity of races, religions, cultures and ethnic groups the better.

And not only should all have equal rights, but more equal rewards.

Inequality equals injustice. Income inequality is the new enemy.

But though Obama's world is today, it is looking less like tomorrow.

Across the Middle East and Africa, Islamists are murdering and persecuting Christians as they do not regard Christianity as equal.

Ethnonationalism unites Chinese against Tibetans and Uighurs and propels a confrontation with the Japanese who have never been forgiven for the Rape of Nanking.

Vladimir Putin is in the crosshairs of Western secularists for seeking to revive and restore Orthodox Christianity and its moral precepts to primacy in Russian law, which likely means no Gay Pride parades in Red Square any time soon.

In a Christmas card to this writer, the Washington Post's Harold Meyerson brings up my late father's support of Spain's Gen. Francisco Franco -- to reveal the son's suspect motives.

In a civil war from 1936-1939, Franco ran off a Christophobic regime of Socialists, Stalinists and Trotskyists as their comrades of the Abraham Lincoln Battalion got waxed at Jarama River and ended up on the Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations.

Sorry about that, Harold.

Across Europe, globalism and transnationalism, as represented by the eurozone and EU, seem in retreat, as nationalism is resurgent. Now it is the UKIP, a new British independence party, which seeks to secede from the EU that is surging -- at the expense of the Tories.

Let France be France! Let Britain be Britain! Let Scotland be Scotland! These are the cries coming from the hearts of Europeans rejecting mass immigration and the cacophonous madness of multiculturalism.

All men may be equal in rights. But most prefer their own faith, country, culture, civilization, and kind. They cherish and wish to maintain their own unique and separate identities. They do not want to disappear into some great amalgam of the New World Order.

Whether globalism or nationalism prevails, the big battle is coming.

Governor Jan Brewer: The Anti-RINO

It's possible that no American Governor has ever tackled an economic, social and political crisis as daunting as that confronting Arizona's Governor Jan Brewer. She has shown leadership, grit, determination, and courage.

Brewer has not relished crisis as an opportunity to impose an alien and unwanted ideology, but seeks instead to serve the best interests and immediate needs of those who elected her. The more we learn about Governor Brewer, the more we are convinced that in this gutsy lady, America has found its Margaret Thatcher.

David Cameron's Tribute to Margaret Thatcher in the House of Commons

"She made our country great again."

Dr. Paul Kengor: Shirley Temple's America

I learned only yesterday that Shirley Temple, the iconic child actress, died earlier this week at age 85. Reports on her death were easy to miss. I went through my usual scan of various websites and saw nothing. I fortunately caught a buried “Shirley Temple, R.I.P.” by a writer at a political website.

I was dismayed by the sparse reaction to the loss of this woman who lived a great American life. Had Shirley Temple died 50 years ago, or even 30 years ago, the country would have stopped. People everywhere would have paused to give Temple her due. It would have been the lead in every newspaper.

Irish Miracle

From The Wall Street Journal
By Norman Stone

The Irish find themselves for the first time ever being showered with compliments from the English. This writer -- a Scot -- does not really approve of Ireland's independence. They are us, bless them, and their independence has been a bore, a little bit like East Timor's. Friends, family, writers -- all belong to an Ireland that's greater than the sum of its parts.

Now that greatness has been manifested. The Irish have done a miracle and wrecked the latest project of the European Union, in a referendum where general cussedness has been expressed. The proposed changes to the way Europe works amount to a constitution, but the powers-that-be tried to smuggle it through as a treaty. The British were supposed to have a referendum as well but since everyone knows that Europe is just not a popular cause, the government weaseled out of one. The French and Dutch did hold referendums three years back and the formal constitution was turned down.

The Europeans -- at any rate the official classes -- would dearly love to project themselves as a Great Power, American-fashion, and in 2004 produced a constitution. It was prepared in an extraordinarily clumsy way, with vast gatherings presided over by the former French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, in a style that Margaret Thatcher found profoundly irritating ("Olympian without being patrician"). The best constitutions either do not exist, as with England, or they are short, as with 1787 in Philadelphia. The Germans had a shot at a constitution in 1848 and invited all their professor doctor doctors to have a say. There are few occasions to bless the arrival of the Prussian army and that was one: The beards were bayoneted.

You might even make a rule about this: The longer the constitution, the shorter its life. The Weimar Republic is a classic case, and it taught the West Germans in 1949 what not to do in such documents; the German basic law is almost a model. The other rule is of course not to let professors of political science anywhere near such documents.

The European constitution is a lengthy and unreadable one because so many different interests had to be squared. Thus for instance, toward the end of the near-five-hundred page effort, the "Sami" or, as they used to be called, Lapps get a look-in.

Now there was a certain obvious sense in getting the European institutions to work better. They go back 50 years or so, and even the present flag is vaguely copied from the banner of the Coal and Steel Community in 1951; the assembly and the court were thought up then, and maybe someone even conceived of an anthem. The founder, Jean Monnet, found it insufferably boring, and you could even make a case that the creative element in Europe was America. The first suggestion of a common European currency came from the deputy secretary general of the Marshall Plan.

The European institutions worked tolerably for a time with six member states, but even then they were not brilliant. They were secretive and lofty, in that French technocratic style that so irritates others, and the best monument to them is the Common Agricultural Policy, born in 1962 and since then notorious for corruption and unreformability. The institutions were again not very efficient when there were only nine members, in the seventies, and Mr. Giscard d'Estaing made another of his blunders when he tried to make the European cause more popular by arranging for the Community to have a popularly elected parliament. Any journalist with a taste for mockery had a wonderful time in the European Parliament, self-important and powerless.

Now, with 27 member states, there is an obvious need to change the rules, and even for allowing national vetoes to be lifted. One absurd example: Greek Cyprus was let in as a member and now has the power to disrupt Europe's negotiations with Turkey, a country 40 times larger, and in a hugely strategic position. It is also the case, under present rules, that the presidency of the Union shifts every six months round capitals -- Paris one minute, Riga or even Valetta in Malta the next. Those small states do not have the wherewithal for the job, and in some cases have appeared ridiculous. Thus, over the Yugoslav crisis some 16 years back, which was billed to be "the hour of Europe," a Mr. Poos appeared from Luxembourg and lectured the Slovenes as to how they had no right to be nationalistic -- Luxembourg, beside which Slovenia looks positively elephantine. Meanwhile, the Germans have become the most important power in the east and south, and they are also the paymasters.

It is all a strange echo of the world of 1918, after Czarist Russia had collapsed, and various new states emerged -- the Ukraine especially, but also the Baltic republics including Finland. Back then the Germans were intent on setting up a satellite empire. In Hitler's time a quarter-century later this was even more the case, with Slovakia and Croatia (and even, though in a muddled way, Kosovo) emerging as Nazi puppet states. Nowadays, the lines on the map can be strangely similar to those of Hitler's day. But of course we are dealing with an altogether different Germany -- a Germany which, for a long time, simply did not want to have a foreign policy. One foreign minister, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, once rejected a campaign for Germany to have a seat on the U.N. Security Council with the remark that it would be like giving a liqueur chocolate to an alcoholic.

This new peaceful Germany is one that the Anglo-Saxons always wanted to see -- arguably America's greatest creation, bar Japan -- and she has to deal with big problems -- the Balkans, Russia and the future of Turkey's relationship with Europe. Why make these matters dependent upon the whims of little local politicians in Greek Cyprus or wherever?

Now the Irish, with a referendum, express the general discontent and boredom that the European Union seems to inspire almost everywhere. Some commentators have responded more or less with Bertolt Brecht's line about the East German workers' uprising in 1953: If the people act against the will of the government, then perhaps the government should dissolve the people and elect another in their place. The German foreign minister even said that the Irish could just drop out of the Union for a bit -- an absurd remark.

There have been other lofty tickings-off: How could the Irish be so ungrateful, given what Europe had done for them? But of course the Irish might not see things that way. For instance, free movement of goods and people is not always positive. There has been a crime wave associated with the shift of East European immigrants. Then again, not everyone benefits from the huge rise in property prices which, rightly or wrongly, people associate with the euro; quite the contrary, life becomes very difficult for the young if they do not have parents who can support them. One nasty phenomenon in Spain or Ireland is that the young have to live with their parents and one sign of this is the used contraceptive in the public parks. So it is not altogether surprising that great masses of Irish voters voted against a "Europe" with which they cannot identify.

The sad thing is that Europe deserves better. It is associated with the recovery of a decent Germany, escaping from her awful past and now co-existing on civilized terms with Czechs and Poles and French. Yes, there should have been some briefly worded document to reform the creaking institutions of Europe. But true to form the Europeans mismanaged the entire affair. Having had the original constitution turned down, they should simply have lived with the consequences. Instead, they have behaved in a weaseling and dishonest way that would never have occurred to the great 1950s architects of Europe, men with culture, honesty and a sense of where their extraordinary civilization had gone wrong. Thank God for the Irish.

Mr. Stone is a professor of international relations at Bilking University in Ankara and author of "World War I: A Short History," forthcoming in paperback from Basic Books.

The Dynamic, Missionary, ‘Evangelical’ Church of Today is a World Away from Unthinking Pre-Vatican II Complacency

What John Allen describes as ‘Evangelical Catholicism’ gives me hope for the future

Pilgrims at the World Youth Day closing Mass (Photo: CNS)

From The Catholic Herald (UK)

By Francis Phillips

A friend has forwarded to me an interesting blog, dated September 28, by Fr Stephen Wang of the Westminster diocese. Entitled “Liberal, conservative, progressive, traditionalist: where is the Church going?” it throws open a debate about an article written by John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter at the conclusion to World Youth Day.

Peggy Noonan: Ronald Reagan at 100

Being a good man helped him become a great one.

From The Wall Street Journal
By Peggy Noonan

At the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, in the foothills of the Santa Susana Mountain Range where old Hollywood directors shot Westerns, they will mark Sunday’s centenary of Reagan’s birth with events and speeches geared toward Monday’s opening of a rethought and renovated museum aimed at making his presidency more accessible to scholars and vividly available to the public. Fifty percent of the artifacts, officials note, have never been shown before—essays and short stories Reagan wrote in high school and college, the suit he wore the day he was shot, the condolence book signed by world leaders at his funeral. (Margaret Thatcher: “Well done, Thou good and faithful servant.”)

Much recently has been written about who he was—a good man who became a great president—but recent conversations about Reagan have me pondering some things he was not.

He wasn’t, for instance, sentimental, though he’s often thought of that way. His nature was marked by a characterological sweetness, and his impulse was to be kind and generous. (His daughter Patti Davis captured this last week in a beautifully remembered essay for Time.) But he wasn’t sentimental about people and events, or about history. Underlying all was a deep and natural skepticism. That, in a way, is why he was conservative. “If men were angels.” They are not, so we must limit the governmental power they might wield. But his skepticism didn’t leave him down. It left him laughing at the human condition, and at himself. Jim Baker, his first and great chief of staff, and his friend, remembered the other day the atmosphere of merriness around Reagan, the constant flow of humor.

US Economy Predicted to Collapse Under Socialism

From OneNewsNow
By Pete Chagnon

A U.K. official says his predictions of economic collapse are coming to pass.

The Telegraph is reporting that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has brought the country to the brink of bankruptcy. Christopher Monckton, the Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, agrees. He says the Labor Party's continual borrowing for social programs is to blame.

"Every Labor government there has ever been from 1926 to the present day has always ended in exactly the same way because they essentially try to run a communist financial system," he contends, "and it doesn't work any better here than it worked in the Soviet Union."

He adds that hope does not trump experience. "We have politicians who simply haven't had enough experience in the real world before going into politics to know how things run, to know how many beans make five," Monckton notes.

Monckton says U.K. markets are starting to realize that tax revenue is collapsing, which in turn makes investment in debt undesirable.

"So you've got government revenues collapsing and government expenditures rocketing because not only do they have to pay the cost of unemployment and other very lavish benefits for people who are no longer employed," he points out, "they're also having to pay eye-wateringly large sums to bail out the banks whom overspending and over-regulation drove under."

He believes the U.S. is poised for the same collapse should they hold fast to a doctrine of socialism.

"She is a large, and for the time being, a relatively prosperous nation, and I think that the likelihood I'm afraid is that Obama is going to change that for the worse. He has all the kindliness intentions I have no doubt; the left usually do," he adds. "They would love to have motherhood and apple pie, as would we all. But they are so busy working out how to distribute the apple pie, that they never think about the people who are going to have to roll up their sleeves and bake it. And that's the difficulty with socialism. It is all about redistribution and not about generation of wealth."

Monckton says both the U.K. and the U.S. need to return to Margaret Thatcher's "handbag economics," or living within a person's means.

"What it meant was that you always knew you had enough to buy your baked beans because you were careful with your money," he concludes. "And if the government is careful with the people's money, then the people can prosper."

Margaret Thatcher & Ronald Reagan: A Very Special Relationship Ep.2

Larry Arnn: "Remembering Margaret Thatcher"

Winston Churchill Beats Jobs as CEO's Most Admired Leader

Former British prime minister Winston Churchill was known for his uncompromising leadership style, as well as his penchant for cigars.

Wartime prime minister Winston Churchill has topped a poll of leaders most admired by chief executives, edging out Steve Jobs and Nelson Mandela. 
 
The survey of some 1,300 business leaders, carried out by financial services giant PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), saw "Iron Lady'' Margaret Thatcher as the only woman in the top ten, at seventh.

Jobs was second on the list and fellow business tycoon Jack Welch, who led General Electric for 20 years, came in fifth.

Read more at All News Australia >>

Daniel Hannan: The Free World Has Lost Its Leader

The free world has lost its leader. In the absence of a vigorous American foreign policy, Canada's Stephen Harper supplied his own. For the better part of a decade, he energetically championed Western interests. He was serious about fighting terrorism, keen on free trade and prepared to deploy proportionate force in defense of freedom.

His defeat in last week's Canadian general election will be felt far beyond that sparse, chilly country. When other Western leaders fretted about Israel's 2006 Lebanon war, he gave his full backing to the Jewish state. When others dithered over Putin's invasion of Ukraine, he led international condemnation. Obliged to meet Vladimir Putin at a summit meeting, he was admirably curt: "I guess I'll shake your hand, but I have only one thing to say to you: Get out of Ukraine."