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Liberalism, the American Right, and the Place of Love in Politics

May 5th, 2020 | 20 min read

By Jake Meador

The debate about the common good currently roiling American conservatism is not a new one. In the 1960s it vexed National Review contributors, with William F. Buckley dismissing Pope John XXIII’s encyclical on social progress “Mater et Magistra,” with a laughing “mater si, magistra no,” rebuttal. The church provided spiritual instruction, certainly, but when she tried to stray into magisterial questions in hopes of imposing a Christian conception of civil health, Buckley said “nein.” 

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Jake Meador

Jake Meador is the editor-in-chief of Mere Orthodoxy. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Commonweal, First Things, Books & Culture, National Review, Comment, Books & Culture, and Christianity Today. He is a contributing editor with Plough and a contributing writer at the Dispatch. He lives in his hometown of Lincoln, NE with his wife and four children.

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