ArcaMax

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg once expressed great confidence about his eternal destiny, remarking that he had earned his place in heaven. That sentiment is not uncommon in public life. Achievement, influence, philanthropy or power can quietly become the measuring sticks by which we assess ourselves -- and others -- when we ...Read more

The Christmas season is a time to reflect on what we have, which includes the kind of society that has made countless blessings possible. The warmth, security and generosity that many Americans experience during the holidays are not accidents or pure gifts of nature. In their tangible sense, they are the products of a long and extraordinary ...Read more

There is a doctrine in Catholicism that not all souls are prepared for heaven at death, and that some must undergo a spiritual purification in a state or location that the Catholic Church calls "Purgatory."

There are a number of biblical references that undergird the notion of Purgatory, including in the Old Testament. In 2 Maccabees 12:46, ...Read more

ATTENTION 'ERICK ERICKSON' EDITORS: THIS COLUMN IS BEING TRANSMITTED EARLY ON ACCOUNT OF THE HOLIDAY. THANK YOU. -- CREATORS

----

Let There Be Light

"Let there be light," said the voice opening scripture eons before he cried out, pushed out of his mother's womb. The light bringer brought light into the world in the middle of the dark of night...Read more

We all know that God works in mysterious ways.

Recently, I was deeply moved at a theatrical production of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." This is the famous and popular tale of the transformation and redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge from a rasping, grasping old miser into a lovable, generous old man who, late in life, becomes determined to ...Read more

With America's 250th birthday as an independent nation coming up in 2026, the big debate on the right this season about what it means to be an American couldn't be more timely.

Vice President JD Vance and Vivek Ramaswamy -- the 2024 presidential aspirant who hopes to be elected Ohio governor next year -- have both weighed in.

The two ...Read more

Rep. Elise Stefanik, Republican candidate running to unseat New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, announced she is pulling out of the race and will not seek reelection for her congressional seat, in which she is now serving her sixth term.

It's been a rough couple years for Stefanik.

After President Donald Trump's reelection, she was named ...Read more

People criticize capitalism. A recent Axios-Generation poll says, "College students prefer socialism to capitalism."

Why?

Because they believe absurd myths. Like the claim that the Soviet Union "wasn't real socialism."

Socialism guru Noam Chomsky tells students that. He says the Soviet Union "was about as remote from socialism as you could ...Read more

We were at my brother's residence in San Mateo County, just south of San Francisco -- watching the college football playoffs -- when my sister, who lives in San Francisco's Richmond District, where I was planning on spending the night, texted us to let us know that the power was out in her neighborhood.

Using our cellphones to do some quick ...Read more

CBS "60 Minutes" correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi raged against the network's Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss when she delayed her story on how the Trump administration deported illegal immigrants from Venezuela to a "notorious" prison in El Salvador. Weiss wanted more reporting and more rebuttal from the Trump administration in it.

"If the ...Read more

As I child I hated the word.

"Wait," my mother would say.

"Just wait," my father would echo.

"Put the present back," my grandmother would tell me. "You have to learn to wait for Christmas, sonny boy."

And I would reluctantly place the present back beneath the Christmas tree, eyeing my slight, careful, minimal but oh so ...Read more

S.E. Cupp is on vacation for the holidays. We substituted a column by Cal Thomas today for immediate release ahead of the holiday.

©2025 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

EXCLUSIVE -- In the final weeks of the 2024 presidential election, then-candidate Donald Trump was doing nonstop rallies, many of them outdoors despite an assassination attempt on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania, that left him bloodied after a bullet struck his ear.

The rallies felt more like festivals than political events, with crowds ...Read more

I've been shocked that Americans are in such a grumpy mood as reflected in all the public opinion polls.

What a paradox: At the same time, we have peace and prosperity, including more income, more wealth, more of almost everything that we want to buy (yes, except for housing), Americans seem to think we have an "affordability crisis." In 2025 ...Read more

For elements of the anti-Israel right, it's a time when everything old is becoming new again.

So, a half-century-old theory that the Jewish state deliberately attacked the USS Liberty during the Six-Day War has renewed currency.

Conspiratorial-minded influencers hostile to Israel like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens have promoted the notion...Read more

If you aren't a Christian, the Christmas story can seem as far-fetched as Santa Claus.

Billions of people will celebrate Christmas this Thursday. It's much more than a reason to decorate and spoil your kids or grandkids. It celebrates the birth of Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem to Mary and his earthly father, Joseph.

Jesus was no ordinary ...Read more