This first-ever interdisciplinary study of woman as prophet shows that, in these troubling times, ordinary women-especially Christian women-need to function as prophets by proclaiming, in word and deed, the indispensability of lovingly seeking the welfare of others. More specifically, social science shows that the person-centered love prophesied by women prophets is able to meet interpersonal challenges within the home and world, while philosophy and theology establish that women are able to excel as prophets due to the virtuous dispositions inculcated by femininity, the choice to be caring, a God-centered spirituality, and a pro-life humanitarian/personalist feminism that welcomes male collaborators. Facilitating the ability of Christian women to prophesy love are Baptismal graces, Thomistic virtues, and a much needed prophetic Marian ecclesiology based on what John Paul II calls the "prophetism of femininity." These interdisciplinary findings provide an essential resource for educators and students of humanity, the theology of women, and evangelization. These findings emerge, first, from an investigation into the cognitive and ontological underpinnings of what John Paul II called the "feminine genius." A second set of findings emerges from exploring the prophetic dimensions of the feminine genius, secular feminism's need to adopt the insights of Christianity, and the ability of femininity's prophetism to recast both femininity and feminism as Marian prophecies. A third set of findings arises from analyzing the spirituality of women prophets within the Christian tradition by considering the conditions necessary for prophesying, explicating requisite Thomistic virtues, and delving into the spirituality of Hildegard, Catherine of Siena, Julian of Norwich, and Teresa of Avila. A fourth set of findings arises from innovative studies of polarization, secularization, lust, romantic love, the conditions whereby mothers with careers can flourish, and the ability of nuns to combat racism in a small Midwestern town. Overall, these interdisciplinary investigations explicate the theology of women and show that women who prophesy love, either in the order of grace or nature, can help heal lives, families, and culture.

In this magisterial work, leading cultural critic Mary Eberstadt delivers a powerful new theory about the decline of religion in the Western world. The conventional wisdom is that the West first experienced religious decline, followed by the decline of the family. Eberstadt turns this standard account on its head. Marshalling an impressive array of research, from fascinating historical data on family decline in pre-Revolutionary France to contemporary popular culture both in the United States and Europe, Eberstadt shows that the reverse has also been true: the undermining of the family has further undermined Christianity itself. Drawing on sociology, history, demography, theology, literature, and many other sources, Eberstadt shows that family decline and religious decline have gone hand in hand in the Western world in a way that has not been understood before--that they are, as she puts it in a striking new image summarizing the book's thesis, "the double helix of society, each dependent on the strength of the other for successful reproduction." In sobering final chapters, Eberstadt then lays out the enormous ramifications of the mutual demise of family and faith in the West. While it is fashionable in some circles to applaud the decline both of religion and the nuclear family, there are, as Eberstadt reveals, enormous social, economic, civic, and other costs attendant on both declines. Her conclusion considers this tantalizing question: whether the economic and demographic crisis now roiling Europe and spreading to America will have the inadvertent result of reviving the family as the most viable alternative to the failed welfare state--fallout that could also lay the groundwork for a religious revival as well. "How the West Really Lost God" is both a startlingly original account of how secularization happens and a sweeping brief about why everyone should care. A book written for agnostics as well as believers, atheists as well as "none of the above," it will permanently change the way every reader understands the two institutions that have hitherto undergirded Western civilization as we know it--family and faith--and the real nature of the relationship between those two pillars of history.

Who am I? The question today haunts every society in the Western world.   Legions of people—especially the young—have become unmoored from a firm sense of self. To compensate, they join the ranks of ideological tribes spawned by identity politics and react with frenzy against any perceived threat to their group.  As identitarians track and expose the ideologically impure, other citizens face the consequences of their rancor: a litany of “isms� run amok across all levels of cultural life, the free marketplace of ideas muted by agendas shouted through megaphones, and a spirit of general goodwill warped into a state of perpetual outrage.   How did we get here? Why have we divided against one another so bitterly? In Primal Screams, acclaimed cultural critic Mary Eberstadt presents the most provocative and original theory to come along in recent years. The rise of identity politics, she argues, is a direct result of the fallout of the sexual revolution, especially the collapse and shrinkage of the family.   As Eberstadt illustrates, humans have forged their identities within the kinship structure from time immemorial. The extended family, in a real sense, is the first tribe and teacher. But with its unprecedented decline across various measures, generations of people have been set adrift and can no longer answer the question Who am I? concerning primordial ties. Desperate for solidarity and connection, they claim membership in politicized groups whose displays of frantic irrationalism amount to primal screams for familial and communal loss. Written in her impeccable style and with empathy rarely encountered in today’s divisive discourse, Eberstadt’s theory holds immense explanatory power that no serious citizen can afford to ignore. The book concludes with three incisive essays by Rod Dreher, Mark Lilla, and Peter Thiel, each sharing their perspective on the author’s formidable argument.  

Political vicissitudes aside, with or without a conservative administration, whether or not America is engaged in war, or regardless of who next holds the majority either in Congress or the Court, the United States as a whole (as the infamous red and blue map made unforgettably clear) has boldly, unabashedly moved Right. But the question remains: "Why?" How did a movement that appeared so sidelined and embattled only a generation ago emerge as such a strong, influential, and enduring united front?
In "Why I Turned Right, " eminent and rising conservatives -- at odds themselves on a number of issues from religion, family, sex, to stem cell research, abortion, and war -- answer the question. And they answer it not through polemic, reactionary preaching, or rage, but in the most practical and sensible way possible: via the sharp, critical, and unfiltered voices and canny observations of uniquely positioned authors, editors, humorists, and political refugees inadvertently born of the sexual revolution and the PC movement, who ultimately landed on the conservative side of America's red-blue divide -- in some cases, much to their own surprise.
A fascinating intellectual journey, this "family of opinions," as contributor Peter Berkowitz terms it, represents the extraordinarily varied paths that have led these authors from the championed liberalism of their youth to eventually fuel the world of conservative think tanks, magazines, blogs, and book publishing.
Whether you are for the Right or against, guarded supporter or puzzled progressive, "Why I Turned Right" proves an entertaining, enlightening, and edifying read for anyone with an open mind -- both the red and the blue, and everyone in between.