Vincent Ryan Ruggiero

VINCENT RYAN RUGGIERO, M.A., is Professor of Humanities Emeritus, State University of New York, Delhi College. Prior to his twenty-nine year career in education, he was a social caseworker and an industrial engineer. The author of twenty-one books, his trade books include Warning: Nonsense Is Destroying America and The Practice of Loving Kindness. His textbooks include The Art of Thinking and Beyond Feelings, both in 10th editions and available in Chinese as well as English, Thinking Critically About Ethical Issues, and A Guide to Sociological Thinking. His latest book, Corrupted Culture: Rediscovering America's Enduring Principles, Values, and Common Sense, is available at Amazon and in bookstores. Professor Ruggiero is internationally recognized as one of the pioneers of the Critical Thinking movement in education. Earlier in his career, he published essays in a variety of magazines and journals, including America, Catholic Mind, The Sign, The Lamp, and Catholic World.

Thoughts on Pope Francis’ Gay Blessings

Following Pope Francis’ approval of blessings for same-sex couples, the Jesuit publication America Magazine published reactions from U.S. bishops, as well as from others. A statement by the U.S. Conference of Catholic bishops pointed out the...

Sermons to Reverse America’s Decline, Part 2

The decline of America has been underway for decades and has dramatically increased in recent years. Signs of it are now evident throughout our society. Part 1 of this essay explained how Churches can help solve the problem by directly addressing...

Sermons to Reverse America’s Decline

I recently wrote that for many decades politicians have used “Separation of Church and State” to intimidate the clergy to be silent about “political issues,” and that most churches responded accordingly. One result I noted has been to deprive...

Can the Church Help Restore America’s Values?

In a recent essay I explained that America’s intellectual and moral decline can be reversed by restoring the ideas and practices foolishly discarded in recent decades—the belief that all humans are imperfect; that good and evil (sin and virtue) are...

Retracing the Steps in America’s Decline

The decline of America is not a new phenomenon, but in recent years it has become clearer. Though its most obvious manifestations are social and political, its fundamental failure is intellectual and moral. At the heart of the decline was the denial...

The Workings of the Holy Spirit

Catholics and other Christians know that the Holy Spirit, together with the Father and the Son, constitute the Trinity called God. Most have learned this prayer to the Holy Spirit: “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in...

Why Defrocking is Not the Answer

I have written before concerning Pope Francis’ contempt for conservative Catholics. One such example of that contempt was his statement that “in the United States . . . there is a very strong reactionary attitude. It is organized and...

Trump and Ramaswamy?

Shortly after the third Republican presidential debate, Donald Trump announced that he was considering asking Tucker Carlson to be his Vice President. Having watched Tucker for many years and come to respect him, my first thought was that he might...