Interview with Thomas E. Woods, Jr. EDITOR'S NOTE: In addition
to his other endeavors, the well-known Catholic writer Thomas E.
Woods, Jr. has authored several books recently, ranging in
topics from contemporary Catholicism to American History. His
latest work, the recently reviewed The Church Confronts
Modernity: Catholic Intellectuals and the Progressive Era,
discusses the efforts of American Catholics in the early decades
of the 20th Century. I asked Dr. Woods to share some of his
thoughts on the subject. PWM Seattle Catholic (SC): The title of
this book, The Church Confronts Modernity, identifies both a
struggle and its primary participants. What was it that lay at
the heart of this conflict? Thomas E. Woods, Jr. (TW): I show in
the book that American intellectuals during the Progressive Era
were trying to construct a new American ethic, in which the
citizen's primary loyalty was to the "national community" (by
which they essentially meant the federal government) rather than
to states and localities, and