The Thomistic Institute The Terrible Covenant of Sloth: Boredom and the Resistance of Joy – Dr. R.J. Snell
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Feb 18, 2026 
R. J. Snell, Editor-in-Chief of Public Discourse and director of academic programs at the Witherspoon Institute, is a scholar of Thomistic thought and boredom. He diagnoses student frenzy and modern busyness as sloth, contrasts frantic diversion with committed action, reads Judge Holden as a symbol of refusal, and urges recovery of delight through contemplation, feasting, and Eucharistic receptivity.
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Frenzy Hides Contemporary Sloth
- R.J. Snell argues modern student busyness masks a deeper vice: sloth, not mere laziness.
- Sloth manifests as fear-driven credentialism, anxiety, and emptiness despite high achievement.
Sloth As Refusal Of Responsibility
- Sloth (acedia) is not simple idleness but a refusal of magnanimity and responsibility.
- It values self-sovereignty and freedom over embracing the good presented in one's place and duties.
Judge Holden As Symbol Of Sloth
- Snell uses Judge Holden from Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian as a vivid example of sloth's sovereignty.
- The judge catalogs and destroys realities to assert control and deny being's integrity.