Before I go on to the next chapter of Crunchy Cons, let me address a question that has been implicit in what I have written thus far, and which has come up in the comments. One of my fundamental assumptions when it comes to public policy issues is the profound difference between a sin and …
Love and the State
“Buckle up. We care.” The sign seems so nice. But beneath such pleasant words along the highway, a worldview lurks. We have come to the point where we want the civil magistrate to love us and have a wonderful plan for our lives. The book of Proverbs warns that a fool sent on an errand …
Don’t Sugar Coat It. Just Tell Us.
“Let me put it in a slightly bigger nutshell: much of what we loosely call the Western world will not survive the twenty-first century, and much of it will effectively disappear within our lifetimes, including many if not most European countries” (Mark Steyn, America Alone, p. xiii).
A Forgotten Divorce
“Only after the invention of the printing press were poetry and music separated” (Gene Edward Veith, Reading Between the Lines, p. 79).
Contra Mundum
“The generality of men thought they did God good service in persecuting those who would not yield to the judgment of others who had a reputation for learning and piety. Those who were conscientious could not yield to their determinations, not seeing the truth of God in them, and this made the stir. While men …
Let ‘Er Rip
The second chapter of Rod Dreher’s book is on consumerism. He begins by telling the appalling story of what the American people were urged by the president to do in the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks, which was, unbelievably, to “go shopping.” This was hardly a blood, sweat and tears exhortation. Instead of “we will …
A Wide Something or Other
Once there was a high school boy who was taunted mercilessly at school by another boy who was several years older. This younger boy was too big and too strong to be physically bullied, but the older boy would harass him constantly, and would always predict his own dominance in any future settings where there …
Just Another Aisle in America
The British columnist Peter Hitchens recently commented on the phenomenon of “crunchy conservatism,” for which, he said, he “had a lot of time.” And so do I. I just finished reading Rod Dreher’s book Crunchy Cons, which was quite good. The subtitle is a bit more descriptive and helpful–“The New Conservative Counterculture and Its Return …
Dead and Gone
C.S. Lewis commented once that the present is, historically speaking, a “period.” This may seem too obvious to point out, but there will come a time when what is currently happening will no longer be happening. Several centuries into the future, various schoolchildren will be sweating out the details of our century as they frantically …
No Voice
“Islamists control nearly every major American Muslim organization, as well as a large and perhaps growing majority of mosques, weekly newspapers, and communal organizations. As a result, they dominate the discourse. In contrast to countries like Turkey and Egypt, where a lively debate takes place between moderates and Islamists, the former hardly have a voice …