“The executive director of the National Religious Broadcasters Association sums up what he calls an unwritten law of all television preachers: ‘You can get your share of the audience only by offering people something they want’” (Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death, p. 105).
Sides and Parts
“It is not peace but party that they mind. The greater part of their studies is to study sides and parts” (Burroughs, Irenicum, p. 168).
When You Are Being Run Out of Town, Get Out in Front and Make it Look Like a Parade
“In Britain, by contrast, the Church of England has been in the forefront of the retreat from the Judeo-Christian heritage. At every stage it has sought to appease the forces of secularism, accommodating itself to family breakdown, seeking to be nonjudgmental and embracing multiculturalism” (Melanie Phillips, Londonistan, p. xxii).
Now This
“We have become so accustomed to its discontinuities that we are no longer struck dumb, as any sane person would, by a newscaster who having just reported that a nuclear war is inevitable goes on to say that he will be right back after this word from Burger King; who says, in other words, ‘Now …
Let Us Feed Cheesecake to our Horses
The famous story tells of the minister who wrote in the margin of his notes, “Argument weak. Shout here.” Whenever anyone is unalterably attached to a position, and that position is wrong, there is always a strong temptation to shout. Moreover, the sillier a position gets, the more shouting is required to keep people from …
With Everything at Sea Except for the Fleet
“Driven by postcolonial guilt and, without the loss of empire, the collapse of a world role, Britain’s elites have come to believe that the country’s identity and values are by definition racist, nationalistic and discriminatory” (Melanie Phillips, Londonistan, p. xix).
How the Media Cuts Our Meat for Us . . . Into Really Tiny Pieces
“The perception of a news show as a stylized dramatic performance whose content has been staged largely to entertain is reinforced by several other features, including the fact that the average length of any story is forty-five seconds” (Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death, p. 103).
Hatred of Competition
“Last, one proud man is very discerning in the discovery of pride in another. Though he entertains it in his own bosom, yet he hates it in others whereever he sees it. This is a peculiar curse upon this sin. One drunkard loves another, one whoremaster another, but one proud man hates another” (Burroughs, Irenicum, …
Flannery Fanboys
Just a random Flannery O’Connor thought. I am currently enjoying Wise Blood very much, and it struck me how seriously O’Connor took her fundamentalist misfits. She was a Roman Catholic, and yet we find that her literary (and very Southern) genius really sees Jesus in the angular, raw Tishbite street preachers. She expects us to …
Last Installment of Hitchens/Wilson Debate
I want to offer my public thanks to Christianity Today for hosting this debate. I would also like to thank Christopher Hitchens for participating in it. The last installment can be found here.