“The revival of the model of early Islam in a modern form absolutely mandates the reaffirmation of uncompromising animosity to non-believers and the return to violence as a means of attaining political ends. Islamic terrorism, far from being an aberration, became inseparable from modern-day jihad. It is legitimized by it, and it is its defining …
In Other Words, Not Breaking On Through to the Other Side
“Morrison never made the sustained effort needed to write even passable free verse, and his emotional range—from petulant narcissism to dead-serious angst—is far narrower than that of the least of his poetic idols . . . booze became the formaldehyde in which his adolescent hangs-ups were preserved” (Martha Bayles, Hole in our Soul, p. 238).
Not Much of a Difference
“The only difference between Muslim ‘conservatives’ and misnamed ‘fundamentalists’ concern the methods to be applied, not the final objectives, which are the same: to rekindle the glory that was Islam under the prophet and his early successors” (Serge Trifkovic, The Sword of the Prophet, p. 204).
Ain’t It the Truth?
“Like free jazz, art rock proves once again that total freedom is enabling for a handful of geniuses, but disabling for everyone else” (Martha Bayles, Hole in our Soul, p. 222).
Straight Out of Tennessee Williams
This letter to the editor ran in response to some stuff in our local newspaper about Trinity Fest. My comments are interspersed. “Wilson neither honorable nor brave” This is a title calculated to mortally offend the kind of man that Keely Mix takes me to be. And if I were a strutting embodiment of the …
The Closing of the Islamic Mind
“Not even a prime location at the crossroads of the world could supply an antidote to the slow poison of Islamic obscurantism. The Ottoman interlude concealed and postponed the latent tension between the view of world history as the fulfillment of Islam and its triumph everywhere on the one hand, and the reality of the …
That, and Singing Through Your Nose
“The truth is that Dylan, like most of his generation, learned most of his folk music from records . . . But to folkies bewitched by the blues, roughness epitomized authenticity” (Martha Bayles, Hole in our Soul, p. 212).
Compared to What?
“The Golden Age of Islam was ‘golden’ only on its own terms” (Serge Trifkovic, The Sword of the Prophet, p. 199).
Audio Reading of Post
Even At Their Saltiest
“Add the guitar-centeredness of the rest of early rock, and you have a significant shift: away from an emotionally expressive vocalism and toward and athletically aggressive instrumentalism. With hindsight, we can see some rather striking sexual connotations in this shift. The controlled vocalism of genuine blues suggest power, intensity, and energy being harnessed—as opposed to …
Johnny Appleseed
The following column ran last night in our local newspaper, responding to another set of recycled charges from Nick Gier, which he leveled against us in the paper last week. “Oh, good,” the Moscow community is thinking to itself. “Another round of attacks on Doug Wilson, followed shortly thereafter by his replies. We sure are …