My blog title is based on a quote from G.K. Chesterton, one of my favorite essayists. Reading Chesterton, and noting how “prophetic” he is, reminds me of Noam Chomsky’s claim that the Old Testament prophets were that day’s version of “dissident intellectuals.” Continue reading “Prophets, dissident intellectuals, and a world free of merde”
Category: Culture
9th Commandment Watch
Life in this world
It seemed an interesting juxtaposition that The Writer’s Almanac and Front Porch Republic should today, on side-by-side tabs of my web browser, reflect on some of the big themes of life in this world. Continue reading “Life in this world”
Non erat demonstrandum
One of the pundits I usually agree with suggests that one lesson of Tyler Clementi is that sex is a big deal, 4 decades of denial notwithstanding. I disagree with her. Continue reading “Non erat demonstrandum”
“Deliver my soul”
Some thoughts from St. Nicolai Velemirovic on “bodily sin:” Continue reading ““Deliver my soul””
This time, it really is a wolf
There appears to have been a horrific, organized hate crime in the Bronx, but the New York Times risks trivializing it by treating it and the Rutgers tragedy as two instances of the same sort of thing. Continue reading “This time, it really is a wolf”
Is Peggy Noonan’s ear good or not?
I look forward to Peggy Noonan’s Friday columns in the Wall Street Journal. The former Reagan speechwriter has a sharp mind and a good ear. Occasionally she fails to say something useful, in my estimation, but not often.
Today’s column is the first time I think I’ve understood the Tea Party’s motivation. Is she right, or is she wrong (and I misled by thinking she’s got it)?
Joe Sobran on War
As I rummaged through my trove of Joe Sobran clippings, I found a lot of gems unrelated to the privacy motif I’ve already discussed. Especially notable is his stance on our middle-eastern policy, in the face of the insults of those who could not refute him.
In chronological order, beginning on 9-11 Continue reading “Joe Sobran on War”
Thoughts about privacy, “outing” and Joe Sobran
Two men, separated by 46 years in age, died this week. Of Tyler Clementi, 18, I knew nothing, but it appears that we’ll all know much, some of it perhaps true, before long. Of Joseph Sobran, 64, I was at one time an ardent admirer, “clipping” some 200+ of his columns, articles and book(s).
Between the shy, gay lad and the curmudgeonly 64-year-old paleoconservative-turned-anarchist, there’s a theme I think worth sharing.
Continue reading “Thoughts about privacy, “outing” and Joe Sobran”
TJ’s Excellent 15 Minutes of Fame
Michael Gerson at the Washington Post has an Op-Ed on — how best to put it? — the insanity of “Pastor” Terry Jones getting his 15 minutes of fame so cheaply.
Gerson is, if I recall correctly, an Evangelical Protestant — perhaps even a Wheaton College Evangelical — so it was interesting to see his spin on why Muslims go postal at a threatened Koran-burning while Christians (a far more equivocal term than you might think, but serviceable in this context) remain pretty mellow about sacrilege Continue reading “TJ’s Excellent 15 Minutes of Fame”
Tipsy Teetotaler ن 