thoughts in and out of season
James Kalb A correspondent sent me a lengthy set of comments on my Conservatism FAQ. Some of them seemed like they might be of general interest, so here’s my summary with responses:
… More ...Objection: “Tradition” is vague. Also, it seems to mean “do what’s already being done.” How can it act as a guide?
Response: “Tradition” is
My comments (here) on a recent story in the New York Times led someone with a job in the media to protest against right-wing conspiracy theories about his profession. My (somewhat edited) response:
… More ...I have no doubt that from inside the media the notion of a “liberal media conspiracy” seems rather silly. What
More blessings of diversity in the Anglophone world:
Someone with some knowledge of the dispute over the proposed NYC parent councils read what I wrote about it and protested that I had misread a reasonably objective report by the New York Times as a partisan political statement. My (somewhat edited) response:
… More ...Thanks for the note! It’s a useful reality check to get comments
Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn called the Colombian aphoristic philosopher Nicolas Gomez Davila (1913-1994) “the brightest thinker on the Right.” It is perhaps no coincidence that his writings have been altogether unavailable in English. Nikos Salingaros just did English speakers a service by translating some of his thoughts on artistic, architectural, and urban matters. They’re an … More ...
Evidence that American Christians are generally more American than Christian, and that opposition to the “radical religious right” is basically a mopping-up operation: Unbelieving ‘born-agains’. Most born-agains reject the Trinity and consider salvation a matter of living a good life. A third or more deny the Resurrection, and accept premarital cohabitation and same-sex unions. … More ...
The effect of “equality” on self-government: Bias Feared in School Plan for Councils. New York City has 32 elected school boards. Most potential voters don’t have school-age children, and fewer than 5% participate in electing the boards. So the city wants to replace the school boards with parent councils elected by PTA officers. That … More ...
A correspondent with a scientific turn of mind wanted to pursue a question raised here a a week or two ago, why the Derrida and similar viruses are such a plague now when earlier they weren’t a problem.
My comments (slightly edited):
… More ...It seems that most “why now” explanations emphasize features of modern life
How the Council seemed to some at the time: Gregorian Chant Strangled in its Own Cradle. To the young monks of a Benedictine monastery in Rome, Vatican II meant that it was a religious duty to toss away everything to which they had been brought up in the Church for the sake of imitating … More ...
Daniel Pipes has a list of questions he says are helpful in Identifying Muslim Moderates. It occurred to me that with surprisingly slight modification the list could become a guide for identifying liberal moderates: