thoughts in and out of season
James Kalb I used to live near Bristol, Connecticut, so I’m glad to see the local paper is doing its part in the war on hate: ethnic backlash in city. Their September 11 front page report detailed 4 “crimes against people of Middle Eastern background” over the previous year:
A rather neat tale of unequal justice that turns bad writing to account: And Justice for All.
There will always be an England—or maybe not. The editor of a news program for the new BBC expresses himself, with the British nastiness that we can never duplicate, about the supporters of one of the largest political demonstrations in recent British history a few days after his program failed to report the event:… More ...
Here’s a useful compendium of references to one sort of spin that’s been put on the attack on America last year: Christians blamed for September 11. The big problem is religion, you see, especially Christianity, so you should ignore who actually did the deed and their particular reasons for doing it. The real story … More ...
One keeps seeing such stories: Syphilis spikes among New York gay men. Officials suggest that the situation “‘reflects increased sexual risk-taking behavior … possibly due to factors including the availability of effective treatment, prevention burnout, misperceptions of risk and the impact of other health problems such as depression and substance abuse.'” Such things are … More ...
This story manages to capture quite a lot about a New York attitude toward religion in general and Christianity in particular: Gideons pass out Bibles in New York. At the end Norman Siegel gives the authoritative word—it’s part of the goodness and wonder of being a New Yorker to feel a bit queasy about … More ...
To discuss the Episcopal Church as it now is may be, to borrow from Dr. Johnson, “to waste criticism upon unresisting imbecility.” Still, it clarifies thought to consider the present state in America of an institution that once expressed the spiritual life of much of our branch of European civilization. Maybe the Episcopal Church still … More ...
Another study, if you find yourself among people who demand studies: Children of Post-Abortive Moms Have More Behavioral Problems. Not surprising, unless you accept the liberal view that the body is somehow external to the person, so that a woman’s attitude to the life growing within her is something she can choose at … More ...
A common slogan among deep thinkers is that the problem with Islam is that unlike Christianity it’s never had a Reformation. On the face of it the claim is an odd one. The Protestant Reformation was an attempt to purify Christianity and return it to its pure and original form, cleansed of all syncretic cultural … More ...
Since educated people today are convinced that “studies” are how we know things, it’s worth keeping some references in your back pocket. Here’s something recent from Britain, Experiments in Living: The Fatherless Family. Yes, it’s really true that recent changes in family patterns have been bad for almost everybody involved.