thoughts in and out of season
Every reasonable person who’s curious about the world around him sometimes finds social science studies suggestive and illuminating. No sane person thinks they can be the basis of of human relations or the laws and institutions that regulate and codify them. Life is complex and subtle, and it’s not set up to be easy for … More ...
I hadn’t thought about Jeffrey Hart since as an undergraduate I used to see him walking around the Dartmouth campus looking irascible. While paging momentarily through my alumni magazine before tossing it out recently though I ran into a profile of the man by former student James Panero (now of The New Criterion). The … More ...
It may be misleading to call social positions that are in fact radically revisionist “mainstream” and “moderate,” since the attempt to transform fundamental human relations is neither, but it’s not dishonest. After all, if Gerry Ford didn’t set the gold standard for the mainstream moderate American there is no such thing, and he supported government … More ...
A quick review of Genevieve Kineke, The Authentic Catholic Woman (Servant Books, 2006):
What is woman? The question has long been asked, in one form or another, but the answer has remained as obscure as the solution to other interesting issues. The modern age doesn’t like questions it can’t answer, so we’re given stupid answers: … More ...
Everyone who cares about humanity and freedom should sign this petition against CEDAW, The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Among other things, CEDAW requires parties to “take all appropriate measures to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving … More ...
Talking about what people should and shouldn’t do is a sticky business. Pascal was obviously right when he said that it’s difficult to speak humbly of humility or chastely of chastity, and it’s conventional to accuse obtrusively pious and moral people of hypocrisy. During my unfortunate stay in the Episcopal Church I noticed that people … More ...
I’ve got some extended comments at other sites:
Since I don’t know how long Gina Marie’s “Little Fascist Panties” post will be available, I’m reproducing … More ...
I just finished reading Stanley Milgram’s Obedience to Authority. The book’s an account of his famous experiment that tested the willingness of ordinary people who had volunteered to participate in a psychological study to inflict painful electric shocks on another volunteer (who was in fact an actor who was not being shocked at all). … More ...
The Blair government is issuing regulations implementing a statutory prohibition against discrimination in the provision of “services.” The regulations say you can’t discriminate against homosexuals, no exceptions. Among other things, that rule will require Catholic adoption agencies to treat sex as irrelant to intimate human relationships (and consequently engage in PC child abuse) by … More ...
For the sake of fairness I ought to include a white male (one who’s not yet dead) in my gallery of intellectual corruption and psychological disorder in academia. So here’s a piece from British philosopher A. C. Grayling in which he gives views on Christianity and European history that in manner and substance qualify him … More ...