David Goldman, senior editor at First Things, aka "Spengler" in his brilliant pieces for Asian Times, was apparently not in the mood for fence-sitting when he wrote his March 26 piece for his First Things blog:
For the first time in history the barbarians have breached the citadel; to have Barack Obama in the White House is the cultural equivalent of electing Madonna to the papacy. America, the source of a civil religion that held together the world’s only remaining superpower, is committed to its own self-demolition. Nihilists around the world are in a triumphant mood and believe that it is time to mop up the remnants of their enemies everywhere.
Goldman is a sophisticated man of extraordinary learning and strong opinions. Nor has he been uncritical of our president and recent developments, but these words suggest a man who has been rudely awakened to a situation even more alarming than previously imagined.
1 comment:
It is thrilling - and I don't mean in any good way - to see how spokespersons for the quasi-intelligensia have fawned and doted for what Goldman correctly limns. Seeing Girard's prescient predictions coming true is anything but happy-making.
But, like receiving an unfavorable diagnosis from an oncologist - I have some experience in this, by the way - it is also tonic for clearing the head of what is valuable and what is not. If one is living in apocalyptical times, it's vital to have a hermeneutic by which to understand what the hell is going on.
I'm grateful for your work and that of René Girard, Gil. With the Catholic Catechism in the other hand, we're about as prepared as we can be. A fitting start to Holy Week, IMHO. Cheer
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