Miss Kelly

Stigmas Were Good, Bring Them Back!

From Mickey Kaus at Slate, a blogpost about removing the stigma about receiving food stamps: "Stop Sitgmatizing Stigma!").  As Kaus writes:

"But a stigma placed on cash-like welfare (which food stamps are) remains a positive sign of a healthy work ethic. If you came across two societies--Society A, in which food stamps were stigmatized, with families reluctant to go on the dole even if they were eligible, and Society B, in which they weren't, you would want to bet on (and live in) Society A."

Stigmas against high school gilrls getting pregnant was a good thing too, bring it back!  Stigmas against divorce and adultery - bring it back!  Shame is a powerful deterrent to those activities which weaken our society.  Shame and guilt - forces so well known by earlier generations of Catholics and Jews - they were forces for good!  Without these forces, exactly what maintains morals in a society? What keeps us civilized? 

Along these lines, Roger Scruton has a terrific essay, Bring back Stigma, from City Journal (August 2000  issue).  Good review of how stigma operated in the past, how it's "evaporated" in our era, and what the consequences have been.  Excellent treatment of this topic!

Spenger Reveals His Identity

Interesting!  Spengler, who's been a columnist at Asia Times since 1999, starts work as associate editor and writer at First Things, a Catholic journal about religion, culture and public life.  His name is David P. Goldman and he's Jewish.  His coming-out story is here.  Excerpts from his latest column:

"A malicious thought crossed my mind in 1999, though, as the Internet euphoria engulfed world markets: was it really possible for a medium whose premise was the rise of a homogeneous global youth culture to drive world economic growth?  Youth culture, I argued, was an oxymoron, for culture itself was a bridge across generations, a means of cheating mortality. The old and angry cultures of the world, fighting for room to breath against the onset of globalization, would not go quietly into the homogenizer."

"....The end of the old ethnicities, I believed, would dominate the cultural and strategic agenda of the next several decades. Great countries were failing of their will to live, and it was easy to imagine a world in which Japanese, German, Italian and Russian would turn into dying languages only a century hence. Modernity taxed the Muslim world even more severely, although the results sometimes were less obvious."

Excessive Apologizing

Theodore Dalrymple wrote about a subject that is near and dear to my heart: the tendency of modern folks to fall over themselves apologizing for something that somebody else did ages ago.  And Dalrymple calls it "The False Apology Syndrome."  Excerpts from the recent issue of In Character, on forgiveness:

"There is a fashion these days for apologies: not apologies for the things that one has actually done oneself (that kind of apology is as difficult to make and as unfashionable as ever), but for public apologies by politicians for the crimes and misdemeanours of their ancestors, or at least of their predecessors. I think it is reasonable to call this pattern of political breast-beating the False Apology Syndrome."

"....Let us examine briefly the apology for the Crusades as an example of the whole genre. It is not exactly a new discovery that the Crusaders often, perhaps usually or even always, behaved very badly. It is not in the nature of invading armies to behave well, even when discipline is strong, morale is high, and control of the foot soldiers is firm; it is no secret that these conditions did not exist during the Crusades, to put it rather mildly."

"They were, however, rather a long time ago. The Crusades were an attempt to recover for Christendom what had been lost by force, with all the accompanying massacre, pillage, and oppression that the use of force in those days implied. No one, I think, expects an apology from present-day Arabs for the imperialism of their ancestors, either as a matter of moral duty or political likelihood. We are all born into the world as we find it, after all; we are not responsible for what went before us."

And should companies and universities be apologizing for the slave trade?  Are Black Americans justified in seeking reparations for slavery?

"...The demand for an apology supposes that there is a clearly definable person, or group of persons, who can be held responsible for the trade, or at the very least to have been the beneficiaries of it. In other words, the world can be neatly divided into historical oppressed and oppressor, victim and perpetrator."

"Most historical situations and their consequences are more complex and ambiguous than this simple schema would suggest, and the slave trade is no exception. For medical reasons having to do with relative immunity to malaria, if for no others, the supply of slaves depended crucially on the co-operation of African suppliers who captured slaves for sale. No apology from their descendents is required. The trade was abolished almost entirely through the efforts of white abolitionists. However discontented with their lot present-day American descendents of slaves may be, they are much better off than they would have been had their ancestors not been brought to America. Are they morally obliged, then, to offer up thanks to the slave traders who brought their ancestors to America?"

"Thus the demand for an apology for the Atlantic slave trade is a demand that people with no personal responsibility for it apologize to people who have suffered no personal wrong from it. From the point of view of morality, this is a very strange demand."

I wonder what acceptable things our society is doing now that, in another 40 years or so, we'll look back on in disbelief and disgust.

May 1 - Remember the Victims of Communism Day

I read about this over at the Volokh Conspriracy, it strikes me as a an excellent way to observe May Day:

"Today is May 1, AKA May Day. May Day began as a holiday for socialists and labor union activists, not just communists. But over time, the date was taken over by the Soviet Union and other communist regimes and used as a propaganda tool to prop up their regimes. I suggest that we instead use it as a day to commemorate those regimes' millions of victims. The authoritative Black Book of Communism estimates the total at 80 to 100 million dead, greater than that caused by all other twentieth century tyrannies combined. We appropriately have a Holocaust Memorial Day. It is equally appropriate to commemorate the victims of the twentieth century's other great totalitarian tyranny. And May Day is the most fitting day to do so. I suggest that May Day be turned into Victims of Communism Day."

Why do so many still romanticize Communism?  I still hear from a dear older friend of mine, "Sure, there were bad things about communism, but it just hasn't been properly implemented."  Some Muslims say the same thing about Islamic societies: "We've never seen a truly Islamic society, there hasn't been one yet."  And these same people believe that they can create one here in the U.S., with its constitutional guarantee of religious freedom.  But totalitarian societies will always fail, because they deny essential truths about human nature, including the idea of freedom and free will, the inherent dignity of the individual, and the innate competitiveness of humans.

You can review the death counts of 20th century wars here.

Polygamous Marriages on the Rise in Italy

Italy, like England, France and other Western nations, is apparently unable to stem polygamy among its Muslim immigrants and converts.   Paradoxically, polygamy is on the rise in Western nations while it's being outlawed in some Muslim countries.  This is what blind multiculturalism gets you, a relativism that accepts even the most negative aspects of other cultures.  Western nations have a duty (if they wish to continue as strong, intact cultures) to take decisive legal action against polygamous marriages.  Put a few high-profile polygamous husbands in jail, deport the second and third wives and their children, and this regressive practice could be stopped.  It has no place in the West.

"Polygamous marriages are illegal in Italy yet are reportedly on the rise. While few Muslim immigrants or Italian converts to Islam admit such unions, Muslim scholars put the number nationwide at 15,000-20,000, La Repubblica daily reports.  'There is no doubt that the phenomenon exists, and that the number of polygamous unions growing as the number of Muslim immigrants to Italy increases,' the paper said, adding that there are also cases of polygamous Italian converts to Islam."

"No official statistics have been gathered on polygamous marriages in Italy, and estimates vary wildly from hundreds to tens of thousands, according to the paper."

"The Italian state does not issue family welfare cheques to more than one wife per husband, unlike in Britain, where the government has since February been issuing family welfare cheques to all of a polygamist's wives resident in the country.  Belgium and Germany also offer benefits to polygamists' various wives, according to La Repubblica. "

How would Italy really know if the women receiving the welfare checks are second or third wives, married in an Islamic (not civil) ceremony? 

Western nations that provide welfare benefits to polygamists' wives and children have lost their marbles. Provding economic incentives can only result in more polygamy, with all its attendant social ills and damage to children. As if we don't already have enough assaults on the family unit.

"Although poligamy is illegal in Italy, only Kar's first marriage to Fadu is registered. A court in the northern Italian city of Bologna allowed a Muslim immigrant to bring the mothers of his two children - his first and second wife respectively - to join them in Italy.  The Bologna court justified its ruling by arguing that the two marriages had been contracted in a country where poligamy is legal."

"The ruling proved controversial in Italy. Opponents argued that in the name of cultural pluralism, the judiciary was sanctioning a practice that women in Muslim countries have been fighting against for years."

"Polygamy is already outlawed in Tunisia and Turkey, and has been almost eradicated from Morocco's new body of family law. It is also strictly regulated in many Arab countries, and economic factors have also curbed polygamous marriages in Muslim countries."

I fear the West is entering some sort of new Dark Ages.  We must relearn what is good about our society, identify and protect the valuable elements of our culture.  There are many: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, individual liberty and rights, and the monogamous marriage and family.  That family unit, which underlies our entire society, is one of our most important elements.

Orianna Fallaci's Last Days

Here's a moving account of Orianna Fallaci's last hours.  The Italian journalist Fallaci was the subject of a session at the annual meeting of the Catholic movement Communion and Liberation.   

"One of the most popular sessions was devoted to Fallaci, and it featured the man whom she asked to be at her side as she died: Bishop Rino Fisichella, rector of the Lateran University in Rome, and an intimate of Pope Benedict XVI."

"Their improbable friendship illustrates an important current percolating in contemporary Western culture, a budding détente between institutional Christianity and some of its sharpest Enlightenment-inspired critics, motivated by a deep sense of shared peril."

How Pope Benedict first came to know of Fallaci:

"A degree of affinity between Fallaci and the cultural positions of the Catholic church actually predates today's frisson over Islam. In the 1970s, during a bitter referendum campaign in Italy which eventually legalized abortion, Fallaci wrote her famous work Lettera a un bambino non mai nato (Letter to a Child Never Born). She had found herself pregnant, decided to keep the child, and then lost it. The book is regarded by some as one of the most eloquent reflections on maternity and the gift of life ever written, and it brought Fallaci to the attention of a new German bishop and fellow intellectual, Joseph Ratzinger."

Beautiful Women in Western Art

This is full of evocative images and very well done ....enjoy!

Music: Bach's Sarabande from Suite for Solo Cello No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 performed by Yo Yo Ma. For a complete list of artists and paintings, go here.  Thank you, Eggman913, gorgeous!

Oops, link wasn't working, should be fixed now.

Orianna Fallaci Donates Archives to Papa Ratzi

Sometimes, the world is truly delightful in the most unexpected ways.  Yes, the beautiful atheist journalist donated her papers and books to the Pope. 

"An Italian journalist and self-described atheist who died last month has left most of her books and notes to a pontifical university in Rome because of her admiration for Pope Benedict XVI, a school official said Saturday. Oriana Fallaci had described the pontiff as an ally in her campaign to rally Christians in Europe against what she saw as a Muslim crusade against the West. As she battled breast cancer last year, she had a private audience with Benedict, who was elected only a few months earlier, at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo."

As Sissie often quotes:

"In one of her final interviews, Fallaci told The Wall Street Journal: "I am an atheist, and if an atheist and a pope think the same things, there must be something true."

Both were rallying Western Christians to respect and protect their civilization, albeit in quite different ways.  Both love their culture and heritage. Both are fearless. The Pope carries on with this necessary work, finding so many ways to remind us of our heritage and calling us to think about God. 

"Benedict was surprised by the gift of the books, which dated back as far as the 17th century and included volumes about the formation of modern-day Italy, American history, philosophy and theology, said Monsignor Rino Fisichella, rector of the Pontifical Lateranense University in Rome....Fisichella said "the pope has said we must live in the world as if God existed and she (Fallaci) took up the challenge." "

What a powerful concept!: Live and act as if God existed, whether you believe in God or not. Perhaps Papa Ratzi is making room for all the post-modern skeptics/agnostics, who wonder why they should care about the fairy tales of the Bible. 

"At the time of her death, she was on trial in northern Italy, accused of defaming Islam in her 2004 book The Force of Reason (excellent review here). In it she argued that Europe had sold its soul to what she called an Islamic invasion."

Makes me grateful again for the freedom of speech we enjoy in the U.S., courtesy of the First Amendment to the Constitution.  Similar freedoms are not enjoyed even in other Western countries such as Italy, France and England, never mind in most non-Western countries. 

Noteworthy, this call to reason in both her 2004 book and the Pope's recent speech at Regensburg. 

Hat tip Relapsed Catholic, via Right Girl. The Anchoress comments on this too, especially about Fallaci's work.

 

Warren on Fox News Hostages, Part II

David Warren ticked off a lot of people with his column on the two kidnapped Fox News men who converted to Islam to gain their freedom (blogged about here).  A Boston Herald editorial by Jules Crittendon was scathing, calling Warren a "sanctimonious Canadian" and "a conventional coward."  Jules writes what probably most people think of the episode:

"Centanni and Wiig are alive and back with their loved ones, out of the hands of an enemy who could have slaughtered them like sacrificial sheep. I don’t hold anything they’ve done or said against them. I don’t really care how cynical or desperate their actions were. They’ve been somewhere I never have been and hope to God I never will be......"

Crittendon writes that Warren should "put up or shut up," and offer himself to be a hostage.  Warren responds to his critics in his Sunday Spectator column, defending both what he said and how he said it:

".... I cannot know how I will behave in such a situation, until I am in it. But if I capitulated, from fear of pain and death, I would be deeply ashamed of what I had done. And this shame would haunt me for the rest of my life. I would not be appearing all smiles on TV, I would not be accepting the accolades of my colleagues, and I would surely have the decency to contradict anyone who dared call me “brave” for saving my own skin."

"Because I didn't condemn the two Fox News journalists for simple cowardice. I condemned them because they didn't think twice; because they took capitulation for granted. I condemned them because they showed no regret for having committed apostasy & treason, regardless of how they were pushed to it. Because they sold out the West without a second thought, & continue to sell us out now that they are free. That is what I found so starchless."

What one of the journalists said upon their release was apalling:

Centanni: " We were forced to convert at gunpoint. I have the highest respect for Islam and I learned a lot of good things about it." 

Whiskey tango foxtrot? Why did he say this?  I understand the conversion at gunpoint to save their lives. I don't understand the fawning statements afterwards.  Why haven't they condemned what their captors did?  Mark Steyn calls it the Islamostockholm Syndrome.

Relapsed Catholic gave her two cents over at Tim Blair's blog:

"I pray for the grace not to renounce Christ for any reason, under any circumstances. And the power of grace is the only thing that can give you that courage. Those who can only conceive of alternative “energy” sources as “will power” or “mental fortitude” can’t be expected to understand that. There are some things worth dying for."

"So: would a devout secularist like Hirsi Ali “revert” at gun point? Would Christopher “Let’s crush the Islamofacists, just don’t tap my phone” Hitchens?  Who does Hitchens call upon in times of danger? The spirit of Trotsky?  Cistani and Wiig innocently and inadvertantly demonstrate that a “resistance” based on nothing more than liberalism and secularism is doomed to fail. Ultimately, the best resistance will come from devout Christians, Jews, Hindus and Buddhists who have an investment in an afterlife they don’t want to screw up."

I love life, and I don't know how I would react in a captive situation.  But I hope I would have the strength to pull a Quattrochi.   When more people are kidnapped and held hostage - and there will be more - I wish that their spouses and families would stop begging the Islamic captors to free them.  How about condemning the barbarians and spitting in their faces? 

Beaucoup comments on this over at Captain's Quarters. 

David Warren on the Fox Newsmen Hostages

The whole episode of the two Fox News journalists who were kidnapped in Gaza (the videos, the conversions, their release at a media event) was disturbing on many levels.  Sissy wondered aloud if it PA government was behind the whole thing.    Relapsed Catholic compares the conversion (admittedly and obviously under duress) with Fabrizzio Quattrocchi, the Italian hostage in Iraq:

In contrast to Kenneth Bigley, the British hostage who never let up begging Prime Minister Tony Blair for his life, Quattrocchi refused to be humiliated. "I will show you how an Italian dies!" he declared in the second before terrorists murdered him. Rather than kneel before his grave, he rose in defiance.

David Warren also remembers Quattrocchi's defiance, and he looks at the bigger picture of "chestlessness."  He says that we have bred "men without chests, men without character, men who don’t think twice."   Warren wonders why "the West is proving unable to cope with a threat from a fanatical Islamic movement, that it ought to be able to snuff out with fair ease."  About the videos he says:

"Why did Fatah bother to make the video? Didn’t they realize conversion under duress means nothing? That no one, East or West, would take it at face value?"

"They didn’t make it for face value. They made it to show the whole Muslim world, via satellite television, what wimps these Westerners are. That they’ll do anything at all to save their lives, that they don’t think twice about it. That is the substance of most Islamo-fascist propaganda: that the West consists of straw men, of men without chests, of men easily pushed over."

Next Warren quote come from his earlier essay on the struggle between the West and radical Islam:

"Contrary to generally received opinion, the West is not today under siege from Muslim fanatics because of a resurgence of Islam, but because of the West’s own moral and intellectual decline. Even Osama bin Laden knows this. The West invites attack, and the enemy’s strategy in attacking is paradoxically to hide his own weakness."

"We have a problem in us, not in them. It is the recovery of our own sense of what we are, what we believe, and what we are about, that would defeat Afghan cave-dwellers and shrieking ayatollahs fairly quickly."

Spot on.   

White Guilt and Our National Weakness

Excellent essay by Shelby Steele on white guilt.  A West stigmatized by its sins can't seem to muster up any moral authority or self-defense.

"Today, the white West--like Germany after the Nazi defeat--lives in a kind of secular penitence in which the slightest echo of past sins brings down withering condemnation.... I call this white guilt not because it is a guilt of conscience but because people stigmatized with moral crimes--here racism and imperialism--lack moral authority and so act guiltily whether they feel guilt or not."

"So when America--the greatest embodiment of Western power--goes to war in Third World Iraq, it must also labor to dissociate that action from the great Western sin of imperialism. Thus, in Iraq we are in two wars, one against an insurgency and another against the past--two fronts, two victories to win, one military, the other a victory of dissociation."

Perhaps there's even a third war - against the self-haters of the U.S. who apparently want to see us fail miserably in Iraq. 

"America and the broader West are now going through a rather tender era, a time when Western societies have very little defense against the moral accusations that come from their own left wings and from those vast stretches of nonwhite humanity that were once so disregarded."

Its impact on race relations in the U.S.:

"Possibly white guilt's worst effect is that it does not permit whites--and nonwhites--to appreciate something extraordinary: the fact that whites in America, and even elsewhere in the West, have achieved a truly remarkable moral transformation. One is forbidden to speak thus, but it is simply true. There are no serious advocates of white supremacy in America today, because whites see this idea as morally repugnant. If there is still the odd white bigot out there surviving past his time, there are millions of whites who only feel goodwill toward minorities. This is a fact that must be integrated into our public life--absorbed as new history--so that America can once again feel the moral authority to seriously tackle its most profound problems. Then, if we decide to go to war, it can be with enough ferocity to win."

"Dykes of Civilization"

David Warren runs a close second to Mark Steyn for my favorite writers.  His writing is crisp, literary, philospohical but also grounded in day-to-day events.  His recent essay about dikes (as in the dikes of Holland, as in sea-walls) threads together manners and chivalry, civilization and Jesus's resurrection on Easter Sunday.  It's even apropos to the recent immigration rallies, where hundreds of thousands of people openly flouted our legal system. Warren's essay was inspired by a 50-year old book he found in a junk shop, The Dykes of Civilization: 

".....the author compares the work of maintaining civilization to the work of maintaining these dykes. It does not matter who built them or when, for the purpose of maintenance -- if the dykes are ignored, they will disintegrate, and salt water will flood into the valley, poisoning the soil."

The book, written in 1958 and published by the Anglican Church of Canada, lists four guardians of our civilized way of life: the rule of law, education, family and the church.  That sounds almost quaint to modern ears, only two generations later.  Warren concludes:

"Today is, for Christians, part of the vigil that will end tonight, in which we contemplate a world from which Christ is withdrawn. It is our own world we contemplate: where the dykes have been breached, and those who try to repair them are mocked."

Best to go read and enjoy the whole thing.