The New Establishment: How evangelicals became part of Washington's fabric. A review of The Jesus Machine: How James Dobson, Focus on the Family, and Evangelical America Are Winning the Culture War by Dan Gilgoff. The Young and the Restless: Monica Goodling is merely an emblem of the conservative legal establishment's strange youth culture—one that offers extraordinary opportunities to people at bizarrely young ages. The Goodling Girl: Emily Bazelon and Dahlia Lithwick on how Monica Goodling played the gender card and won. Justice by a Lower Standard: Here are lessons from the U.S. Attorneys scandal.
From Logos, a review of The History of Human Rights: From Ancient Times to the Globalization Era. Niall Ferguson on reviving the evil empire: There is no such thing as the future. There are only futures, plural. Historians are supposed to confine themselves to the study of the past, but by drawing analogies between yesterday and today, they can sometimes suggest plausible tomorrows. Fascism and America: Comparisons between Nazi Germany and today's US government are glib, inaccurate and unworthy. Matthew Parris on why the trouble with democracy is that you just can’ t trust it. A counsel of despair: The age of empires and foreign intervention is over, said Eric Hobsbawm at Hay, and it is far from clear what will replace them.
As the Bush era reaches an undignified end, marred by the Iraq war, Americans are doing what they do best: Chasing their next dream. Come in, it's safe: Claims that illegal immigrants threaten national security are based on a misunderstanding of both immigrants and security. Black culture itself is in trouble: The greatest obstacle to success for middle-class blacks is not white racism but the allure of hip-hop culture. Frank Furedi diagnoses something rotten in the trend to label political or cultural views as phobias that must be treated.
In this era of political correctness, any hint of male/female differences often leads to roaring anger among the masses and, if possible, the firing of a powerful male a la Harvard's Larry Summers - - unless, of course, the said sex difference makes men look animalistic or ridiculous. Beware of the "on ramp" myth currently being peddled to unwitting women. The road back to a full-time career after taking time off to raise kids is far from smooth. Crisis pregnancy centers focus on the woman — and stretch the truth — to save the child.
A review of Waiting for Daisy: A Tale of Two Continents, Three Religions, Five Infertility Doctors, an Oscar, an Atomic Bomb, a Romantic Night, and One Woman’s Quest to Become a Mother by Peggy Orenstein. From IEET, an article on sex selection and women’s reproductive rights. Form Logos, a review of Defiant Birth: Women Who Resist Medical Eugenics and Too Late to Die Young: Nearly True Tales from a Life; Kurt Jacobsen on the mystique of genetic engineering; and Ian Williams on the afterlife of an atheist.
From Reset, an interview with Daniel Dennett on Breaking the Spell. A review of In Defence of Atheism: The Case Against Christianity, Judaism and Islam by Michel Onfray (and more). A Canterbury Tale: A review of Grace and Necessity by Rowan Williams. More on Sacred Causes by Michael Burleigh.
75 years ago in The Atlantic, in the midst of the Great Depression, British economist John Maynard Keynes considered the prospects for capitalism's survival. Humility Kills: Peter Singer on how an ancient virtue hampers the fight against extreme poverty. A review of The Worst of Evils: The Fight Against Pain by Thomas Dormandy. And Death & Politics: Joseph Bottum on how the deepest roots of a civilization are in its funerals and memorials. The dead define culture
