In February, a remarkable article appeared in the New York Times Magazine. It was an account by Harriet McBryde Johnson of her debate with Princeton philosophy professor Peter Singer, whom Johnson noted is “often called—and not just by his book publicist—the most influential philosopher of our time.” The subject of the debate was whether parents...
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March 1, 2003June 22, 2022Vital Signs
News From the Christmas Front
It has been over a year since Chronicles published my piece “Happy Holidays? Bah! Humbug!” (Vital Signs, December 2001) and Vdare.com used it to announce its 2001 War Against Christmas Competition. I am still receiving mail on the essay, and I thought I would give Chronicles readers an idea of how the War Against Christmas...
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March 1, 2002June 22, 2022Cultural Revolutions
A Christmas History
Before Christmas, Peter Brimelow used my article “Happy Holidays? Bah! Humbug!” (Vital Signs, December 2001) to kick off VDare.com’s annual War Against Christmas competition. Since then, I have received a steady stream of correspondence—some of it sharply critical, but most of it extremely favorable. Of course, not everyone liked the essay. I learned that my...
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December 1, 2001June 23, 2022Vital Signs
Happy Holidays? Bah! Humbug!
In 1938, Whittaker Chambers broke with the Communist Party. In Witness, Chambers describes his Christmas that year as one of great joy, in which he first told his children the Christmas story, shared with them the Christmas ornaments that had decorated his childhood Christmas trees, and enjoyed the Christmas carols his daughter was then learning....
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February 1, 2001April 21, 2022Cultural Revolutions
Exit to Political Oblivion
Al Gore’s exit to political oblivion has no doubt delighted many conservatives. But there is nothing for conservatives to cheer about in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bush v. Gore, the instrument of Gore’s demise. The unsigned majority opinion concluded that Florida’s recount procedures violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, because...