Jorge Luis Borges is anything but easy to accept, absorb, comprehend, and emotionally embrace. It’s not that his poems, short stories, and essays are all hard to read, for some of them have the lucidity and pure tone of a crystal form seen and struck. Others are admittedly trying, especially for those not cognizant of...

Few 20th-century writers have moved so dramatically from the left to the right as James Burnham, and fewer still have articulated so clearly the moral and cultural validity of such a shift. Born in Chicago in 1905 and educated at Princeton and Balliol, Burnham began a 26-year career as a teacher and professor of philosophy...

Most people know nothing about metaphysics and wish to know less. The case is not that they do not actually govern their lives in harmony with a set of metaphysical principles, for that is simply not an option. As Aldous Huxley perceived: “It is impossible to live without a metaphysic. The choice that is given...

One of the best things about most of America’s past Presidential elections is that they have really decided so little. A remarkably centrist cultural and social consensus has dictated that, despite all of the vehement campaign rhetoric, both major parties have usual­ly agreed on a wide range of funda­mental issues. This national consensus has often...

EDITORrnThomas FlemingrnKXF.CU’IIVK F.DITORrnScott P. RichertrnSENIOR EDITOR, BOOKSrnChilton Williamson, ]r.rnASSISTAN’I- EDITORrnAaron D. WolfrnART DIRECTORrnH. Ward SterettrnDESIGNERrnMelanie AndersonrnCONTRIBUTING EDITORSrnKatherine Dalton, Samuel Francis,rnGeorge Garrett, Paul Gottfried,rnPhilib Jenkins, ].0. Tate, MichaelrnWashburn, Clyde WilsonrnCORRESPONDING EDITORSrn]anet Scott Barlow, Bill Kauffman,rnDonald Livingston, Roger D.rnMcGrath, William Mills, WilliamrnMurchison, Andrei Navrozov,rnJacob NeusnerrnKII.M EDITORrnGeorge McCartneyrnFOREIC,N-AFFAIRS EDI TORrnSrdja TrifhovicrnLEGAI .AFFAIRS EDITORrnStephen B. PresserrnRELIGION EDITORrnHarold O.]. BrownrnCIRCUIATION...

room for guilt. Every evil behavior isrn”sickness.” Stealing, gambling, gluttony,rnobscenity, or killing are all symptoms ofrnmental illnesses, according to the APArnand the AMA. The insanity defense is arnsafet) valve that permits people to closerntheir eyes to the darkest pits of the humanrnsoul.rnThe truth is that depression, phobias,rnand anxieties do not cause people tornchange or lose...

CULTURAL REVOLUTIONSrnAFTER SEPTEMBER 11, voices fromrnmany quarters have urged Americans tornreflect on the reasons for the widespreadrnhatred that the United States enduresrnabroad. This is doubtless good advice:rnSuch historical reflection is always worthwhile,rnand the pressing need for it is amplifiedrnin fimes of trouble.rnBut whether these voices genuinelyrnseek historical reflechon (as opposed tornthoughtless ideological applause) is anrnopen...

similar principle is at work here: A reasoned,rnwell-planned, and limited militaryrnaction of some sort against whatever limitedrngroup is ultimately shown to be responsiblernfor the September 11 attacks isrnmore respectful — to the victims, to therninterests of the United States, to the worldrnat large, and even to those behind the attacksrn—than either an indiscriminate militaryrnresponse or...

sticky—and related —problems of evilrnand the disappointments and seeminglyrnrandom tragedies of human existence.rnTheir problem is not with “religion”;rntheir problem is with God.rn–Wayne AllensworthrnSINCE SEPTEMBER 11, I have spentrna great deal of time in interviews with allrnsorts of media people, who range fromrnthe well informed to the abysmally ignorant.rnOne question that occurs withrndeadly predictability concerns the...

CHRONICLES’ BACK ISSUES, TAPES, AND BOOKSrn* Christmas PastrnOLD TIME RELIGION: TRADITION & FUNDAMENTALS—December 2000—rnThomas Fleming charts the path from tradition to annihilation, Harold O.J. Brown examinesrnthe tension hetwecn revelation and tradition, Philip Jenkins predicts the future of traditionalrnChristianity, and Steven Wilkins explains how the American South kept covenantrnwith God. Plus Alberto Carosa on the life...

PERSPECTIVErnThe Tower of Skullsrnby Thomas FlemingrnYou’ve never been to Nish?!” My friend was incredulous.rnHow can someone who has traveled, it sometimesrnseems, every inch of Montenegro, Bosnia, and Kosovo not havernfound the time to go to Nish? The lady is far from being a localrnchauvinist, but when I first met her and asked (as I had...

the same rage. Although iconoclasm was eventually eondemnedrnat the Seventh Ecumenieal Couneil, the rahies hasrnneer been eliminated. The Bogomils, Cathars, and Albigensiansrnwere not only unsound on the Trinit- and enemies of thernestablislied order of the Church, but many went as far astray inrnthe practices of everda- life as die Anabaptists who embracedrnsome of their heresies....

Relationsrnby Lawrence DuganrnFamilies arriving at the zoornKnow by some instinct what to do:rnParents lead till daughter lingersrnWatching monkey count his fingers,rnFinding four, or six, or dozensrnIf the count includes his cousins . . .rnAnd then those people start to starernAs if the monkey’s heart were bare!rnAcross the crease of solemn facernThe ancient wisdom of our...

Breaking Glassrnby Philip JenkinsrnShadow of EcstasyrnIt’s starting again. ^^Iniost 20 ears ago, tliernfederal goernnicnt launehed what becamernknown as die “war on drugs,” a radicalrnexperiment to suppress illegal drugsrnriirough harsh penal solutions. Amongrnortier things, this meant long prison sentencesrnfor the sale or possession of tin’rnquantities of controlled substances, sentencesrnthat are astonishingl}- severe b thernstandards of irtualK’...

cnt faitlis might come together in harmony, perhaps to watchrnschool plays or see children unwrap presents. He recognizedrnthat the whole underlying doctrine of Christmas was the mostrnstark, uncompromising, and vaunting assertion of the corernChristian idea, Verhum cam factum est. Tliis is scandal to Jews,rnfolly to Greeks—and unspeakably horrible blasphemy to Muslims.rnThe Koran devotes a whole...

The amazing thing about the novel is that the ideologiealrntransfomiation from progressive to MusHm is accompHslied sornconvincingly that we can readily accept it. One of Chesterton’srnmost striking characters is the progressive prohibitionist Philip,rnLord Ivywood, the naive aristocrat who leads the campaignrnagainst wine and social nonconformity: He espouses all the faddishrncauses of his day, including vegetarianism...

And man, at war with man, hears notrnThe love-song which they bring; —rnOh hush the noise, ye men of strife,rnAnd hear the angels sing!rnThe Christian era has been a mere “two thousand years ofrnwrong?” Wliat, then, is the purpose of Christmas? It is our opportimityrnto “hear the angels sing.” Wliat do they sing? “Peacernon the...

While the Puritans spurned the writings of the medievalrnsehoolmen, they were nonetheless obsessed with logie. As thernmoniunental work of the late Perry Miller suggests, the Puritansrntraded what they perceived to be the syllogistic logic of Aristotlern(and St. Thomas) for the aesthetic logie of Petrus Ramus. Ramus,rna French humanist who converted to generic Protestantismrnin 1561, was...

And it was on this basis that the Unitarians transformedrnChristmas into something that both hberals and evangehcalsrncould enjoy—a clear departure from the Puritan past. By 1842,rna new interpretaHon of the holiday was already in place:rnI have always thought of Christmas hme, when it hasrncome round—apart from the veneration due to its sacredrnname and origin, if...

“Bless the Lord, All You Works of the Lord”rnNature and the Incarnationrnby Scott P. RichertrnIn one of the first episodes of the latest Star Trek series, Enterprise,rnthe crew, a few weeks ont from Earth on the ship’srnmaiden voyage, has become homesick. Suddenly, an inhabitablernplanet appears off of the port side. Tliere are no signs of...

a gloss on the Creation story that radically alters the way Christiansrnview Nature. The God Who created the world and everythingrnin it has become a part of Creation; indeed, He has becomernthe centerpiece of Creation, the Savior of mankind, hirntaking on our nature. He has not only redeemed us but drawnrnus closer to Him. As...

CHRONICLES INTELLIGENCE ASSESSMENTrnOsama bin Laden: The Balkan ConnectionrnT lie II.S. and British cinlwssics were shut down in Saraje{)rnon October 17 after receixing threats from Bosnian Nhislinisrnand tlicir foreign coreligionists resident in Bosnia who jjrofessrnontrage at the l)oinbing of Mghanistan. “This step has beenrntaken dne to a credible secnrih threat to the official U.S. presencernin Bosnia-I...

Mast to ()iHi America.rnIn tlic wake of Septcnibci’s terrorist attacks, it was rc]K)rtcdrnthat Muslim authorities had issued a lk)siuan passport tornOsama bin Laden at tlic l^osnian cmhass- in ‘ienna in 199s.rnThe l/etbcgoic goernnicnt tiiirs facilitated the moxement otrntlie man who had, b that time, alread acquired a reputation asrna dangerous terrorist. Another bcnefieiar of Bosnian...

tliat, “last car, sources in Jordan sa-, the Mukliaharat, the intelligencernseniee, alerted the C.I.A. to at least three plots h Bosnian-rnbased Islamic terrorists to attack U.S. targets in k’.urope.”rnWhile an elaborate Islamic terror nehvork was de elopingrnin Bosnia, Osairia bin Laden w as busy looking for freshrnopportunities in the Balkans. During the NATO war againstrnSerbia,...

of “equal protection,” so the argumentrnruns, la’ in the faihire of the FloridarnSupreme Corut to declare a statewidernstandard to he used in counting, thusrnlea’iug unclear whether the reeountersrncould find xalid votes where there wererndimpled chads, pregnant chads, swingingrnchads, hanging chads, et cetera. Thernresulting possibilit}’ for different standards,rnthe Court declared, might be nnduK’rnprejudicial to George W....

ought to be reversed, and additional recountsrnshould be taken.rnOnec again, the Denioeratic trialcourtrnjudge ruled against Al Gore. Sensibly,rnhe interpreted the “contest” statute tornapply only to situations in which gross irregularitiesrnwere suspected, not to closernelections. By now. Gore had lost thernoriginal count, the mandatory machinernrecount, the certification, and the attemptrnat a “contest.” He appealed, oncernmore, to...

in Chapter II, in which Kissinger diseussesrnNATO and missile defense. Kissingerrnis a dedicated “NATO forever” enthusiastrnand a firm proponent of the missile-defensernsystem. I’o him, NATO “shll remainsrnas an insurance policy against arnnew Russian imperialism.” It must notrnlose its sense of purpose and dissolve “intorna mnltilatcral mishmash”; if it did,rn”both Germany and Russia woidd berntempted to...

as a diarist than he would ever have donernas a career poHtieian.rnThe first vohime of his diaries, coveringrn1983 to 1991 and published in 1993,rnwas promptly described by the Times asrn”one of the great works in the genre” forrnits “Pooterish self-assessment, for MrrnToad’s enthusiasm for new things, for Byron’srncaddishness, for its deadly candour.”rnIt was not just...

buried beside him. One must havernfaith, but haunting me is the endlessrnjourney, faster than the speedrnof Hght, of the soul into infinit)-.rn(There is still much speculation aboutrnwhether Alan Clark converted to Catholicismrnjust before he died; he was anrnunexpectedly religious man, who oftenrnmentions God in the Diaries.)rnHis book ends on a high note, withrnClark vTiting of...

Principalities & Powersrnbv Samuel FrancisrnEnemies Within and AbovernWithin a few hours of the terrorist attackrnon the World Trade Center and the Pentagonrnlast September, it had becomerncommonplace for even high-rankiirgrngovernment officials and elected leadersrnto say publicly that Americans would justrnhave to get used to fewer constitutionalrnliberties and personal freedoms than theyrnhave traditionally enjoyed. Of course, thatrnwas...

From the perspective of the v’orldviewrnand materia] interests of the rnling class,rnof comse, that message makes sense.rnThe Constitution, after all, is an 18thcentnryrndocimient reflecting the beliefsrnand interests of a long-defunct agrarianrnand mercantile ruling class and societ}’,rnwhile mass immigration and the kind ofrnsocieh’ it shapes reflect the modern, postindustrial,rnglobalist regime that breaksrndown all such distinctions and...

Letter From Rockfordrnby Scott P. RichertrnFrom Here to Eternityrn”Weapons—guns, knives, brass knuckles,rncigarette lighters . . . ” The young man’srnvoice trails off. If he were not waving hisrnmetal-detector wand at us, I might thinkrnthat he was offering to sell us a gun or two,rnnot asking us if we were carrying any.rn”No, they’re all in the...

‘The trouble with the House of Horrorsrn(and similar haunted houses), the RockfordrnRegister Star claimed, is that the organizersrndeliberately hide their intentions.rnNothing at the House of Horrorsrnindicates that it might differ from the fewrndozen other haunted houses in the area,rnand its website {mriv.ficreainhouse.com)rnsimply proclaims:rnW’c will sliow you the unspeakablern[sic] horrif’ing events that havernbrought human torture to...

CORRESPONDENCErnLetter FromrnMinnesotarnby Mark FellowsrnA Winter’s TalernThe funeral home looked better on thernoutside. The solid, dignified impressionrngiven by the white pillars standing guardrnoutside the large double doors disappearedrnwhen you stepped inside andrnwalked on old carpeting into a dimly litrnroom with dark wood paneling. Acrossrnthe room were a pair of lime-green armchairsrnembosse^l with tarnished silverrnstuds. One of...

Charles, and we both prayed, and he acceptedrnJesus as his personal savior.” Hernadded quietly, “It was the kind of meetingrnI dream about.”rnWe watched the coffin descend intornthe dark hole, slowly and very quietly.rnThe traffic continued to zoom by. Thernundertaker shook our hands and left,rnleaving his assistant to complete the burial.rnBrace made a joke about his...

entirely. So, as I turned the last page ofrnthe book, I resolved then and there tornmake a roughly planned pilgrimage tornRome and Assisi, flying to Italy and walkingrnas far as time allowed on the pathsrnthat had been trodden by St. Francis. Irnwould leave it to Providence to look afterrnall the details and to make sure...

Kid/Brushy Bill talkfest. My father-inlaw,rnhowever, insists that Pat Garret sentrnThe Kid to a Wild West version of Valhallarnway back when. Personally, I favorrnthe Brushy Bill story, having learnedrnfrom John Ford that it’s better to print thernlegend. Ann says her father witnessedrnBrushy Bill’s passing (he apparently diedrnof a heart attack on a Hico street). It’s arnstory...

Absent such reliable records of whatrnhappened, how are we to know what didrnnot happen? Much that archeology saysrnabout the written account represents arnmassive argument from silence. ThernTorah camp responds out of the Talmud:rn”Ln raiti, lo zu raiyah” (‘”I saw nothing’ isrnno proof). Why would a rabbi disruptrnthe social order of Ix)s Angeles Judaism atrnPassover on...

way back, pew by pew, collecting moneyrnand checks, and then disappearing behindrnme. When the priest raised hisrnhands and they swept back up tlie aisle tornthe altar, one of the men had the boy onrnhis hip, the plate in his other hand. Atrntlie altar, tlie toddler’s head snapped forwardrnto watch as the priest took the offering,rnlifted...

and refused to propose the kind of freemarketrnreforms that the overburdenedrnB.C. health-care system could benefitrnfrom, the platform that the Liberals ranrnon was essentially Thatcherite.rnThe party promised to slash incometaxrnrates, require a balanced budget, andrntake a baseball bat to the kneecaps ofrngreedy, bloated, public- and private-sectorrnunions. Government subsidies tornbusiness would be discontinued, andrnmany of the more...

At Last!rnA book that exposes the true cultural significance of the Clinton presidencyrnThe Nonpatriotic President: A Survey of the CAinton Yearsrnby Janet Scott BarlowrnWhitewater . . . Filegate . . . Monica LewinskyrnThe scandals are only the beginningrnIf you think that Bill Clinton’s influence will end when hernleaves office, you need to read this book....

The American InterestrnMemorandum tornPresident George W. BushrnIn the aftermath of September 11, yournhave done a reasonably good job managingrnthe crisis, symbolizing the nation’srnunity, restraining the laptop bombardiers,rnand preparing a military response that wasrnneitlier hasty nor disproportionate. Nowrnthat two months have passed, you havernmore time to reflect on the long-term significancernof that event and to draw...

could be activated on a freighter sailingrnunder the Verazzano or the Golden GaternBridge. Missile defense will cost trillionsrnof dollars that could be more usefully deplorncd in making America’s frontiers,rncoasts and ports of entr’ impenetrable tornall illegal entrants, regardless of race,rncreed, or national origin.rnReform the “intelligence communih.”rnIt has failed niiserabh’, because it isrnsimph’ not designed to...

VITAL SIGNSrnCHRISTIANITYrnHappy Holidays?rnBah! Humbug!rnby Tom PiatakrnI n 1938, Whittakcr Chambers brokernwith the Communist Partw hi Witness,rnChambers describes his Christmasrnthat year as one of great joy, in which hernfirst told his children the Christmas story,rnshared with them the Christmas ornamentsrnthat had decorated his childhoodrnChristmas trees, and enjoyed the Christmasrncarols his daughter was then learning.rnAt first glance,...

pated in his elementan’ school’s “hohdayrnconcert.” h: his school system, the greatrnmajorih’ of students are white and Christian,rnet onK’ two Christmas carols werernsung, and one of them was “Feliz Navidad.”rnThis small concession to Christmasrnwas more than outweighed by therntwo Kwanza songs, the two f^anukkahrnsongs, the Ramadan song, and the ChinesernNew Year song the children alsornperformed....

And with true love and brotherhood,rnEach other now embrace.rnThis holy tide of Christmas,rnAll others doth deface.rnO tidings of comfort and joy.rnComfort and joy.rnO tidings of comfort and joy.rnTom Piatak writes from Cleveland, Ohio.rnFOREIGN AFFAIRSrnWho Needs IslamicrnFundamentalism?rnby Andrei ISavrozovrnAfter almost a century of dealing withrninternational terrorism—since communism,rnin practice as well as in theory,rnis hardly anything more...

then it was too late for Britain’s heroicrn”bastards” to fight against European unificationrnin any but the fimited way theyrnhad chosen.rnIt always pays, therefore, to look at thernlarger picture. I would argue that therngeopolifical history of the last century—rnin the course of which totalitarianismrnemerged, developed, and evolved to becomernthe ineluctable lot of mankind thatrnit is today—may...

—states working as the launching pads ofrnterrorism against the West—had to bernmade real. Here, a few facts may be adduced.rnDuring the single year precedingrnPutin’s election in the spring of 2000,rnMoscow’s known sales of military hardwarernto Baghdad had already run into thernhundreds of millions of dollars; yet, in thernspring of 2001, to accelerate and directrnthese acquisitions,...

same signature” as the World Trade Centerrnbombing. Indeed, they do.rnI concKide with the words of a veteranrnpolihcal observer, John Keegan (defenserneditor of tlie Daily Telegraph, writing inrnthat newspaper on September 14):rnThere are two reasons why PresidentrnPutin might help. The first isrnthat Russia is also plagued by thernmenace of Islamic terrorism that,rnin Chechnya, has inflicted humiliationrnon...