the rope of Abolitionism, and by the 1830’s the antislaveryrnmovement had become a messianic religious crusade. RadicalrnAbolitionist propaganda found its way not only into the literaturernand public oratory of the day, but into juvenile storybooks,rnchurch hymnals, and even almanacs.rnThe milder form of Abolitionism that existed until the latern1820’s in both North and South called for...

The decade of the 1850’s further convinced Emerson that,rnif unchecked, the South’s “slaveocracy” would render NewrnEngland impotent in American politics. Many of his fellowrnNortherners were lured into sympathizing with the South, hernthought, by “the ascendancy of Southern manners.” Alarmedrnat the prospects of Southern political dominance, Emerson discardedrnwhatever objectivity he once may have had and increasedrnthe...

trample it under the heel of our boots. This is the meaning ofrnthe war.” So it was.rnThe sort of destruction laid upon Southerners can be sold tornthe public only if the targets of that destruction are demonizedrnto the point of having their humanity stripped away. They thusrnbecome nonpersons against whom the most vile depredationsrncan be...

well as with the reformist-revolutionary impulse encouraged byrnmany army officers’ contacts with the West in the Napoleonicrnwars, fused in a liberal-radical mindset that proclaimed thatrnRussia had been left outside “history,” that Russia was a barbaricrncountry inhabited by a primitive people who were psychologicallyrnand culturally unable to join Europe (all non-Europeanrncountries and peoples were viewed as...

adopts that model.” All those who oppose—or even criticize—rnthe globalist trinity (liberalism, democratism, consumerism)rnare de facto agents of the Evil One.rnRussian nationalism, then, is something of an impedimentrnto the globalist project, as the Russian right has so long maintained.rnSuch a gigantic chunk of the earth’s surface, such an influentialrnnation, could not be left out of...

In the Yugoslav conflict,rnmisinformation has exceededrnanything ever witnessedrnduring World War II.rnWe now know a great deal about these “Serb” atrocities inrnSarajevo. Jean Daniel, editor of the magazine Le NouvelrnObservateur, in the August 31, 1995, issue under the revealingrntitle, “No more lies about Bosnia,” made an unprecedentedrnconfession: that the Prime Minister at the time of the...

Istanbul synagogue massacre, the devastating series of bombingsrnin Paris, and attempts to blow up Israeli and other Westernrnairliners. That April, President Reagan decided to take a lealoutrnof the Israeli book, and sent aircraft against Libyan targets:rnhe thus followed the “stand tough” strategy advocated by upand-rncoming Israeli diplomat Benjamin Netanyahu. Thoughrnthe Libyans were the most conspicuous...

evidence,” which showed that the Syrians were in fact innocent,rnand the actual culprits were (so conveniently) thernLibyans! Honor could be satisfied, the Syrians mollified, andrnanother atrocity laid at Colonel Qaddafi’s doorstep.rnWho controls the present controls the past; who controlsrnthe past, controls the future. Power gives one the rightrnnot only to determine the messages transmitted in...

goals” as the “good for which all otherrnputative goods must serve as mere tools.”rnAlthough Charles Taylor believes thisrnfulfillment involves “something” thatrn”has significance independent of ourrndesires,” like other communitarians hisrnrelativism compels him to “reject anyrnformulation of” that “something” or ofrn”the goals of life that transcend developmentrnof our individual talents andrncapacities,” In his scheme, then, transcendentrnloyalties “to...

tion, he becomes authentic. By the endrnof his stay, Paul Danvers has learnedrnwhat it means to become “de man of thernfamily” and to “do the right thing”rn(rather than the expedient thing).rnIn Baldwin’s fiction, becoming humanrnmeans learning how to love—becomingrna man means being willing tornkill, when it means defending or protectingrnoneself, or what one loves. This...

Principalities & Powersrnby Samuel FrancisrnThe Ruling ClassrnOne of the ironies of American politicalrndiscussion in the last generation or so—rnindeed, of the last century—has beenrnthat, for all our boasting and braggadociornabout being a nation founded on thernproposition that all men are createdrnequal, it is almost impossible to find anyrnsignificant American social thinker whornreally believes it. Power...

most we can have are elites in differentrnfields that are distinct from each otherrnand are often in conflict with each other,rnand while that is not the kind of equalityrnwe would really like or the kind Marx andrnhis Enlightenment forebears chatteredrnabout, it’s close enough, at least as longrnas the elites are reasonably open to newrnmembers and...

CORRESPONDENCErnForeignrnCorrespondencesrnby William MillsrnDown Ecuador Way, Part IIrnPart of the charm of Latin American visualrnarts for me is the absence of extremernpolarities in the continuum anchored byrnfolk art on one end and fine art on thernother. A continuum often seems not tornexist in “First World Countries.” Thernfine art that I saw in Ecuador often containedrnthe themes...

Painter Luigi Stornaiolo.rnwhen he is treating old people, whetherrnthev be hashing out politics in the CafernMadrilon near the Palace, or on a parkrnbench. However, his satire can be ferociousrnwhen directed at other aspects ofrnthe urban scene, like “Miserable Charactersrnon the 5th Floor,” By wav of category,rnsome of his work might be called cartoonrnrealism, yet there...

course full of giggles at the gringo takingrntheir picture. On the wall above their tablesrnwas a mural of Jesus with a veryrnyoung-looking 12 disciples over whichrnwere the words in Spanish, “Give us thisrnday, our daily bread.” The meal wasrnnothing fancy, but was the staple ofrnLatin America, nourishing rice andrnbeans. (Anyone interested in helpingrnthis group may...

Letter FromrnPittsburghrnby Sarah J. McCarthyrnWhite DevilsrnWith a BadgernJonny Gammage died on the night ofrnOctober 12, 1995, in front of Frank andrnShirley’s paneake parlor, just three milesrnfrom my home. Jonny was a black man, arncousin and business partner of PittsburghrnSteeler Ray Seals, and he died inrnthe custody of five white suburban policemenrnwho had pulled him over...

VITAL SIGNSrnSouthern WhiternTrashrnby Margie BurnsrnSurely anyone looking at film with anrneye to understanding American poprnculture or, for that matter, American seriousrnculture, lately, would have to be intriguedrnby the recent spate of “whitetrashrnflicks.” Every season over the pastrnthree years seems to have produced itsrnbrace of movies set in either the South orrna trailer park (often synonyms,...

overt in the recent spate of white-trashrnfilms (trailer parks). Examples run arnshort gamut from Kalifornia to True Romance,rnpartly including Gun Crazy,rnShort Cuts, Flesh and Bone, A PerfectrnWorld, Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Benefitrnof a Doubt, Love and a .45, amongrnothers. If one newspaper headline neverrnseen is “Tornado Skips Trailer Park,” arnVariety headline not seen...

loyalty, and courage in Southern movierncharacters sometimes suggest they’re toorndumb to know any better. Enter ForrestrnGump.rnForrest Gump has abundant similaritiesrnwith another recent white-trashrnmovie not often compared to it: NaturalrnBorn Killers. In both, boy and girl lostrnsouls befriend each other; the Southern/rncracker girls are abused by their fathersrn—in Natural Born Killers, this is sornblatantly a motif...

for one am tired of happy endings transactedrnover the bodies of dead hayseeds,rnbut you cannot make an omelette withoutrnbreaking aigs.rnMargie Burns writes from Cheverly,rnMaryland.rnREGIONALISMrnJ. Evetts Haley-rnCowboy, Patriotrnby Evetts Haley, Jr.rnJ. Evetts Haley.rnHe “was a product, even more thanrnmost men are, of his time, soil andrncircumstance. He was an intent, practicalrnman of driving and determinedrnpurpose…. But...

laire du Berrier, who to this day publishesrna fine newsletter on military intelligencernand political history for his subscribers.rnThere was also BrigadierrnGeneral Bonner Fellers, formerly withrnU.S. Army Intelligence, who was attachedrnto the staff of British Field MarshallrnViscount Montgomery in NorthrnAfrica before our entrance into that costlyrnconflict and about whom PresidentrnRoosevelt said to his Chief of Staff...

sat on the other side of the academicrnfence as a member of the Board of Directorsrnof Texas Technological College,rnappointed by then-governor Allan Shivers.rn(During that same period, GovernorrnShivers also appointed J. Evetts the hrstrnmember from Texas to the foundingrnBoard of Directors of the National CowboyrnHall of Fame and Western HeritagernCenter in Oklahoma City. Twenty-fivernyears later he...

The Hundredth Meridianrnby Chilton Williamson, Jr.rnDust Thou ArtrnSheep Mountain like a fallen tombstonernlay on the horizon under a sky thickeningrnwith gray cloud ribbons and white lenticulars.rnIt was too cold for snow yet andrnrain had not fallen for weeks in thernmountains. The wind raised smallrnstorms of dust on the pale surface of thernclay road, and whirled...

a late dinner inside the canvas army tentrnwith a fire going in the woodstove.rnSomeone gave me something hot to eatrnand Jerry took the mare from mc, sayingrnthat he had plenty of feed to keep herrnwith his horses until the road set up, orrndried out. I drew the saddle off andrnstowed the tack behind the tent,...

19 9 6 in R e V irnj^ fp?rnTHEORY AGAINST LIFE—January 1996—GeorgernWatson on literary theory in England, Jeremy Black onrnthe Whig approach to history, E. Christian Kopff onrndeconstructionism, and Irving Louis 1 lorowitz onrnThomas Szasz and the theory of mental illness.rnPlus Samuel Francis’s review of Michael Lind’s ThernNext American Nation.rn^•^’Pr^i^rnPRtlTl,rn•’ •’Irn””•CUMi,,’,rn”ii/.’i,,rn•^’lift’.,;,,.rnOTTK^rn—^••’*£*^£5£rnTiVOX% es’rn”V**rnW OTWTrnPRAVDA USA: PROPAGANDA...

transactionrnNew and Recent Books on Family and PolicyrnTHE SWEDISH EXPERIMENTrnIN FAMILY POLITICSrnTHE MYRDALS AND THE INTERWARrnPOPULATION CRISISrnAllan CarlsonrnThis devastating account of the work ofrnGunnar and Alva Myrdal portrays how twornyoung scholars used the power of ideas tornhelp engineer a new domestic order in Sweden.rnIt offers the general reader remarkablerninsight into the nature of Scandinavian socialrnlife,...

EDITORrnThomas FlemingrnMANAGING EDITORrnTheodore PappasrnSENIOR EDITOR. BOOKSrnChilton Williamson, ]r.rnASSISTANT EDITORrnMichael WashburnrnART DIRECTORrnAnna Mycek-WodeckirnCONTRIBUTING EDITORSrnHarold O.]. Brown, Katherine Dalton,rnSamuel Francis, George Garrett, PaulrnGottfried, Christine Haynes,rnE. Christian Kopff, ].0. Tate,rnClyde WilsonrnCORRESPONDING EDITORSrnBill Kauffman, William Mills,rnJacob Neusner, John Shelton Reed,rnMomcilo SelicrnEDITORIAL SECRETARYrnLeann DobbsrnPUBLISHERrnAllan C. CarlsonrnPUBLICATION DIRECTORrnGuy C. ReffettrnPRODUCTION SECRETARYrnAnita CandyrnCIRCULATION MANAGERrnRochelle FrankrnA publication of The Rockford Institute.rnEditorial and Advertising...

tional (Ninth Amendment) rights. Indeed,rnthe Court has become the instrumentrnbv which minority interests rulernthe majority. The Congress would be arnmore logical institution to provide thernmechanism. Since its members also takernthe oath to uphold the Constitution,rnCongress could enact legislation establishingrnthe national initiative and referendumrnto define Ninth Amendmentrnrights. The result of such a processrnwould be binding, and...

of high tariffs. Repubhcan Presidentsrnfrom Abraham Lincoln to Ronald Reaganrnhave supported protectionism, whilernDemocrats from Woodrow Wilson tornBill Clinton have opposed it. On this issue,rnas on most important ones, there isrnno substantial difference between Clintonrnand Dole. Under either man thernUnited States faces a future of increasedrndownsizing and consequent debt. Evenrna slight economic downturn will sendrnour country...

and Wesleyan University.rnHis first volume of verse, The BeautifulrnChanges, which appeared in 1947, wonrnthe poet early respect from critics as demandingrnas T.S. Eliot. Since that time,rnhis poetry has received many majorrnawards: two Pulitzer Prizes, a NationalrnBook Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship,rnand the Prix de Rome. His translationsrnof French drama into rhymed couplets,rnacclaimed throughout the Englishspeakingrnworld, have...

PERSPECTIVErnThe Sacraments of Anti-Christrnby Thomas FlemingrnCC said a French actress of the ARepubhean marriage,”rn18th century, “is the sacrament of adultery.” This bonrnmot is recorded by Sir Walter Scott in the description of thernFrench Revolution with which he begins his Life of Napoleon.rnIn passing the first no-fault divorce law in Christendom, hernconcludes, the Jacobinsrnhad reduced the...

thest in seeing a supernatural dimension. Marriage is of “holyrnestate” and the marriage ceremony, for some Christians atrnleast, has a sacramental character. In rearing their children,rnChristian parents also bear responsibility for seeing to their religiousrninstruction, whether they carry it out themselves or turnrnsome part of this task over to churches that provide instructionsrnfor confirmation. For...

mon cause with them except in the sense that we can join togetherrnwith anyone, even people who hate and despise us, to accomplishrnsome good thing—to teach mathematics or sweeprnthe streets. What we cannot expect of government is to teachrnChristian theology or repress sodomy, any more than we canrnask the IRS to collect tithes for the...

Reformation, maintained a nominal authority over marriage.rnA commonwealth’s principal interest in marriage was in determiningrnthe legitimacy of children. This concern was particularlyrnacute, wherever (as was common) there were rules restrictingrnthe rights of bastards to inherit property or exercise thernrights of citizens. What possible claim could be made by arnmodern commonwealth, where kept women may sue...

and wilderness regions with which few of them will ever havernany direct contact—”the swaying tall pines among the litter ofrncones on the forest floor,” real places which remain for themrnwhat they are for Muriel Spark’s self-destroying modern heroinernin The Driver’s Seat (1970)—a mental construct, a countryrnof the mind. So, too, with the traditional belief in...

and Christian faith as “a religion of little things.” Not surprisingly,rnhe describes the complexities of modern life as a kind ofrnmadness, a “final divorce” from such realities as what he callsrn”liberty in small nations and poor families” and “the rights ofrnman as including the rights of property; especially the propertyrnof the poor.” hi a sermon...

to the problem of solipsistie isolation is the recovery of whatrnthev eall a saeramental sense, hi principle, both authors aeknowlcdgcrnthat the dualistie separation of the material and thernspiritual has already been overcome by the coming of Christ.rnBut their writings demonstrate the difficulty with which thernlost unit’ can be recovered in human lives which arc supposedrnto...

brated, even to an extent enforced by Sunday closings—now allrnbut abolished in the United States and beginning to be abandonedrnin Europe. Christmas, celebrating the birth of the Sonrnof God, reminded all adults and children of the wonder of humanrnbirth and at the same time alluded to the fulfillment ofrnour deepest hopes in the second coming:...

friend” is some sort of a sentimental beautification of what is inrnreality an ordeal.rnIt is worth remembering that in the Christian story, even Jesusrnhimself prayed, “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me”rn(Matthew 26:39). Even the Apostle Paul, who wrote, “To die isrngain . . . and to be with Christ, which is...

ing jobs continue to flee the country. In the 1950’s, 33 percentrnof jobs in the United States were in manufacturing. In 1996,rnthe figure is 16 percent. Much of this job loss is due to our recklessrnleap into the global marketplace, but some of it, as the Motorolarnexample shows, is due to the implosion of our...

conspiracies, the work of Satanic mills, loose morality. Wernhardly take them—as yet—seriously or investigate their roots.rnWe are in a state of astonishment, as the last Greco-Roman pagansrnmust have been when their temples were closed in favor ofrnChristian churches, and the administration of provincesrnslipped out of the hands of imperial officials into the hands ofrna new...

symbolized by the physical construction of the chapel at myrnown university, Penn State, in which the architects militantlyrnrefused to include any specifically religious symbol, preferringrninstead a series of abstract designs equally incomprehensible tornall, creating a state of ecumenical bafflement. We seemed tornbe practicing an “absolute separation of campus and state.”rnSomewhere down the road,rnwe need to...

likely to encounter is an introduction to world religions, whichrnin various forms is a fixture of many large universities. Thernproblems here can be summarized in the cynical description ofrnthis class, as “If it’s Tuesday, it must be Buddhism.” A sessionrnon Hinduism will generally lead to one on Buddhism, and onernon “other Indian traditions,” before moving...

mendation, or even a sine qua non, for courses on Christianity?rnOne facile answer to this question is that Christianity, unlikernthe other religions, is associated with those dominant culturalrnand political trends that have become so unfashionable underrnstigmatizing terms like the “West,” “imperialism,” “hegemonic”rnculture, and so on. The argument always was weak, but isrnnow essentially obliterated: Africa...

ly based on the pioneering research donernby others (such as the American historianrnChristopher Browning).rnRudolf Augstein, the highly opinionatedrneditor of Germany’s most influentialrnweekly, Der Spiegel, dismissed Goldhagenrnout of hand as a “nonhistorian,”rnadding that “the end result is meager,rnone can even say, it is simply ‘Nil.'” Inrnthe Berliner Morgenpost, ProfessorrnMichael Wolffsohn (who was born in Israel)rnwas no...

was more likely to win the new “totalrnwar” for which he prayed than arnreligion of love. He was convertedrnby his bluestocking wife Mathilde,rnwho wrote Redemption from ]esusrnChrist. Most Nazis consider themselvesrnsufficiently subtle when theyrn”discover” that all foes are tools ofrnJudaism. Mathilde goes them onernbetter in subtlety: even the Jews arerntools. At a Nazi party congress...

(b) he therefore never betrays the slightestrninkling that the power of the overclassrnis rooted, as Burnham understood, in therncentralized managerial state constructedrnb- the very “national liberals” whomrnLind takes as his heroes. The overclass orrnmanagerial elite could not exist as arndominant group apart from its dependencernon the federal governmentrn(and mini-leviathans at the state andrnmetropolitan levels), the...

merely regurgitating left-wing efforts tornsmear it as “pseudo-science” and “neo-rnNazi.” In any case, it is hard to see anythingrn”Darwinian” about books thatrnnever invoke biology or genetics; whilerntheir timid reception by neoconservatism,rnonce the left denounced them,rndemonstrates how neoconservatives continuernto slobber when the left rings itsrnbells, not how hell-bent they are on reversingrnall that the left has...

CORRESPONDENCErnLetter FromrnInner Israelrnby Jacob NeusnerrnJews on Abortionrn”Mommy let me live!” screams the tastelessrnheadline of a pro-life ad, completernwith scary pictures of a baby’s diary;rn”May 1; Today my parents gave me therngift of life… . One week has passed andrnlook, I’m no longer a single cell,” and sornon through the year. Here are the concludingrnentries:rnJuly 24:...

contradictory facts? First, not everybodyrnwho identifies himself as ethnically Jewishrnpractices the religion, and in thernUnited States many do not. Second, justrnas there are many Christianities, whichrnintersect in a few things but part companyrnin manv, so there arc diverse Judaisms,rneach with its own account of what thernTorah rcc[uircs of holy Israel, God’s firstrnlove. Some of the...