Posted on 02/14/2005 12:31:05 PM PST by EveningStar
The question, in its many variations a staple of Manhattan dinner parties, is invariably posed with bitter bewilderment: "How could anyone with a shred of decency call himself a conservative?" Alas, it is a question the book business has done a singularly poor job of answering. While publishers have fattened their bottom lines offering up red meat to true believers, the steady stream of invective from both left ("Liars!") and right ("Traitors!") has served only to widen the nation's yawning ideological divide.
This is what makes Michael Medved's provocative memoir, "Right Turns: Unconventional Lessons from a Controversial Life," so welcome. There is certainly no question about where Medved stands: he is a leading cultural conservative with a nationally syndicated radio show; his book is blurbed by a who's who of right-wing conspirators (Rush Limbaugh, Laura Schlessinger, Bill Bennett and, yes, Ann Coulter). But its pages are mercifully free of pettiness and bile. To the contrary, what we get is precisely what many who find his ideas objectionable profess to seek: an explanation of how a complex and decent man -- a proudly Jewish, former liberal activist yet! -- came to embrace them.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
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One chapter is somewhat disconcerting in the visceral reaction of his family to his non-Jewish girlfriend.
LOL
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Yes, but ... whenever NYT prints something conservative-friendly, it always seems they select a conservative voice to do the honors, in this case City Journal. Is that because the owners of the liberal voices don't want to lose cocktail-party status?
Still, the appearance of this review in NYT is good news. I hope the success of this book hastens the day when more liberals realize that the self-evidence of the rightness of their cause is lacking. Let alone liberals should become willing to debate the bases of their core beliefs.
That's one answer. Another might be to point out that not all that many conservative Christians are prepared to say who is going to hell and who is not. Certainly not many who would say that you will go to hell for being an observant Jew, living uprightly, and doing your best by your lights.
We can expect liberals to assume that "Christian fundamentalists" are no better than Muslim fundamentalists--in fact worse because they aren't designated victims. But it's a bit grating from Medved. Maybe he just wanted to keep his answer short and snappy.
Obviously you missed the comment, made somewhat in jest by EQAndyBuzz earlier today in a thread about an older Jewish ex-porn star, "No wonder my parents always told me that Shiksas were for practice." Yeah, the things parents (and not just Jewish parents--trust me on this one) tell their kids can be mighty disconverting and offensive. (And, yes, this goy has enough Jewish friends to know that a "shiksa" is and what the saying means.)
I just bought it, it's excellent. And the liberal who said that fundamentalists -- or Christians in general -- believe that Jews are going straight to hell, is a dismal piece of work.
Part of a liberal's day is spent in foaming at the mouth. 'Mr. Bubbles has taken over my mind agaaaiiinn...'
I don't think I have ever met a Christian who said so-and-so is going to hell, or thought that. Ever. And I was raised a southern Baptist.
Medved's book is inspirational, spiritual and moving, very candid, in all ways excellent.
Actually, most any Southern Baptist would think that a Jew who did not believe in Jesus is going straight to hell.
Medved didn't say anything about Christian fundamentalists, though. He was asked how he could work with "people" who sincerely believe that he's going straight to hell. He didn't say that he believed that was the view of all Christian fundamentalists. I assume some fall into that category, and some don't.
I think Medved is a tad boring sometimes, but I think he expresses the most solid view on the role of religion in American life I've ever heard. His enjoyment of the Christmas season alone is a testament to the broadness of his spirit. A good guy.
I'm shocked.
And as for being a "conservative," I'm sure to the NYT he is, but he's really a republican, not a conservative.
Get him started on ILLEGAL ALIENS and he'll invoke Holocaust imagery with statements like "What are we going to do, round them all up and put them in camps?!" (actual medved quote).
I'm shocked.
And as for being a "conservative," I'm sure to the NYT he is, but he's really a republican, not a conservative.
Get him started on ILLEGAL ALIENS and he'll invoke Holocaust imagery with statements like "What are we going to do, round them all up and put them in camps?!" (actual medved quote).
Yeah, I was just a bit peeved. What he said is correct, short, and snappy. It just lets his liberal interlocuter get away with an assumption that's far from the truth.
I was just faulting Medved for not correcting the liberal's dismal assumption, but maybe he just figured it was useless. Some people are invincibly ignorant. What he said was true enough.
They must all be in the religion forum of Free Republic. Check out how many "Christians", and especially traditionalist Catholics, insist that Jews, no matter how observant, are headed straight to Hades.
You, also, should check out FR's religion forum. The place is crawling with "Christians" who insist that nobody but the baptized will ever see God.
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