The Frivolity of Evil

City Journal ^ | Autumn 2004 | Theodore Dalrymple

[kiki04]

can you add a working link? I want to see the source, good article, want to bookmark source for later!

[madprof98]

So while my patients know in their hearts that what they are doing is wrong, and worse than wrong, they are encouraged nevertheless to do it by the strong belief that they have the right to do it, because everything is merely a matter of choice.

It's too easy to blame the liberals for this. It's the mindset of the libertarians too. In fact, I think it's the mindset of all modern people who reject the notion of natural law and moral absolutes.

[madprof98]

Here is a working link to the article.

[1066AD]

All his City Journal pieces are indexed here.

His article are usually rather lengthy but he's always interesting to read.

[AlbionGirl]

With 40 percent of children in Britain born out of wedlock, and the proportion still rising, and with divorce the norm rather than the exception, there soon will be no electoral constituency for reversal. It is already deemed to be electoral suicide to advocate it by those who, in their hearts, know that such a reversal is necessary.

Oh my goodness! What an excellent read this was, and this gentle Englishman really has been a voice crying in the wilderness for quite some time.

May the English, along with we Americans find the courage to re-introduce to society the value of shame and the cost of consequence, if that's possible, at this point.

[Jakarta ex-pat]

Death by multiculturalism. Goodbye Europe, I knew you well.

[Appalled but Not Surprised]

There is obviously something flawed in the heart of man that he should wish to behave in this depraved fashion—the legacy of original sin, to speak metaphorically.

>

No, the legacy of original sin, to speak literally!

[dynachrome]

May I recommend his book "Life at the Bottom"? A collection of columns related to his work athe hospital.

[Alex Murphy]

No, the legacy of original sin, to speak literally!

Indeed.

[Malesherbes]

Thanks for posting this. When I see an article by Theodore Dalrymple, I always read it with profit. Practicing medicine in a prison and a slum hospital, he has been our reporter from the front. In our therapeutic society, sin is an antiquated concept, but I am more and more convinced that avoiding the Seven Deadly Sins is a practical guide to life. They may endanger our souls, but pride, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, avarice, and sloth also endanger our very happiness on this earth.

[Little Bill]

I love the mans name, Theodore Dalrymple, an honest man of penetrating observation, it would have served me well as the lone Yankee in a Liberal Catholic prep school, probably gotten me in a few more fights, as if my real name wasn't bad enough.

[sphinx]

Dalrymple makes me want to go back to teaching, just so I could assign him to the kids.

Does anyone know of instances where this has been done, and what the reaction was?

[filbert]

The difference between libertarians and liberals is that libertarians believe that people should have to deal themselves with the consequences of their destructive actions.

Liberals don't.

[little jeremiah]

Later read/pingout for sure.

[little jeremiah]

Libertarians, in the main, wilfully ignore the reality that debased choices harm not only themselves but others.

[TChad]

That's one hell of a piece from an extremely authoritative social commentator. It reminded me of some of M. Scott Peck's discussion of evil.

I wonder what Dalrymple will do next.

[john drake]

Death by multiculturalism, but first brought on by socialism, i.e., the replacement of Christianity by the state, causing the blurring of right and wrong, responsibility, discipline and sacrifice. An incredible tragedy in the making, not only in Great Britain, but the Continent as well.

[JasonC]

You are right, the difference lies entirely in the libertarian's beliefs, especially about about himself. The consequences, on the other hand, are identical.

[AlbionGirl]

I like his name too. I'm Italian and have quite a fondness for Englishmen. Before being thrilled by Eric Clapton's virtuosity, I was very attracted to his face. It's the face of an Englishman.

Remember Miss Pross in a Tale of Two Cities, when she shoots Madame DeFarge, and loses her hearing in the process? She exclaims: "I am an Englishwoman!", meaning she did what she had to do, consequences be damned.

I read this piece with a mixture of awe (for Mr. Dalrymple's superb skill) and mournfulness. How can the land that gave the world the Magna Carta find herself in these straits? Most distressing.