Posted on 11/17/2004 11:50:39 AM PST by GaryL
Writing in The New York Times, author Gary Wills made this observation about the inhabitants of the nation he calls home: "Can a people that believes more fervently in the Virgin Birth than in evolution still be called an Enlightened nation?" Since the re-election of President George W. Bush, several members of the chattering class have complained about the boorishness of their fellow citizens. More specifically, they have bemoaned the voting habits of religiously motivated dolts -- that group whose moral convictions foster such civility as still exists in our country.
These red-state rubes, it seems, have the temerity to ignore the advice of their intellectual betters -- men and women trained in elite institutions and groomed-to-PR-perfection in Manhattan studios. How yahoos who have never appeared on national television, starred in a movie, recorded a top-10 hit or written books reviewed by The New York Times could defy the insight of such celebrated egos is a question worthy of contemplation.
Perhaps the answer to this query lies in the litany of ideas endorsed by Wills' Enlightened chums -- ideas in addition to the incredible efficacy of random mutations.
Most conspicuously, Gary's pals believe (despite biological "hints" and 5,000 years of civilized history to the contrary) that a family comprised of two mommies or two daddies serves kids quite as well as one in which children derive their most intimate portrait of family relationships from a mother and a father -- a domestic unit within which marital vows have actual reproductive consequences.
(Thirty years ago, Bi-Coastal Cosmopolitans dogmatically declared that divorce was no big deal and that the biggest problem facing kids born out of wedlock was the bigoted stigma attached to them.)
Elite Starbuckeroos also believe, regardless of the facts, that underfunding is the real reason public education so miserably fails minority students. With blind faith, they cling to the doctrine that bureaucrats are more trustworthy than a child's parents and that "more of the same" is vastly preferable to options that might undermine political allies.
Smarter-than-thous are also convinced that dismembering a fully formed baby in its mother's birth canal is a woman's choice, while protecting kangaroo rats from extinction is a sacred obligation.
They believe that "Sex and the City" entertainment is morally insignificant, whereas a dramatic presentation of "The Passion" is a cinematic crisis meriting serious editorial response.
They believe that a cross exhibited in a jar of urine is a mark of open- mindedness, but a tiny version of the same figure displayed on Los Angeles' county seal constitutes an intolerant imposition of faith.
Mental Incredibles hail Nicole Kidman's liquid tryst with a 10-year-old as "pushing the envelope," but find the motto "In God We Trust" an international embarrassment.
They declare that Howard Stern's broadcasts are constitutionally protected, but deem it prudent to monitor certain pulpits for hate speech.
They believe that deficits are "generational warfare" when they arise from tax cuts, but "investments in the future" when produced by expanded government programs.
Secular savants believe that SUVs constitute a greater threat than MTV, that minuscule increases in air pollution merit more vilification than a gang of corporate pimps who've been corrupting children for more than two decades.
They believe that secondhand smoke is more deadly than sexual promiscuity, that politics trumps personal morality and that political correctness provides absolution for chronic narcissism.
They think that having three sets of children by at least as many partners isn't nearly as reprehensible as failing to support the Kyoto accords.
They believe, above all else, in the superiority of elite opinion, and in the cultural prestige that attends membership in this mutual veneration society.
That ordinary citizens should veto such advice -- ignoring the enlightened voices that denounced Ronald Reagan and touted the admirable idealism of Marxist regimes -- is hard to understand. Perhaps it's just impenetrable ignorance.
Richard Kirk is a freelance writer who lives in Oceanside. Write to him by e-mail him at kirkrg@nctimes.net .
Apparently Gary Wills has never heard of the Intelligent Design movement. Maybe someone should send him a copy of "Darwin On Trial."
By the way, does anyone know what he means about Nicole Kidman and a 10 year old? Boy, I must have missed that one. Can these Hollywood elites possibly go any lower!
G
Scene from new movie I forget the name of. But legit, Hollywood production.
Lets not be so quick to use the term "intellectual" when referring to these apes. There is certainly "elitism" involved but that doesn't necessarily mean that much "intellect" is being applied. We're talking Knee-Jerk socialists here. Not much thought required or expended to say what they say, and take the illogical positions they assume.
I'm starting to think that the down-and-out bag lady and hobo on the streets of LA could compose the Hollywood "elites." Serious lack of brain cells in that bunch.
I enjoyed the article though.
> Maybe someone should send him a copy of "Darwin On Trial."
Ah, yes, ID... always good for a laugh.
> anyone know what he means about Nicole Kidman and a 10 year old?
Recent movie "Birth." There's apparently a scene where they bathe together. Google for more details.
Oops! I did two searches and nothing came up.
I just found the answer to my own question and I think I'm going to get sick!
Here's the worse part: "He doesn't quite know what he's doing, which is good."
Caution! Here's the link to the article. Read this at your own peril!
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41147
The birth of Isaac while Sarah was in her 90's and Abraham was over 100 years old is fundamental to Judaism and Christianity. Do the left-media elites consider that a myth too?
No, actually I assume the term "intellectual" to be a good thing, and to be or become an intellectual is a positive achievement. I object to those who rush to describe themselves as intellectuals, or who drape that mantle on the shoulders of those who clearly don't deserve it.
I hope the Leftists keep it up. The American people are getting fed up with them fast.
Funny thing about Wills, whom I actually interviewed when I was on the radio at Fordham and he was writing for Esquire. In his book where he defends his adherence to Catholicism he cites throughout the text his belief in the Creed as prayed each Sunday at Mass after the Gospel and Homily. Contained in that Creed, written in Nicea 1600+ years ago are these words, "born of the Virgin Mary." I suppose Gary picks and chooses what he believes in the Creed as well as in the rest of his "faith."
"I see this as a beautiful film about love, I do not see it as something that is exploitive or distasteful," Kidman told Associated Press Television News. "I would never want to make something like that; it's just not my thing...."
Kidman admitted to the Post that the bathtub scene – which is shot over her bare back and shows the boy from the waist up – is unusual, "but the whole film is unusual."
"It's not about sex, you know, it's certainly not about sex," she said, according to the Post. "It's about love, it's about being ... under the spell of somebody."
Another scene has Anna kissing, on the lips, the boy, played by 11-year-old Canadian Cameron Bright.
She asks, as they share ice-cream, if he has ever made love to a girl.
Kidman said the film is meant to make people feel uncomfortable, "but not in a way where you're trying to exploit a young boy."
"Kidman insisted everyone involved with the film was careful to guard the boy's innocence and didn't allow him to read the script."
These people are mentally deranged. In the making of this movie she asks an 11 year-old actor if he has ever made love to a girl. In the the making of this movie she kisses an 11 year-old actor on the lips, and then she has the gall to say that they were careful to guard the boy's innocence.
Where in the heck were this boy's parents when this was going on?
Cordially,
the theory of evolution is junk genetics-it doesn't happen that way
yes
Well Said
Where in the heck were this boy's parents when this was going on?
Taking the money to the bank.
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