[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

-—I hope it is standard reading in Gov-schools,maybe it will teach them how to resist.-—

Or perpetuate a state of confusion, like Shirley Jackson’s story, “The Lottery,” which I was subjected to in the 70s.

The problem with the grab-bag of amoral, immoral, or morally-confused literature shoved at the captive school-children is that it inculcates amorality, immorality, or moral confusion.

I was confused by the contradictory ideas presented in various novels, and rejected literature altogether. In the short run, it was an effective defense mechanism. Others weren’t so fortunate.

[Borges]

What’s wrong with that Shirley Jackson story? It’s an American classic.

[WVNan]

Tabla Rosa. If there were no god, man would invent him.

[Joe 6-pack]

"Today we can see it on all sides as the active negation of all that Western culture has stood for. Civilization - and by this I do not mean talking cinemas and tinned food, nor even surgery and hygienic houses, but the whole moral and artistic organization of Europe - has not in itself the power of survival. It came into being through Christianity, and without it has no significance or power to command allegiance. The loss of faith in Christianity and the consequential lack of confidence in moral and social standards have become embodied in the ideal of a materialistic, mechanized state . . . It is no longer possible . . . to accept the benefits of civilization and at the same time deny the supernatural basis upon which it rests."

- Evelyn Waugh