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I couldn’t agree more about Schwarzeneger’s attitude. Wonderful! Faith is everything, friends, through good or ill...

Thanks so much for your kind thoughts regarding my latest unpleasantness. As often happens, reports of my imminent demise are greatly exaggerated. I’ve been fighting a bowel obstruction for the last month, and won’t travel until we get it fixed. Hence, the speech cancellations.

We’ve embarked on a pretty aggressive course of treatment, and I’m on the mend. As for cancer, all the signs are good: Treatments are working, and genetic tests indicate that a new course of treatment has a good chance of real success.

So thanks, as always, for the thoughts and prayers — and continue sharing them with each other for others in need (like Jim Rob). I can’t tell you what a source of strength and reassurance you are.

Yikes! I revoke the earlier message. O’Reilly wants to host his own show next Friday. I’ll be on the following Wednesday through Friday.

Yikes! I revoke the earlier message. O’Reilly wants to host his own show next Friday. I’ll be on the following Wednesday through Friday.

Not to worry, folks: I’ll be back next Friday!

Hey, everybody: That’s for coming along. Great to have you — and thanks for all the thoughts and prayers during my brief stay at the hospital in Spokane. It meant the world to me.

To All,

Thanks for your prayers and support. You know they mean more to me than I can put in words. Prayer has power because God does.

I’m back home and doing fine — although I lost a little weight in the hospital. It wasn’t exhaustion, but i thought it best not to go into particulars. I may do so on O’Reilly today (Friday). I’ll probably do some CNN during the late afternoon (Eastern time) as well. Then I’ll sleep all weekend. Next week — LA on Monday to Debate Bill Maher; Phoenix on Tuesday at the Center for Arizona Policy; something in DC on Wednesday; Wounded Warriors in NYC on Thursday. The following week also is insane, but then things slow down. I promise, I’ll start taking it easier.

But again, thanks — and God bless you all!

Ranting? Surely not. Call it, “Channeling.”

Dino,

Never think it’s an “intrusion” to visit. I love seeing you, and can’t thank you enough for all your kindness and support over the years!

Luv,

I’ll be in Midland later in the year; I forget the date. Stay tuned...

I got the ping. I’m on the Left Coast, and just got back from watching the Davidson game with a lot of fellow Davidson grads. So near, and yet so far... Good luck, HC!

Well, keep listening! I won’t be in next Friday — speech commitments — but I’ll be back the Friday after, and I’ll do my best to keep the Snowflakes informed about upcoming appearances!

Good afternoon everybody. Great to have you aboard!

We’re talking past each other, which often happens in such matters. You have personalized a simple argument, and larded it up with expressions of hurt and outrage that reflect your personal feelings — not the arguments I have advanced.

The argument in the original piece was pretty simple: If one claims that life has no meaning, one lacks the tools to console — or even to justify such things as moral rules. If you can provide the syllogism by which meaningless translates into meaning, I want to see it.

You imply that I am acting as the vengeful judge here. Wrong: The piece deals merely with the contradictory nature of atheism — its implicit acceptance of moral truths (as opposed to ethical conventions, which shift with the tastes and times), and thus its tacit embrace of the fundamental principles of natural law. There’s no attempt to berate, belittle or condemn.

Nor do I claim “unique” powers to provide solace. I merely point out that the atheist view — life is arbitrary, without inherent meaning, and ends with one’s expiry — leads one toward moral anarchy on one hand, and personal despair on the other.

To repeat: The purpose of the piece was to review a good book — I commend it to you — and outline some of the major arguments in the debates raging about whether God exists. The basic thesis was that atheism is mired in contradictions that it cannot reconcile. That’s it. No kids crackling in hell; no vengeance or judgment. You have supplied those touches.

I’m sorry religion enrages you. But it does so because you have adopted a caricature of faith — a grisly one at that — and made it into a pinata. If I thought of religion as you do, I would share your anger and disgust.

Final point: My “secular” description of consolation was less secular than you might imagine. The simple impulses to practice compassion make absolutely no sense in a world shorn of meaning, guided by mere caprice, and eventuating in a dusty casket. There would be no reason to feel empathy, sympathy or love. But we do, whether we consider ourselves believers or not. And the pertinent question to ask once we grant to one another our shared humanity is: Why do all generations of mankind share the same basic precepts, same feelings of compassion, the same altruism — especially toward the young — despite wild changes in the natures of societies themselves. Governments have evolved radically over the last two milennia. Basic moral precepts have not. And the overwhelming question — the one that led me, at least, back to faith is: Why?

Please tell me you’re being provocative and not idiotic. One consoles as one can; with love and steadfastness. The purpose of consolation is not to proclaim judgment; that’s someone else’s job. In times of grief, one gives one’s heart to another, in ways that will provide solace rather than pain — to embrace, them, help them and support them. Paul notes that one needs to be all things to all people in practicing one’s faith. And in times of grief, one must be a selfless friend.

Please tell me you’re being provocative and not idiotic. One consoles as one can; with love and steadfastness. The purpose of consolation is not to proclaim judgment; that’s someone else’s job. In times of grief, one gives one’s heart to another, in ways that will provide solace rather than pain — to embrace, them, help them and support them. Paul notes that one needs to be all things to all people in practicing one’s faith. And in times of grief, one must be a selfless friend.

Let me place the challenge in your lap. Tell me how atheists would believe in life after death. I’m unaware of any who profess to believe in such a thing, but would be interested, if there are such folks, in hearing what they have to say.

DMZ,

Read the whole thing, as they say. Of course atheists feel pangs of emotion. They grieve, they laugh, they cry, they show up to hug and console. But when it comes to having something substantive to say, something that would provide consolation — that life has meaning; that one doesn’t simply occupy space for a time and then decompose; that there are great overarching principles that give life its depth, joy, texture and purpose; and that those principles arise not from artifice or practice, but from a Creator whose central principle is love — when it comes to making these arguments and more, the atheist must remain mute. They still can and do hug and cry. But they cannot argue that life is anything other than an accident and death, the end of everything...

HC,

Thanks for the note. If I said that, shame on me. I’m pretty sure I never said such a thing directly — but in any event, your taking offense means I blew it.

Thanks for the reminder that words count.

Best,

Tony

HC,

Thanks for the note. If I said that, shame on me. I’m pretty sure I never said such a thing directly — but in any event, your taking offense means I blew it.

Thanks for the reminder that words count.

Best,

Tony

Thanks, Fox. Bill was one of the kindest, most generous people I have ever met. He took delight in finding and nurturing talent — which made him literally the father of modern conservatism — and he delighted in encountering and debating people with opposing views. He helped dozens and dozens of writers and thinkers build careers, and his proteges ranged from Gary Wills on the left (he began as a conservative) to the new generation of writers at National Review. People know a lot about his intellect, but the world is filled with intelligent people. His kindness, decency and humility truly set him apart. An amazing man.