11/09: Did We Answer the Call?
Four years ago today, I delivered an address here at my institution in memory of the first-year anniversay of 9-11. Reading over the text of that speech, I wonder how well we have responded to our moment of responsibility?
September 11, 2002:
“ALWAYS REMEMBER.” We are not likely to forget. The images of that day are seared into our national memory. September 11th is one of those exceedingly rare universal moments of history, in which all Americans, for as long as they live, will recall with absolute clarity where they were and what they were doing when the reports of the attacks first reached them. So many of us were on campus when we first heard the news, first viewed the startling pictures, and grappled to make sense of the tragic spectacle as it unraveled before our eyes.
Our initial reactions differed. Many of us reached out to loved ones via the telephone. Some of us paused in silent meditation. Or perhaps we could only watch in stunned silence. But then, after that, we turned to each other for solace. It is appropriate that we congregated again not only to honor the heroes of September 11th but also to reflect together on our world then and our world now and the world that we will make.
Today our students presented selected historical readings, which included Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Daniel Webster, Franklin Roosevelt, Barbara Jordan and John Kennedy. It was especially moving to hear the collected wisdom of our past proclaimed in such powerful fashion by the caretakers of our future. They emphasized the words of Lincoln as he addressed the crowd at Gettysburg so many years ago. I am struck by Lincoln’s poignant and forceful appeal to Americans of his generation, exhorting his listeners to complete the work left undone by the valiant warriors who sacrificed their lives at Gettysburg.
Today we placed a memorial wreath, the Marines fired off a salute, we shared a moment of silence and we read a poem to honor our countrymen lost on that catastrophic morning one-year ago. During the moving memorial many of us shed a tear in their memory. All of those gestures were good and fitting and necessary. We do well to commemorate our fallen citizens in that way.
However, those emotions alone are not sufficient. The honored dead deserve more; they demand more. Lincoln was right. Webster was right. Kennedy was right. Those honored dead don’t cry out for our sympathy, they call out fervently and surely for our commitment. The distinct and compelling voices of our past entreat us to act boldly, and they remind us that our sacred obligation of citizenship is now due.
"Always Remember." Certainly, we will remember. We will remember the tragedy and terror and chaos of that day. We will remember the heroism of New York City, the brave men and women of Flight 93, the heroes of the Pentagon, and countless other acts of valor that summon hope and lament simultaneously. We will always remember them. We will construct monuments of steel and stone so that future generations will remember them also.
But will anyone remember us? Will we respond to this defining moment with humanity, brotherhood, resolve and dedication? Will our reply to this test of national and individual character be worthy of our heroic past? Our answer must be yes. Invoking the “better angels of our nature,” we will defeat the external threats to our freedom, fight tenaciously in defense of our domestic liberty and continue to strive toward fulfilling our “national purpose.” In the end, total commitment to those ideals offers the most profound memorial to our fallen brothers and sisters. May God rest their souls and bless our efforts.
September 11, 2002:
“ALWAYS REMEMBER.” We are not likely to forget. The images of that day are seared into our national memory. September 11th is one of those exceedingly rare universal moments of history, in which all Americans, for as long as they live, will recall with absolute clarity where they were and what they were doing when the reports of the attacks first reached them. So many of us were on campus when we first heard the news, first viewed the startling pictures, and grappled to make sense of the tragic spectacle as it unraveled before our eyes.
Our initial reactions differed. Many of us reached out to loved ones via the telephone. Some of us paused in silent meditation. Or perhaps we could only watch in stunned silence. But then, after that, we turned to each other for solace. It is appropriate that we congregated again not only to honor the heroes of September 11th but also to reflect together on our world then and our world now and the world that we will make.
Today our students presented selected historical readings, which included Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Daniel Webster, Franklin Roosevelt, Barbara Jordan and John Kennedy. It was especially moving to hear the collected wisdom of our past proclaimed in such powerful fashion by the caretakers of our future. They emphasized the words of Lincoln as he addressed the crowd at Gettysburg so many years ago. I am struck by Lincoln’s poignant and forceful appeal to Americans of his generation, exhorting his listeners to complete the work left undone by the valiant warriors who sacrificed their lives at Gettysburg.
Today we placed a memorial wreath, the Marines fired off a salute, we shared a moment of silence and we read a poem to honor our countrymen lost on that catastrophic morning one-year ago. During the moving memorial many of us shed a tear in their memory. All of those gestures were good and fitting and necessary. We do well to commemorate our fallen citizens in that way.
However, those emotions alone are not sufficient. The honored dead deserve more; they demand more. Lincoln was right. Webster was right. Kennedy was right. Those honored dead don’t cry out for our sympathy, they call out fervently and surely for our commitment. The distinct and compelling voices of our past entreat us to act boldly, and they remind us that our sacred obligation of citizenship is now due.
"Always Remember." Certainly, we will remember. We will remember the tragedy and terror and chaos of that day. We will remember the heroism of New York City, the brave men and women of Flight 93, the heroes of the Pentagon, and countless other acts of valor that summon hope and lament simultaneously. We will always remember them. We will construct monuments of steel and stone so that future generations will remember them also.
But will anyone remember us? Will we respond to this defining moment with humanity, brotherhood, resolve and dedication? Will our reply to this test of national and individual character be worthy of our heroic past? Our answer must be yes. Invoking the “better angels of our nature,” we will defeat the external threats to our freedom, fight tenaciously in defense of our domestic liberty and continue to strive toward fulfilling our “national purpose.” In the end, total commitment to those ideals offers the most profound memorial to our fallen brothers and sisters. May God rest their souls and bless our efforts.
10/09: Response to Sen. Rockefeller
Category: America and the World
Posted by: an okie gardener
From the Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler, the perfect response to Sen. Rockefeller's comment that the world would be better off if Saddam Hussein still were in power. (Warning: the Rott is given to passionate language and a take-no-prisoners style) Here.
Category: America and the World
Posted by: an okie gardener
In the Times online the author David Selbourne answers this question "No," and gives 10 reasons why not. Some of his points echo those A Waco Farmer and I have made at different times, though we have not descended into Spenglerian gloom yet.
Read the full article. In brief, his 10 points are (quoting the first sentence of each paragraph):
1) The first is the extent of political division in the non-Muslim world about what is afoot.
2) The second reason why, as things stand, Islam will not be defeated is that the strengths of the world community of Muslims are being underestimated, and the nature of Islam misunderstood.
3) Indeed, the third reason why Islam will not be defeated, as things stand, is the low level of Western leadership, in particular in the United States.
4) Next is the contribution to the disarray of Western policy-making being made by the egotistical competitiveness, and in some cases hysterics, of “experts” and commentators on Islam.
5) The fifth disablement is to be found in the confusion of “progressives” about the Islamic advance.
6) The sixth reason for Islam’s growing strength is the vicarious satisfaction felt by many non-Muslims at America’s reverses.
7) The seventh reason lies in the moral poverty of the West’s, and especially America’s, own value system.
8) The next indication that Islam’s advance will continue lies in the skilful use being made of the media and of the world wide web in the service both of the “electronic jihad” and the bamboozling of Western opinion by Muslim spokesmen.
9) The ninth factor guaranteeing Islam’s onward march is the West’s dependency on the material resources of Arab and Muslim countries.
10) Finally, the West is convinced that its notions of technology-driven modernity and market-driven prog- ress are innately superior to the ideals of “backward” Islam.
Hat tip Jihadwatch.
Read the full article. In brief, his 10 points are (quoting the first sentence of each paragraph):
1) The first is the extent of political division in the non-Muslim world about what is afoot.
2) The second reason why, as things stand, Islam will not be defeated is that the strengths of the world community of Muslims are being underestimated, and the nature of Islam misunderstood.
3) Indeed, the third reason why Islam will not be defeated, as things stand, is the low level of Western leadership, in particular in the United States.
4) Next is the contribution to the disarray of Western policy-making being made by the egotistical competitiveness, and in some cases hysterics, of “experts” and commentators on Islam.
5) The fifth disablement is to be found in the confusion of “progressives” about the Islamic advance.
6) The sixth reason for Islam’s growing strength is the vicarious satisfaction felt by many non-Muslims at America’s reverses.
7) The seventh reason lies in the moral poverty of the West’s, and especially America’s, own value system.
8) The next indication that Islam’s advance will continue lies in the skilful use being made of the media and of the world wide web in the service both of the “electronic jihad” and the bamboozling of Western opinion by Muslim spokesmen.
9) The ninth factor guaranteeing Islam’s onward march is the West’s dependency on the material resources of Arab and Muslim countries.
10) Finally, the West is convinced that its notions of technology-driven modernity and market-driven prog- ress are innately superior to the ideals of “backward” Islam.
Hat tip Jihadwatch.
09/09: More Islamic Tolerance
Category: America and the World
Posted by: an okie gardener
News that a Christian church building has been burned by a Muslim mob in Indonesia. Read here. Islam is as much a religion of tolerance as I am a Klingon.
09/09: The Age of Paine
I continue to read and recommend Gordon Wood's latest offering, the brilliant Revolutionary Characters. His brief essay on Tom Paine, "America's First Public Intellectual," reminded me that the international revolution that Paine promoted with such vigor, enthusiasm, and optimism collapsed initially.
Plenty of contemporary commentators warn that the Middle East is culturally ill-prepared to embrace democratic rule; consequently, they cast the US project to remake the Middle East as unadulterated folly. The argument in a nutshell: how can a society without an understanding and appreciation of John Locke adopt popular government? President Bush has intimated that this argument is a form of racism (or at least Eurocentrism).
An aside: as one who teaches freshman history, I can only hope that a democratic society without an appreciation for John Locke can survive.
Were Europeans prepared for democracy? Many of those most virulently pessimistic about democracy in the Middle East are smug Europeans (or smug Americans who pine for a European sense of sophistication in our culture). But Europhiles are too quick to forget pre-WW II history. While the United States showed an almost immediate aptitude for republican-democratic government, the long and dreary path to self governance in the Old World featured spectacular failures. In fact, the American clarion call brought much more grief than triumph for European republicans in the nineteenth century. Then, in the early twentieth century, when democracy seemed on the march, the drive faltered once again in tragic and astonishing fashion, when fascism overpowered the fledgling democratic governments of Western Europe.
A rebirth of conservatism? Professor Wood reminds us that John Adams, writing more than a decade after the failed French Revolution, refused to call the times in which he lived an "Age of Reason" (alluding to the famous contemporaneous treatise of the same name). In the mind of Adams, it was nothing of the sort. Adams preferred to describe his era as one of "the Burning Brand from the Bottomless Pit," or, perhaps, the "Age of Paine."
He referred to Thomas Paine, and, as you might infer, he offered the label not as tribute but as censure. Adams believed that Paine's sanguine and impractical philosophy of rule by the masses had corrupted the opportunity for a level-headed republican experiment and caused (and would cause much more) misfortune, suffering, distress and agony. The Age of Pain(e).
Other contemporaries of Paine and Adams saw the dark power for destruction contained within the new age of popular revolution. More than fifteen years prior to Adams's stinging critique, Edmund Burke wrote Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790), which correctly predicted the disastrous and brutal conclusion to the French Revolution. Burke's jeremiad against the radical assault on tradition, authority and human nature gave birth to modern conservative thought.
The optimistic age that produced the French Revolution drew strength from the surprisingly successful rebellion against the British Empire in America. In turn, the "terror" of the French Revolution gave voice to a calculated realism, gradualism, and respect for tradition that eventually gave rise to modern conservatism. Undoubtedly, the triumph of American ideals, will and power in World War II and the Cold War provided the foundation for a renewed optimistic vision for a world connected by liberty, equality, and brotherhood. Will the perils and frustrations of Iraq bring about a conservative revival in American politics?
What of Iraq? Did we move too fast? Did we entertain unrealistic expectations? Yes. Students of democratic history should not be surprised at the troubles inherent in this brand of societal transformation. On the other hand, history also offers hope. From the despair of failed revolutions, horrific wars, and unspeakable cruelties in Europe emerged the modern era of Continental peace, prosperity, tolerance, and popular rule. The world was not prepared for democracy in the "Age of Paine," but that trying period spread the seeds of democratic thought and began the slow and agonizing process of positive change.
The great question of our age remains: will the seeds we plant in Iraq today eventually produce a fruitful Middle East?
Plenty of contemporary commentators warn that the Middle East is culturally ill-prepared to embrace democratic rule; consequently, they cast the US project to remake the Middle East as unadulterated folly. The argument in a nutshell: how can a society without an understanding and appreciation of John Locke adopt popular government? President Bush has intimated that this argument is a form of racism (or at least Eurocentrism).
An aside: as one who teaches freshman history, I can only hope that a democratic society without an appreciation for John Locke can survive.
Were Europeans prepared for democracy? Many of those most virulently pessimistic about democracy in the Middle East are smug Europeans (or smug Americans who pine for a European sense of sophistication in our culture). But Europhiles are too quick to forget pre-WW II history. While the United States showed an almost immediate aptitude for republican-democratic government, the long and dreary path to self governance in the Old World featured spectacular failures. In fact, the American clarion call brought much more grief than triumph for European republicans in the nineteenth century. Then, in the early twentieth century, when democracy seemed on the march, the drive faltered once again in tragic and astonishing fashion, when fascism overpowered the fledgling democratic governments of Western Europe.
A rebirth of conservatism? Professor Wood reminds us that John Adams, writing more than a decade after the failed French Revolution, refused to call the times in which he lived an "Age of Reason" (alluding to the famous contemporaneous treatise of the same name). In the mind of Adams, it was nothing of the sort. Adams preferred to describe his era as one of "the Burning Brand from the Bottomless Pit," or, perhaps, the "Age of Paine."
He referred to Thomas Paine, and, as you might infer, he offered the label not as tribute but as censure. Adams believed that Paine's sanguine and impractical philosophy of rule by the masses had corrupted the opportunity for a level-headed republican experiment and caused (and would cause much more) misfortune, suffering, distress and agony. The Age of Pain(e).
Other contemporaries of Paine and Adams saw the dark power for destruction contained within the new age of popular revolution. More than fifteen years prior to Adams's stinging critique, Edmund Burke wrote Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790), which correctly predicted the disastrous and brutal conclusion to the French Revolution. Burke's jeremiad against the radical assault on tradition, authority and human nature gave birth to modern conservative thought.
The optimistic age that produced the French Revolution drew strength from the surprisingly successful rebellion against the British Empire in America. In turn, the "terror" of the French Revolution gave voice to a calculated realism, gradualism, and respect for tradition that eventually gave rise to modern conservatism. Undoubtedly, the triumph of American ideals, will and power in World War II and the Cold War provided the foundation for a renewed optimistic vision for a world connected by liberty, equality, and brotherhood. Will the perils and frustrations of Iraq bring about a conservative revival in American politics?
What of Iraq? Did we move too fast? Did we entertain unrealistic expectations? Yes. Students of democratic history should not be surprised at the troubles inherent in this brand of societal transformation. On the other hand, history also offers hope. From the despair of failed revolutions, horrific wars, and unspeakable cruelties in Europe emerged the modern era of Continental peace, prosperity, tolerance, and popular rule. The world was not prepared for democracy in the "Age of Paine," but that trying period spread the seeds of democratic thought and began the slow and agonizing process of positive change.
The great question of our age remains: will the seeds we plant in Iraq today eventually produce a fruitful Middle East?
From the Houston Baptist University website, this story about their new president, Robert Sloan.
Sloan served a controversial tenure as President of Baylor University from 1995-2005, serving as Chancellor since then. I was at Baylor, in various capacities, for almost this entire time: graduate student, adjunct instructor, library research assistant. At first I defended him against his critics, holding that anyone deserved some slack their first couple of years learning a new job. But, I gradually switched from defender to critic myself. I agreed with one of his basic propositions: Baylor needs to be a Christian University, particularly a Baptist institution (and we can argue over what that means exactly). But, it seemed to me that Sloan was in over his head, and was not a good consensus builder.
I have mixed feelings about his move to Houston Baptist. On the one hand, university presidents sometimes do take the same job at other schools. But, on the other, Houston Baptist is just down the road from Baylor (in Texas terms), competes for some of the same students, woos an overlapping constituancy of Baptist churches for support, and probably competes for some of the same contributor dollars. Overall, I cannot feel this to be a classy move.
Sloan served a controversial tenure as President of Baylor University from 1995-2005, serving as Chancellor since then. I was at Baylor, in various capacities, for almost this entire time: graduate student, adjunct instructor, library research assistant. At first I defended him against his critics, holding that anyone deserved some slack their first couple of years learning a new job. But, I gradually switched from defender to critic myself. I agreed with one of his basic propositions: Baylor needs to be a Christian University, particularly a Baptist institution (and we can argue over what that means exactly). But, it seemed to me that Sloan was in over his head, and was not a good consensus builder.
I have mixed feelings about his move to Houston Baptist. On the one hand, university presidents sometimes do take the same job at other schools. But, on the other, Houston Baptist is just down the road from Baylor (in Texas terms), competes for some of the same students, woos an overlapping constituancy of Baptist churches for support, and probably competes for some of the same contributor dollars. Overall, I cannot feel this to be a classy move.
08/09: Gossenius Unmasked
Friend of the Bosque Boys and contributor, Gossenius, has launched his own blog: Osler's Razor. The subtitle says a lot: "musings, rants, recipes, repressed memories, haiku, and drivel from a professor at Baylor Law School." I am already enjoying it, and I recommend it to you. As one of my favorite social commentators used to say, it's fun, "and if you're not careful, you might learn something before it's done."
Good luck.
Good luck.
08/09: Language and Policy
Confucius held that for society to function in a healthy and orderly way, words must have their proper meanings. He understood that how we speak both reflects and influences how we think and act: unclear language both results from and leads to unclear thinking which results in confused action. A Waco Farmer, and I, have made the same point in regard to the present War and to politics in general. (Farmer offers some historical political examples here.)
For example, I do not use the term "vegetative state" to refer to a patient in a coma. I become disturbed when someone says of a coma patient--"he/she is just a vegetable." Humans are not vegetables. I think this term helps to dehumanize the one in the coma, making it easier for us to terminate care. [I am not arguing for using all available means to prolong life, but that is another post.]
This article from yesterday's Washington Post reports that scientists have discovered surprising brain activity in patients regarded as "vegetative." Evidently we will be needing new standards of testing, and perhaps new terms, for comatose people.
For example, I do not use the term "vegetative state" to refer to a patient in a coma. I become disturbed when someone says of a coma patient--"he/she is just a vegetable." Humans are not vegetables. I think this term helps to dehumanize the one in the coma, making it easier for us to terminate care. [I am not arguing for using all available means to prolong life, but that is another post.]
This article from yesterday's Washington Post reports that scientists have discovered surprising brain activity in patients regarded as "vegetative." Evidently we will be needing new standards of testing, and perhaps new terms, for comatose people.
07/09: The CAIR Who Cried Wolf
In our society groups gain from attaining the status of "victim." Once the "victim" label is on a group, then they become difficult to criticize and can make demands based on grievances. One player in American politics who understands this game is CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations. To read their press releases, one would believe that America has been awash in the persecution of Muslims since 9/11. Their claim has been repeated often enough that it has entered public consciousness: witness the scholarly paper on corruption and economic development posted earlier, in which reference is made to anti-Islamic hate-crimes following 9/11. The footnote for this reference is to a CAIR release.
But, is CAIR overstating the number of anti-Muslim hate-crimes in the US? Perhaps to aquire the coveted status of victim? That charge has been made in the blogosphere. Perhaps it is best to check an objective source. Here is a quote from the official FBI report on hate crimes in 2001. "A breakdown of the 2118 victims of hate crimes motivated by religious bias showed that the majority of victims were Jewish, 56.5 percent. Anti-Islamic bias accounted for 26.2 percent of victims of hate crimes motivated by religious bias, . . ." Report here . The statistics table shows 554 Muslim victims, compared with 1196 Jewish victims. For 2000 the FBI report indicates 36 Muslim victims, and 1269 Jewish. Report here. For 2002 the figures are 174 Muslim victims, and 1084 Jewish. Report here.
Yes, we did see a spike in anti-Muslim incidents following 9/11. But, we have not seen continued widespread persecution of Muslims. Even during and after 2001 it remains more hazardous to be Jewish.
But, is CAIR overstating the number of anti-Muslim hate-crimes in the US? Perhaps to aquire the coveted status of victim? That charge has been made in the blogosphere. Perhaps it is best to check an objective source. Here is a quote from the official FBI report on hate crimes in 2001. "A breakdown of the 2118 victims of hate crimes motivated by religious bias showed that the majority of victims were Jewish, 56.5 percent. Anti-Islamic bias accounted for 26.2 percent of victims of hate crimes motivated by religious bias, . . ." Report here . The statistics table shows 554 Muslim victims, compared with 1196 Jewish victims. For 2000 the FBI report indicates 36 Muslim victims, and 1269 Jewish. Report here. For 2002 the figures are 174 Muslim victims, and 1084 Jewish. Report here.
Yes, we did see a spike in anti-Muslim incidents following 9/11. But, we have not seen continued widespread persecution of Muslims. Even during and after 2001 it remains more hazardous to be Jewish.
Category: American Culture
Posted by: an okie gardener
An extremely provocative editorial essay here from the Brussels Journal. The author's thesis:
"To sum it up, it must be said that radical feminism has been one of the most important causes of the current weakness of Western civilization, both culturally and demographically. Feminists, often with a Marxist world view, have been a crucial component in establishing the suffocating public censorship of Political Correctness in Western nations. They have also severely weakened the Western family structure, and contributed to making the West too soft and self-loathing to deal with aggression from Muslims.
Although feminism may have strayed away into extremism, that does not mean that all of its ideas are wrong. The women’s movement will make lasting changes. Women have occupied positions considered unthinkable only a few decades ago. Some things are irreversible."
I am mulling over this essay, and may comment later, but I think it well worth reading.
"To sum it up, it must be said that radical feminism has been one of the most important causes of the current weakness of Western civilization, both culturally and demographically. Feminists, often with a Marxist world view, have been a crucial component in establishing the suffocating public censorship of Political Correctness in Western nations. They have also severely weakened the Western family structure, and contributed to making the West too soft and self-loathing to deal with aggression from Muslims.
Although feminism may have strayed away into extremism, that does not mean that all of its ideas are wrong. The women’s movement will make lasting changes. Women have occupied positions considered unthinkable only a few decades ago. Some things are irreversible."
I am mulling over this essay, and may comment later, but I think it well worth reading.
