Omnes Sancti et Sanctæ Coreæ, orate pro nobis.

Now Blogging Afresh at Ad Orientem 西儒 - The Western Confucian



Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Keeping the Conservative in Neoconservative
Three articles today show why Townhall.com is still worth a read.

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First, William Bennett takes on "the leyenda negra—the Black Legend—that Protestant countries applied to the Catholic Spaniards" and raises this question about Spanish colonization of the New World: Too Catholic? Not Catholic enough?

Mr. Bennett quotes these principles of Dominican friar Francisco de Vitoria:
    Every Indian is a man and thus capable of attaining salvation or damnation.
    The Indians may not be deprived of their goods or power on account of their social backwardness.
    Every man has the right to the truth, to education . . .
    By natural law, every man has the right to his own life and to physical and mental integrity.
    The Indians have the right not to be baptized and not to be forced to convert against their will.

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Second, Dennis Prager gives us six reasons Why liberals fear global warming far more than conservatives do.

This article is the weakest of the three, but despite all the silly talk of "Islamic fascism," the article makes some good points. I would add that the Left tends to be anti-human, to view mankind as a parasite or even a cancer. This is due to its egalitarianism, its hatred of hierachies, and its doctrine of class warfare. That we human beings are the "Crown of Creation" is a self-evident Truth, even to the Left; that is why it is hell-bent on overthrowing us.

One thing Mr. Prager wrote, however, impressed me. In refuting the claim that "Conservatives don't care about global warming because they prefer corporate profits to saving the planet," he says:
    [S]uch an explanation could not explain the vast majority of conservatives who are not in any way tied into the corporate world (like this writer, who has no stocks and who, moreover, regards big business as amoral as leftists do).
I, too, own no stock, and have the same feelings about big business.

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Finally, my former representative and hometown quaterback Jack Kemp reflects on the World Cup: What I really think about soccer.

I enjoyed this paragraph about Henry Kissinger:
    He’s fascinated with how national characteristics translate into playing styles: Brazil’s unbridled joy, England’s noble purpose, Germany’s grim determination.” Wow! You can interpret the psyche of a nation through soccer?
Perhaps that is the reason why, although an anti-globalist, I prefer international sporting events to national ones. American Football would be much more interesting if the Buffalo Bills' and the Miami Dolphins' playing styles were influenced by climate and local cuisine, not which club had more money.