Re: Lock Step (12/23)
Guns don't plink beer cans, people do
Excellent article re: New Jersey and its "gun ban" which effectively is what their new
law does. Their will be no advantages to "personalized weapons" only drawbacks which will
make them unpopular. If you want to stop children from committing suicide not only with
guns, but any other means, raise them correctly. Short of that, if you are concerned about
children and guns, do the smart thing - in addition to locking your guns up, educate your
children about guns. My wife and I have raised two children and I own several guns, which
have never been locked up. There has never been a need to do so. My children were educated
at a young age as to what guns are and the danger they present when handled incorrectly.
I must have been successful, my 15 year old son who likes to hunt and "plink beer cans"
with me is more conscious of gun safety than me. In the final analysis, the New Jersey law
has nothing to do with gun safety, and everything to do with contravening the United States
Constitution. They seem to be getting pretty
good at that as the recent election there shows, by my reckoning.
Lee Floyd
Shot down in the marketplace
Mr. Sullum,
I probably won't be the only one, but I have to point out a flaw in your
article "Lock Step". You cite a number of smart gun technologies not ready
for the marketplace, including magnetic rings. A company called Tarnhelm
www.tarnhelm.com has been converting revolvers into smart guns, which
require the presence of magnetic rings, for several years. I have never had
the opportunity to try one, but I understand they were popular at one time
for law enforcement officials involved in the transport of high risk
prisoners. I think it is safe to say that smart guns of this sort occupy a
very small niche in the marketplace.
The present availability of this smart gun technology opens an interesting
line of argument. Smart gun technology is not all Buck Rogers nonsense, but
is already available and has been largely rejected by the marketplace. The
system I refer to here is similar in cost to the high-tech proposal from
Colt and probably infinitely more reliable, yet it has never caught on to
any great extent.
Jarrod Lemire
Re: Reason Express (12/17)
Gosh, golly
Let's see now. Kissinger is not willing to volunteer without pay for a political shit detail if it means that he must name his clients and thus expose them to the tender scrutiny of the "loyal opposition." Sounds reasonable to me. The real problem is that there does not seem to be a way for legitimate questions, such as conflict of interest, to be handled without making stuff public that is not the public's business.
Secrecy about anything? Gosh, golly. Must be doing something bad.
Don Beeth
Re: Unreel Claims (12/16)
Blaming Vancouver
Don't discount cost as a reason for choosing bad guys. First of all, a
Serb can be played by just about anybody. Arabic and Arab-looking actors
are fewer on the ground. Second, "the former Yugoslavia" looks an awful
lot like Vancouver, as far as most Americans are concerned. Third, the
90's saw a lessening of Middle Eastern violence against the West and an
increase of violence in Eastern Europe (at least as far as the major media
were concerned). This meant that "Serb" became a good shorthand symbol for
"bad guy that must be stopped at all cost" which saved all that pesky plot
work and left more screen time for nifty explosions.
Warren Way
Everybody's a cartoon
In the article titled "Unreel Claims" you write:
"You don't need an encyclopedia to demonstrate that Hollywood presents
cartoonish and hostile images of Arabs, but the book's 900 entries make
the point in the starkest possible terms."
Is there one minority, from Arabs to Zulus, including Jews, Italians,
Irish, blacks, conservatives and (oddly enough) liberals (although
probably less than the other groups) that Hollywood *doesn't* present at
best a cartoonish image of?
Petro
Re: Left, Right, Left (12/13)
We couldn't even make Taki's bottom drawer
Can it be that your rather bitchy whine fest about the American Conservative is fueled by jealousy? The American Conservative has gotten a lot of attention, while Reason continues to wallow in well deserved obscurity.
Kenneth Robinson
Re: Hazy Reasoning (12/13)
Your arms too short to box with Bloomberg
Please do not give me that loss of freedom argument on banning smoking.
My husband's college professor defined rights in a basic way. Hold out your arms and
make a complete circle, and you will know where your rights begin and end without
encroaching on someone else's. The professions you mention harm only the individuals
who choose (the key word choose) to practice them. Smokers are like people who urinate
in a swimming pool. It affects everyone who swims in the pool. Freedom and rights come
with responsibility. That seems to be a word that has no meaning in this country starting
with the very top of government. PS: I have asthma and allergies. I will not frequent
anywhere smoking is allowed. Have you heard that Italy is thinking of banning smoking
in public places?
Roselyn Crewse
Frank vs. Joe
RE: NY City smoking ban. What happened to property rights? If I own a bar and want to allow
smoking, shouldn't the government just butt out? (no pun intended) Private property rights
seems to have disappeared from the debate on smoking bans. In America, the free market should
drive consumer choices. If Frank's Bar allows smoking and Joe's Bar doesn't I can choose to
patronize whichever one matches my lifestyle. I am fed up with the government acting as nanny
for me.
Stephen A. Mallison
Ludacris
You got this one right!! I don't smoke, but the very idea of the government telling a
businessman/woman that they can't have smoking in their place of business, is ludicrous,
(I had to look that word up for spelling). How have we come to this place where a few
malcontents control the rest of us? I know this wasn't what the founders intended.
We are losing on a daily basis. Here in California, the no smoking ban hasn't caused
people to stop going to bars. It has caused them to congregate outside the front/back
door of the bar for most of their time at the establishment. Decreasing their purchase
time inside. As I said, I don't smoke, but the frightening future this sets up is
unbelievable. What next? You can't cook those pork chops outside on your bbq grill
because it offends your neighbor who doesn't eat pork? I'm scared Jacob.
Really scared of what's happening.
V/R,
Rob
Re: Filter Tips (12/6)
Honi soit qui mal y pense
Your witty, sarcastic piece on France's effort to filter web-hate was brilliant as well
as informative. I enjoyed your sarcastic repartee. France, my own ethnic homeland, ought
be ashamed of its blatant assault on free thinking.
Alfred Ducharme
Alexandria, Virginia
Re: Hold the Lard! (12/5)
Recommends Atkins
What a load of rubbish. I tried the Atkins Diet for 30 days and lost 30
pounds. Contrary to Mr. Fumento's article, my caloric intake did not
decrease. Even Mr. Fumento agrees that those on the atkins diet lost more
weight than the low fat dieters. He also acknowledges the healthy fats
increased in the blood and unhealthy ones decreased.
So how on earth does he come up with a title for his article that says the
atkins diet doesn't work?
People lost weight and didn't have their cholestorol go up. Sounds like it
works to me.
Dave Antonacci
Unbalanced
The excoriation of the "Atkin's" diet in Mr. Fumento's
article revealed the sorry extent of the media's understanding of
this subject and was unbalanced besides.
He attributes all the blood fat results of the low-carb diet
simply to weight loss. Yet he fails to account for the high-carb
diet's inability to produce similar results. In fact, when a
high-carb diet is successful in reducing weight, it often fails
to produce blood fat result comparable to the low-carb diet.
Note my use of "low-carb" and "high-carb" as diet specifiers.
These are the relevant parameters, not fat. Fat does serve to
satiate our appetites(a benefit denied the dieting serial
snackers of fat-free high-carb snacks), but the carbs are the key
to the insulin cycle, hyperinsulemia related blood fat build up
and diabetes.
I would recommend Mr. Fumento read "Protein Power" by the Drs.
Eades and avoid media whores like Dr. Atkins.
Michael Klapp
Re: Rebellion Against the Drug Czar (12/3)
Patients of the world, unite
It was a good way to start out the day, reading Brian Doherty's
article,
Rebellion Against the Drug Czar. John Walters offends my wife every time he
states that medical marijuana is a hoax and patients are being used as part
of that hoax. Cheryl has spent the last ten years trying to help people see
that marijuana is good medicine for some of the symptoms of multiple
sclerosis. Cheryl is in the end stages of MS and doesn't appear to have much
time left. She is having more and more pain and spasticity that is not
adequately controlled by her legal prescriptions. Still Czar Walters calls
her a hoax for saying marijuana is her most effective medicine.
Now it seems that Mr. Walters has been using his literal bully pulpit to
tell about the few big money supporters of marijuana law reform and end up
saying "I'm here, where are you?" He says that like he is available for
public discussion of this subject and they are not. This brings to mind
something that could be done to expose his baseless rhetoric.
Where ever he is speaking there are undoubtedly medical marijuana
patients in that area that would be willing to confront him. The problem is
sick people often have a hard time getting anywhere without help. The sicker
they are the harder it is to go anywhere without assistance but conversely
the easier it is to be heard and believed.
Don't wait for a medical marijuana patient to ask for help. Take the
initiative to offer help if you know someone that is a patient that would
like to see if Czar Johnny could call him (or her) a hoax to their face.
Cheryl and I have been to Washington, DC nine times in the past five
years. She must use a reclining wheelchair to get around. She can only move
her head after 30 years of MS. We are going to go back a tenth time in early
April if Cheryl is alive and able to travel. I hope we are not alone when we
confront Czar Walters. We hope to be joined by other patients for our week
of
lobbying congress for Rep. Barney Franks new State's Rights to Medical
Marijuana bill. John Walters is going to be a pleasant addition to our trip.
Others that want to take part may be needing various kinds of help to tell
John Walters "We're here, where are YOU!" Details will be on cherylheart.org
and immly.org soon.
Jim Miller
Toms River, NJ
Perpetual drug war for perpetual peas
Truth to tell, the drug warrior politicians, officials, media and civilians
(*secretly*) don't list victory as an objective in their expensive and
oppressive trillion dollar war. When they do spout their "zero
tolerance/total victory" rhetoric, how many of your readers actually believe
them? How many actually believe that this year's multi billion dollar drug
war budget will be the one that will achieve total victory after decades of
billion dollar budgets have totally failed?
Just remember that the drug czars' and warriors' jobs depend on the
perpetual prosecution of, but NEVER a victory in, the drug war. Also,
remember that the politicians depend on the drug war and its rhetoric to
scare up votes (by scaring voters). The politicians also rely on the drug
war to sustain their constituent industries that depend on the economics of
prohibition in order to make generous profits and campaign contributions
that keep the drug warrior politicians in power and, therefore, keep
themselves in business.
Remember what H.L. Mencken said: "The whole aim of practical politics is to
keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by
menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."
Cannabis has no lethal dose and its pharmacological effects have never
caused a single death in over 5,000 years of recorded history.
The (unseen) driving force against medical (or unrestricted adult)
legalization of cannabis is the fact that cannabis can't be patented. This
precludes the need for big business to be involved and that fact makes
cannabis commercially unattractive to the pharmaceutical, tobacco and
alcohol industries (lobbies). It seems that if it can't be profitized
successfully the government can't justify legalization even for the sick and
dying.
Furthermore, the war on cannabis drives the war on drugs. Without cannabis
prohibition, the drug war would be reduced to a pillow fight. This is the
politics and the economics of cannabis prohibition.
Maybe the corrupt politicians and media are required to adhere to the party
line of cannabis prohibition because law enforcement, customs, the prison
and military industrial complex, the drug testing industry, the "drug
treatment" industry, the INS, the CIA, the FBI, the DEA, the politicians
themselves et al can't live without the budget justification, not to mention
the invisible profits, bribery, corruption and forfeiture benefits that
prohibition affords them. The drug war also promotes, justifies and
perpetuates racist enforcement policies and is diminishing many freedoms and
liberties that are supposed to be inalienable according to the constitution
and bill of rights.
Myron Von Hollingsworth
Ad hominem
Brian Doherty was much to kind in his diatribe against that Human
Cockroach, the inveterate lying, Scuttling Grotesque known as the "Drug
Czar". This individual has never uttered one word of truth regarding
marijuana. I.e. "60 percent of those in drug treatment are there for
marijuana addiction, a drug worse than heroin or cocaine". Uh, Bozo,
your minions force them there--treatment or jail, your "choice". Worse
than heroin? Where does he come up with this bilge? 3, 4, 6 times
stronger(his scare numbers) than your "father's"--(me)-- marijuana. I'm
sorry, your Czarness, it was not tested in the 60's, and is only
marginally stronger than in the day. I, and most others, had no
trouble finding excellent smoke way back. Besides, you smoke only what
you need, it's not "cocaine", dude. This lying sack of Bush bamboozled
the easily manipulated in the latest voting, which unfortunately, is a
majority of Americans. Walters, Witchcraft, Assa Hutchinson, and George
II will ultimately fail--the Barbarian IS at the gate!
John McKee
Columbia Falls, Mt
Re: The Accidental Conservative (12/2)
Heavy sarcasm
Sir,
I have to commend you for the best phrase I have read this week, where you wrote, "... of the meretricious Clinton era (a dark age when America howled under the twin lashes of peace and prosperity), "
Thank you for the great sarcasm.
Andrew T Brunette
Horse hockey
Read your article on Bush and I'm curious how a person with you're lack of
reasoning ability works for a mag that cals itself "Reason".
What a pile of horse hockey.
John W Dendy
Atlanta, GA
Moderation in all things
President Bush ran as a moderate. His objection to ending earned income credit;
"Balancing the budget on the backs of the poor." comes immediately to mind. While being a
moderate he is also a Republican moderate who wants to trim 1% from raises while giving
billions to defense contractors, farmers, airlines, insurances companies and a tax cut
to the very wealthy; welfare for rich white guys. You should be careful who you endorse,
Liberals are stuck with Clinton as conservative are with Bush. Would not the label shrewd
political opportunist describe either of them?
regards, joe mahoney
False prosperity
Peace and prosperity under Clinton? Where were you? As a military pilot who entered service
right before Desert Storm, I can say that I still spent more time away in combat under the
"oh so glorious" Clinton regime and his efforts at maintaining peace and justice than I have
since 911. I guess you forget the first WTC bombing, the attacks on my fellow airmen in Saudi
at Khobar towers (I was lucky enough to be home that month), Mogadishu, Kosovo (been there
done that), Yemen and the USS Cole, Desert Fox(I was there). I am still on active duty and
flying a combat aircraft and do disagree with some of the economic and social issues
President W. Bush has initiated and/or gone along with. Enron, Worldcom, etc. did their
criminal acts while under the false prosperity of the Clinton era. I think you are way off
mark with this article Tim.
Dean W. Maud
Re: Beyond the Text (11/29)
Robertson Reformation
Dear Mr. Sullum: Thank you for your column: "Does the Koran prove Muslims are violent?"
Until Islam passes through a Reformation, as the Jews did after the fall of the second
temple, and the Catholic Church did after the rise of Martin Luther, Pat Robertson's
Casssandraic warnings must be taken seriously. Best,
Fred J. Fisher
Jacksonville, Oregon
Sorry, we nodded off when we saw the word "equivalency"
Mr. Sullum: I read your columns regurlarly and always enyoy them. I never had the urge
to respond to a column until today. I agree that taking religious texts out of context is
tricky business, I have been a Pastor and Bible teacher for over 20 years. However, you
criticise Robertson's exegesis and then you go and do the same to bring a
"religious equivalency" between what the Israelites did over 3,000 years ago and what the
Muslims are doing today. While the Judeo-Christian taditions have committed crimes in the
past, there has always been a move towards tolerance and respect for human life. The same
movement towards human rights is not apparent in the Muslim world. The reason you, and I
know you know this, that you can write what you write is because you have the priviledge
of living in the "great Satan's" bosom. I find that Islam, in their religious psychological
development, is where Judaism was at abou the time King David was King of Israel. The
difference between the three religions is more than just how they worship. I believe the
biggest difference lies in the slow religious psychological
development and the refusal of Islamic leaders to recognize the "sanctity of human life"
beyond Muslim life.
Sincerely,
Luis Scott
Has all the answers
Mr. Sullum,
As a prelude to my comments on your editorial, I'd
like to say that I'm an avid reader and fan of Reason.
I often confound my friends by claiming to be a
Libertarian Christian. Many of my friends believe that
the Libertarian view of life is incompatible with
Christianity. My position is that one can believe a
behavior or action is inherently morally wrong, and
still believe it doesn't require governmental
regulation. I believe this position is consistent with
biblical teachings.
In response to the question posed in the subtitle of
your editorial (Does the Koran prove Muslims are
violent?), I believe there are several issues that
should be considered.
I believe the title question is misleading. The
question should rightly be - "Does Islam (in its
orthodox form) inspire a worldview that is dangerous
to western society?" The answer to this question is
yes. As proof of this consider the deafening silence
of Islamic leaders. If the religious views held by the
terrorist were extreme, you would expect to see
remorse and sorrow by the various Islamic nations.
Where is the parade of Arab leaders from Islamic
countries publicly repudiating these beliefs as
extreme? The answer is there very few willing to take
the risk of alienating their populations. This implies
that these beliefs are more widely held there than we
would prefer to believe. The videos on CNN depicting
the recently liberated people of Afghanistan
reverently visiting the graves of the Taliban, and
praising these men as martyrs for Allah, should give
anyone pause.
Your comparison of the Old Testament to the Koran is
incomplete. You are right in saying that context must
be considered. To this point, Moses ordering his army
to wipe out a particular enemy at a particular point
in Jewish history does not equal a general edict in
the Koran to all Muslim believers to wipe out the
Infidels henceforth and forevermore. One is specific
and one is general. The general edict to kill the
infidel is forever dangerous to all infidels.
Most people would respond that the Christianity has
its own examples of violence and savagery, while
citing the crusades as an example. In response I would
say that the crusades were an aberration since there
is no basis in Christian theology or the bible
justifying it. More to the point, true Christians are
ashamed of crusades and do not hesitate to say so. We
openly acknowledge that the bible does not justify
them. The same cannot be said of the Koran. The Koran
in multiple passages exhorts hostility toward
unbelievers.
It is time for America to own up to an uncomfortable
truth. The orthodox Muslim worldview is dangerous to
western society. It does not subscribe to our "live
and let live" philosophy. It is inherently hostile to
democracy, free thought, free expression, and the
right to be wrong. Christians in traditionally Muslim
countries suffer horrible atrocities for no other
reason than not being Muslim.
I'm not advocating that Americans engage in
mistreatment of Muslims, but we must stop pretending
that the Islamic worldview is friendly to our western
worldview. To do otherwise is foolish. I believe that
the criteria for assessing the threat of any
worldview, whether religious, political, or
philosophical, should be based upon its ability to
tolerate and live peaceably with dissenting voices. In
this sense Islam fails badly. Can anyone reasonably
doubt that if the population of America were overnight
transformed into a majority of devout Muslims, that we
would soon cease to be a democracy? In short order,
America would be transformed into a nightmare of
religious tyranny. Orthodox Islam does not tolerate
other voices. Our policies on everything from
immigration to national defense must be informed by
this knowledge. In the interim, we can be thankful
that many American Muslims don't take their religious
texts as seriously as their critics do.
The final and most compelling evidence of the
incompatibility of Islam and western society is the
complete absence of any truly free Islamic states.
Most so called Islamic nations that make a pretense at
democracy teeter on the brink of revolution in exact
proportion to the number of Muslim faithful. The
Islamic worldview is openly hostile to the very values
that Reason so often champions.
Warren Griffith
No moral equivalency between killing specifically and inspecifically
The recent column in which you quoted from the Koran and the Bible was
interesting. However, what I notice in the quotes is that the Jews were
ordered to kill specific groups by name. However, the Muslims were ordered
to kill 'unbelievers'. The term 'unbelievers' is much more broad, and could
supply at least part of the answer as to why some Muslims consider it their
duty to kill non-Muslims, whereas the Jews have shown an ability to live in
peace with other religions.
Christopher Rangle
Speaks for peaceful Muslims everywhere
Mr. Sullivan, Thank you for being reasonable and applying logic to Pat Robertson's call
for bigotry of those of my faith. With Allah's permission, I think I can speak for non
violent Muslims everywhere when I say we appreciate your bringing reason to this matter
with your writing.
Peace,
Abdur Rahman
Secular dehumanism is bad too
I wholeheartedly agree with your comments in "Does the Koran prove
Muslims
are violent? You could easily extend the argument beyond the Koran and the
Bible to the founding texts of the secular faith of socialism and social
democracy. They too are filled with calls to violence against, and
extermination of, their enemies. And they are less than two hundred years
old.
Frank van Dun
Re: E Pluribus Umbrage (11/18)
A Northern European speaks up for Northern Europeans
Tim,
You write, One thing you can say for anti-discrimination groups: By their very existence, they negate the idea of America as a homogeneous, or even harmonious, society.
1. Tell me Tim, did your family: brothers, sisters, father, mother, cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents never argue? And argue hotly? Still, I'd say my family is very harmonious and loving. And America too, all 200 plus million of it.
2. Notice you don't mention the Scandinavian, German, Dutch (and by the way the Pennsylvania Dutch were German, the Dutch just Dutch), Belgian, Luxembourgeois, French, Swiss, Czech and Hungarian anti-defamation fights. Their origin countries are at relative peace. PEACE.
They're not involved in WARS.
All the nations of which you spoke: Indian, Irish, Pakistani?, Israeli and Arab are countries engaged in overt war. WAR! As for the Polish and the Italians? The Polish massacred the Jews (last massacre of 46 AFTER World War II on July 4, 1946 in Kielce. And some Italians (should I specify Sicilians?) did thrive for a while killing each other and other Americans (war). The Sopranos and Godfather and Goodfellas are not all fiction. And who made or directed much of them. Italians.
Clint Van Dusen
Pittsbourgeois English-Dutch-French American
E PLURIBUS UNUM
Why Macedonian jokes never caught on
Unlike members of ultra-sensitive ethnic groups, as a Macedonian Canadian, I am promoting the concept of a "Macedonian Joke" section for Reason Online. Here are two examples:
1. Macedonian Priest and the Jewish Tailor
A long time ago in Macedonia, a Jewish tailor moved into a village and opened a shop but was disappointed when he received no customers. He talked to the local Orthodox Priest who told him that it was a very religious village and he would get no customers because he was a Jew.
Sensing a once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity, the Priest said that if he converted to Christianity, then his business would flourish since the villagers had to travel far to go to a tailor. The tailor learned what was involved and agreed.
The tailor became very wealthy because, not only did he get all the business from the village, but curious people from all around came to see him and do business.
The Priest became very famous for converting a Jew to Christianity and was promoted to a Bishop.
One Friday when, the newly promoted Bishop visited the village, he passed the tailor's house and noticed the smell of lamb being cooked, which at that time was still prohibited. He knocked on the door and explained that it was not allowed eat meat on Friday and that Christians should eat fish. The tailor assured the priest that he knew the rule and that he was cooking fish. The frustrated Bishop said that he could smell the lamb. The tailor took the Bishop to the stove and opened the roasting and said "See, its a fish". The Bishop was furious and screamed, "I can see with my own eyes that it is a lamb".
The tailor then responded that it used to be a lamb, however, he prayed and made a cross three times over the lamb and it became a fish.
2. War in Ancient Macedonia
In ancient Macedonia, before the time of Alexander the Great, a civil war erupted.
Society was divided evenly between those who were "reckless spenders" and the "cautious savers".
The battle between the two sides was short, but fierce.
The "reckless spenders" lost and left their mountainous land and were condemned to wander Europe in search of a homeland. The wandered for a long-time looking for a rugged land that reminded them of their homeland. They found it and settled down.
That country today is known as Scotland!
3. I Lied to my Son about Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. (non-Macedonian true story)
James came in the door, a fuming five year old. He boldly interrupted my quality reading time with Emily, his seven-year-old sister.
Screaming and teary-eyed, he pointed his finger at me with his face red and veins bulging on his skinny neck and he said, "Now don't lie to me. I don't want you to lie to me". "What are you talking about?" I said. The fury of his demeanor suggested that I wait to hear him out before sending him to his room for some time-out. Like all dads, I felt it was inappropriate for a five-year-old to yell at his father
"WHEN, you lose a TOOTH. and you put it under the PILLOW, do YOU put the dollar under the pillow or does the TOOTH Fairy?", he said.
I maintained my composure and calmly said, "I do."
He closed his eyes, raised his clenched fists over his head, and with his face towards the heavens, he said in a soft voice, "I knew it". Regaining the lost fury, he continued to yell, "Why did you lie to me? I told Robert that my dad told me that the Tooth Fairy puts the dollar under my pillow and now Robert thinks that I am a baby!"
James hates being teased. When he showed Robert, his five year old friend, neighbor and classmate, his new found dollar and the gap where his tooth used to be, Robert mocked James' belief in the Tooth Fairy with missionary zeal (his parents were missionaries).
Before I could answer, James continued his interrogation.
"Well, what about the Easter Bunny? Yah right, a giant bunny hiding candy Easter Eggs. Dah......!" He said with a voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Mommy and I hide the Easter Eggs." I said sheepishly.
James was now on a roll, he thought for a minute and said, "Well, what about Santa Claus? ..... Yah right, how could anyone live at the North Pole?"
Sadly I said, "Santa Claus does not exist. Mommy and I buy you the presents".
My daughter Emily who was quietly observing this exchange looked into my eyes and in a whispered voiced asked "For real"?
"Santa Claus doesn't really exist", I repeated softly.
Emily jumped from my lap, rushed to her bedroom and returned with a letter from Santa Claus that she received the previous year. "Then how did I get this letter?" she said triumphantly, trying desperately to maintain her grip on Santa.
I slowly explained her that the Post Office responds to children's letters on Santa Claus stationary that they print. She struggled to try to understand why the federal government, using taxpayers money, would conspire to delude children into believing that kids can get something for free from a chubby elf for being nice, not naughty.
The anger grew in her quickly as she cast he gaze on her hapless little brother. "You idiot", she screamed, "Why did you have ask these stupid questions? Who cares if Robert thinks you're a baby. It was fun waiting for Santa to bring presents. Now we won't have any fun at Christmas."
Visibly shaken by the logic and the force of her argument, James took a step back. He reluctantly agreed that believing in Santa Claus was fun. We all reminisced about past Christmas mornings when we saw the half-eaten cookie and the empty class of milk in front of the fireplace (caught on videotape).
"Look Santa was here" James said last Christmas. "How can you tell?", I asked "He ate the cookie and drank the milk" James responded logically, never suspecting, in his naiveté, that his parents would shamelessly deceive him.
We all agreed that it was fun to believe in Santa Claus and we would not ruin Christmas for any kids who still believed in Santa.
However, James had one last question, "What about God?
I was feeling cornered and unprepared. Our missionary friends had given Emily a picture book of the Bible that she quickly put aside. She said it did not make any sense since there was no mention Tyrannosaurus Rex, Stegosaurus or any other dinosaur. She now seemed to be steeling herself to the news that even God did not exist.
I explained carefully that I thought there was a God, but that no one living today has ever seen or talked to God. However, if we have a shoe, we have to have a shoemaker to make the shoe. If we have a table, we have to have a carpenter to make the table. Finally, if we have the Sun, the Earth and the Moon, someone has to make them and that is God.
They both seemed to be happy with that explanation and went out to play.
Peter Stajov
The lonesome death of Irv Rubin
Tim:
I enjoyed your cover piece in the latest edition of reason. Between your
article and the interview with Smith, I'm going to re-subscribe.
It's indisputable that people who choose professions in anti-defamation
could never succeed in a wealth-generating industries like Marketing or
Tourism. Take the quote from the guy who views Mercedes ownership in
Ireland as an idicator of individual economic success. Practically every
road in Europe is teeming with the V-class--the Mercedes of choice for Taxi
operators. Judging from websites, Limo operators still prefer the S-class.
I don't know how you would have fit it into your article, but the suicide of
JDL principal Irv Rubin has been of interest to me because it dealt with the
planned bombing of a Mosque not far from my house. But "planned" bombings
don't photograph well and the story was given as much ink as it could get.
I expected his suicide to generate some news given the circumstances around
his death--he slit his own throat and then jumped from a second story inside
a prison--but not too many people miss him. Grim.
Looking forward to future articles,
-Mark Jordan
Getting your Irish up
very good article tim. And by the way the Irish Famine was an attempted genocide.
read european history.
steve wade
Words speak louder than actions
Tim Cavanaugh's E Pluribus Umbrage (Dec. 2002) makes a gross error in
characterization by stating that the Catholic Church is "unable to take
a strong stand against raping children." The pope has consistently
called sexual abuse of minors an "abomination" and has only recently
obtained the public support of American bishops to rid the church of
homosexuals and pedophiles. I believe that Mr. Cavanaugh has made the
popular media mistake of confusing official Church policy and teachings,
which source solely from the pope, with the actions of certain renegade
U.S. bishops.
In direct violation of Vatican policy, many U.S. bishops and religious
orders have allowed seminaries to admit homosexuals and pedophiles over
the past 40 years. In certain seminaries, professors openly dissent
from Catholic teaching on homosexuality, and homosexual behavior has
been protected while orthodox, morally-straight seminarians have been
persecuted or forced out altogether.
Not surprisingly then, 90 to 98% of the publicized cases of priestly
pedophilia committed by U.S. Catholic priests involve boys (whether
prepubescent or postpubescent). Not all "gays" are pedophiles, but
pedophilia - called "intergenerational love" by homosexuals - is part
and parcel of the homosexual subculture, whose publications commonly
carry themes of adult-child sex.
Apparently the U.S. bishops have now finally begun to take a strong
stand against "sexual abuse of minors" and have begun to purge the
Church of homosexual priests. While the Catholic Church very publicly
and painfully begins to purge its ranks of sodomites and child abusers,
one can only hope that other large organizations will follow suit.
There's much work to be done. Here in Illinois, for example, the State
Child Sex Abuse Hotline received over 10,000 calls for help this year
with not one call involving a Catholic priest. Sadly, most of the calls
involved abuse by close family members.
Robert Bland
Darien, IL
MISCELLANEOUS
Double space dilemma
I fiind your articles enjoyable and stimulating, but the double spaced
layout is so annoying that I often don't finish the article. It is really
hard to read. I suggest you look at some of the better professional sites
like the Wall Street Journal and rework your format and font selection.
Gerry Palo
Denver, Colorado