Quote for the Day IV

"The whole inner world of aware and self-questioning religious persons seems to be territory unexplored by our authors. All around them are millions who spend many moments each day (and hours each week) in communion with God. Yet of the silent and inward parts of these lives – and why these inner silences ring to those who share them so true, and seem more grounded in reality than anything else in life – our writers seem unaware. Surely, if our atheist friends were to reconsider their methods, and deepen their understanding of such terms as ‘experience’ and ‘the empirical,’ they might come closer to walking for a tentative while in the moccasins of so many of their more religious companions in life, who find theism more intellectually satisfying – less self-contradictory, less alienating from their own nature – than atheism," – Michael Novak, reviewing the books of Dennett, Dawkins and Harris.

I disagree on Sam, and Novak should have read his first and more substantive book. If any atheist is aware of the mysteries of consciousness, and how people of faith may also be in relation to them it seems to me that Sam fits the bill. He is not dismissive in the way the others are. But Novak’s essay is a stirring one, and well worth a read.

Face of the Day

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Lonnie Kent stands in his destroyed home in the Lower Ninth Ward May 26, 2007 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Kent’s home was destroyed by the flooding following Hurricane Katrina. He says he has not been able to acquire a FEMA trailer, forcing him to live in an old motor home nearby which has no electricity or gas. By Mario Tama/Getty Images.

Bush and Iran

Juan Cole makes the case for engagement:

It is not true, as Robert Kagan once alleged to me on the radio, that if something is in Iran’s interest, it will do it anyway, so that talks are useless. It is often the case that countries, like individuals, cut off their noses to spite their faces. Effective diplomacy can often lead a country to see the advantages of cooperation on some issues, so that its leaders stop sulking and actually turn to accomplishing something.

I’m still a skeptic, but see few other good options right now, apart from trying to stall the nukes with sanctions, help fund the domestic opposition, and hope that Iraq’s centrifugal explosion may soon give the mullahs in Tehran a headache. Cernig is a skeptic too, if for different reasons:

Talking is almost always vastly preferable to bombing. However, I’ve a nasty feeling that these talks will, eventually, go nowhere – and will then be held up as evidence of Iran’s lack of amenablility to diplomacy by pro-war Bush administration members and their enablers.

Goldberg Reax

Jeffrey Goldberg’s piece on the collapse of the Republicans is stirring bloggy debate. Alex Massie writes:

The "evil genius" aspect of Rove’s infamy may indeed annoy liberals, but it seems more likely that most of them hate Rove because they think his politics has been profoundly damaging to the country and that, in the pursuit of electoral success, he has played upon fear and bigotry and that, perhaps most importantly, he used 9/11 as a political battering ram to cast Democrats as unpatriotic pansies for daring to have a different political viewpoint.

Steven Benen sees the enduring power of Tom DeLay.

Supporting The Troops

A reader writes:

A friend obtained the names of some Marines in Iraq through the wife of one in the 3rd Light Armored Recon Battalion. A group of us "adopted" fourteen of those Marines, exchanging mail and sending care packages. After they returned to California we had a big party for them and found that four out of the fourteen used English as a second language – they were either recent immigrants or the sons of recent immigrants – earning their citizenship by serving our country in the most dangerous way imaginable. They were proud of their service, and a valiant part of this close-knit brotherhood.

Every time I read or hear a rant by some anti-Hispanic demagogue I remember the thrill of speaking with these men who were true patriots, and I wonder what sacrifice the critic has made for our country. Have they served in the National Guard, or have they volunteered to put their life on the line in the service of our country as these young men have? What have the critics done to "earn" their citizenship?

Personally, I think we need these young men and their families. We need the courage and determination shown by these immigrants who are willing to make great sacrifices to become residents and citizens of our country. I can only hope that others lucky enough to be born here will be willing to make similar sacrifices to renew the greatness of our country.