Beaten and Chucked into Prison

With thorough regularity, Christians are still being beaten and chucked into prisons in Vietnam and Laos, two of the few-remaining Communist countries in the world.

I wonder what our good old liberals have to say about such behavior? On the one hand, liberals hold sacred the idea that all cultures are equal and equally worthy (therefore, we simply cannot condemn a culture that practices female genital mutilation or chucks Christians into prison right and left; rather, we must celebrate such diversity in cultures!). On the other hand, liberals are constantly squawking about tolerance and respect (therefore, we must both tolerate and respect the Laotian Christian's right to self-determination as well as the Laotian government's self-appointed right to beat the hell out of that Christian and then chuck him into prison). On the third hand (we're aliens here and have unusually generous anatomy), liberals are perpetually moaning about human rights (therefore, the Christian has the right to...oh, hang on - those rights are more applicable for pederasts, abortionists, islamofascists expressing themselves by indulging in violence and cute thuggery, and illegal immigrants bent on breaking our laws and then enjoying the advantages brought about by our rule of law).

What a conundrum.

Perhaps we should just, oh - I don't know - raise taxes, appoint a commission, and hire ten dozen more bureaucrats with Ivy League degrees.

Charlatans and Twisted Minds

Muggeridge, in his wonderful auto-biography Chronicles of Wasted Time, remarks that, in the 20th century, all the geniuses headed off into science and technology, while all the charlatans and twisted minds scuttled away into the arts and various mystic pursuits.

I think he's right, and how much more in our new century?

He was referring to people like D.H. Lawrence, Betrand Russell and the like, but the thought is even more powerful for today's writers and artists. Who out there is writing with a keen mind bent on truth and beauty and a contempt for the narcissim of post-modernism (the dreary hallmark of most writers these days)?

No one comes to mind (except me, of course).

Critics invariably pull out the same phrases to apply to books these days - do they all subscribe to some sort of email service that sends them pithy little phrases from which to cut and paste? "A courageous new voice!...Brilliant, bold and compelling!...A superb achievement!...A wise and bleakly funny writer!"

No, actually, these are most likely dull, meandering buckets of self-engrossed oatmeal, laced with dollops of pederasty or infidelity or the like (as if such things were honey to sweeten the experience! Rancid honey, rather).

Is it possible to write a story these days without indulging in your neuroses? Here's a telegram for Mr. Author: Don't care about your neuroses Stop Your problems are boring Stop My onion-breathed great-aunt has more interesting problems than you Stop Please include matches with your next book Stop.

Typing, not writing.

Can't We All Just Get Along?

Just kidding.