Author Archives: Jerry

SUV Drivers = Terrorists?

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Ah…You know how if you want to destroy someone's credibility, you inflate certain things they say and create a strawman? Well, some people kindly do that for you, and advocate such crackbrained things you just have to tell the truth and people who aren't complete knobs will be appropriately disgusted/angered/contemptuous.

Well, ladies and gentleman, Peter Singer of Princeton is one of those people, and this time our lionized Princeton ethicist claims that SUV drivers are morally equivalent to the 9/11 terrorists. This link was courtesy of the Wall Street Journal's Best of the Web page, which has had some real gems before.

Catholics in the People’s Republic of China

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I hope that this NY Times Article shows that there is a genuine improvement in the condition of Chinese Catholics. There is a crying need for education about the Church there: many Chinese reportedly think of Catholics and Protestants (who seem to be on slightly better terms with the government, probably since the Vatican is a sovereign nation) belonging to completely different faiths. Oh yeah, and perhaps their prayers and example may do something about a government notorious for its callousness to the human person.

God willing, things may ease for the Catholics, but in the meantime we should not forget those who are still suffering. Check out the Cardinal Kung Foundation to see what is still being done to Christians, nearly 2000 years after the Roman persecutions.

The Bush Doctrine

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Again, I’ve found the Economist to provide a useful prospective on my own country, in this case with their examination of the “new “Bush defense doctrine in both an article and an op-ed on the realities behind the much-critique doctrine of preemptive action. The Bush administration has gotten better at explaining itself, especially with Iraq and the UN, but they still need to work on getting the real significance of their work through the media’s thick, collective skull. Of course, they cannot be held entirely responsible for the incomprehension of the media and academia!

A Good Reflection For the First Anniversary

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This is a particularly valuable time to reflect on oneself and on America, something I’ve been doing off and on for the past few days, even as I’ve been frantically getting ready for my first Anatomy exam tomorrow.

On Sept. 5, the Economist published an excellent article on Americans and Sept. 11. The magazine gets particular kudos for looking at the religious character of America, an extremely important aspect of our identity (G.K. Chesterton called America “a nation with the soul of a church”) that the media and academia consistently get wrong or neglect entirely. I found it very valuable as I reflected on myself and my country, and I hope you enjoy it today.

Caught in the Act

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This article by Charles Krauthammer is valuable not for Krauthammer's support for an attack on Iraq (which I oppose) but with the journalistic games the New York Times is playing in its campaign against the invasion of Iraq. The NYT is an opinionated paper, and this is a good case-study in how it has been going about influencing public opinion not just with editorials (which are a great addition to a paper) but by selectively shading and presenting the facts (which is incompatible with freedom).