Absolutely valueless?

Monday, October 26, 2009 — Adam Kotsko

If anyone can discern any value or insight in Ross Douthat’s latest column, please let me know in comments — because I can’t.

Posted in Help. 8 Comments »

8 Responses to “Absolutely valueless?”

  1. Anthony Paul Smith Says:
    Monday, October 26, 2009 at 7:14 am

    Apparently the Pope is racist and that’s good? Plus, one get converts from within sects of one’s own religion? Never trust a man named Susan?

  2. Bruce Rosenstock Says:
    Monday, October 26, 2009 at 7:56 am

    Douthat is the new Carl Schmitt: the friend-enemy distinction is the key to Christianity. So, Christ came into the world to battle Mohammad. Seriously, I would hope that Benedict would shiver in horror if he reads this defense of the Church Militant.

  3. Evan Says:
    Monday, October 26, 2009 at 7:58 am

    What an odd article. It’s sort of a patchwork of assertions that seem to want to be making a coherent point. Other than the straightforward “West v. Islam” argument towards the end, though, I don’t even see anything you can meaningfully argue against. It’s all too scattered to even make out what his line of argument is (though there is ethos aplenty).

    Not to take too cheap a shot, but it reads like a Sarah Palin speech. Pauli’s characterization of something as “not even wrong” comes to mind as well.

  4. Adam Kotsko Says:
    Monday, October 26, 2009 at 7:59 am

    In addition, the idea that Islam is a “challenge” to Christianity on the level of potentially winning converts is laughable — if anything, the appeal of Islam in a secular society like the UK is even less than that of Christianity. The paranoia on display here is disturbing.

  5. tim kumfer Says:
    Monday, October 26, 2009 at 8:54 am

    my favorite part:

    a dull round of interdenominational statements on global warming and Third World debt, only tenuously connected to the Gospel.

    apparently Douhat’s gospel comes in the form of crusade.

  6. Alex Says:
    Monday, October 26, 2009 at 9:51 am

    Agree with Adam’s statement on Islam and conversion. If anything, something both Islam and the Pope agree on is that the West is too secular.

  7. Hill Says:
    Monday, October 26, 2009 at 11:58 am

    Just wait until the apostolic constitution on a new dispensation for the corporate conversion of entire mosque communities comes out. This one was nothing.

  8. Drew Jaegle Says:
    Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at 12:41 pm

    You also gotta appreciate the implication that any Christians that don’t belong to a hardline right-wing denomination are constitutionally lukewarm.


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