This made me think of the cafeteria.

I like the part where Melanie Phillips dissects the fear that people have of losing the argument. The need of the Left and others to shut down the debate.

Has anyone read one of her books?

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18 Responses to This made me think of the cafeteria.

  1. Vald the MisspellerVald the Misspeller says:

    Londonistan

    • 10 Cents10 Cents says:

      How was it? I am thinking of reading the new book “Guardian Angel”. In the video she nailed what the “righteous” has become. No opposition therefore personal attacks are the norm. Never debate the issues.

      • Vald the MisspellerVald the Misspeller says:

        The book came out about 10 years ago, I think it was my first introduction to how far down the rabbit hole the UK had gone. It turns out quite far, like journey to the center of the earth far.

    • EThompson says:

      I read this book as well; what was particularly shocking was her observations about anti-Semitism. She blames all religions for this on pg. 157:

      “The revival of replacement theology, the ancient theological prejudice against Jews, has achieved two results. The first is that the Church has lent its weight to the delegitimization of Israel. The second is that this conflation of revisionist Christian theology with an Arab agenda has delivered a victory to the Islamists. A view which holds that the enemies of civilization are not the Islamists but the Jews, transfers righteous opposition from those who threaten the free world to their victims.”

      Wow! I was truly shocked re: the Christian reference because one often perceives the modern world as the one in which one lives. I think of all our personal friends who invited me and my family to countless Pesach seders and bar and bat mitzvahs, while accepting invitations to our Christmas Eve suppers and weddings because none of us could imagine spending important holidays/events without the presence of our closest friends.

      All joking aside, my very first wedding proposal came from a Conservative Jewish man who my family regarded as a son. I had to turn him down (I was too young to be married but we remain best friends today); my father (an Elder in the Presbyterian church) was beside himself that I refused him and kept asking me, “Can’t you think about this some more? He’s a member of the family already.”

      Just don’t understand the antipathy and never will because there are so many common personal values that my Protestant family shares with our Jewish friends.

      • 10 Cents10 Cents says:

        Liz, I have not read the book but it sounds like Melanie Phillips is talking about liberal theology. I have always grown up with respect for the Jewish traditions. I doubt anyone I knew would think Islam is anywhere near Judaism on the faith spectrum.

        • EThompson says:

          I’m not just referring to traditions, Centime; I am more importantly referring to core values.

      • DevereauxDevereaux says:

        Think a bit about history, Liz.

        One can trace most anti-semitism to Christianity blaming Jews for Jesus death OR Christians thinking they are the new “chosen” people so one has to oust the “old” chosen people. The 30 yr was is often labelled as the war for establishing nation-states, but is better understood as the French attempt to establish French hegemony among the Christian nations. Were it really a “religious” war as is often claimed, it would have pitted the French WITH the Austrians against the Prussians. But it was the other way around.

        Poland at one point decided that it was the new Christian martyr. Pogroms began shortly thereafter. You find this repeated over and over if one looks for it.

        • EThompson says:

          I did Dev and that is why I specifically used the term “modern world” (meaning late 20th century) in my third paragraph.

      • DevereauxDevereaux says:

        Well, just because it’s the late 20th century doesn’t mean people have given up their prejudices. My sense is that the Europeans are not much different today than they were in the 1600’s.And it’s always easier to blame Jews than actually figure out what the problem is and fix it.

        Interestingly Jews have been some of the biggest socialist of our time, even though socialism is antithical to Judaism.

        • EThompson says:

          Agree, Dev but I tend to view my experiences in the cloistered world of upper middle class American society.(Shame on me- not!)

          As to your second point; my Jewish friends are all Democrats and their answer to my inquiry as to why, is always the same: “We have always related to the underdogs because we have suffered the same fate.”

          My response: Nonsense! The thriving and successful elements of modern America have embraced and encouraged the elements of Judaism that so resemble the Protestant work ethic and the value of education. Your true enemies are those who can’t and won’t compete and resent those that do; Weimar Germany is the prime example.

          • EThompson says:

            Also, think about this:

            Why does there remain a tension between Jews and African-Americans in this country and why did Jesse Jackson refer to New York as “Hymietown?”

            Classic case of the haves vs. the have-nots, me thinks. I don’t think religion has anything to do with it!

          • DevereauxDevereaux says:

            If you peruse the lists of Nobel winners in the sciences, it’s usually Jewish. If you peruse the listings of the financially successful, Jews are over-represented.

            So perhaps it is envy. Or perhaps it’s because Jews are such democrats and so many blacks “get things” from the government. Note that Blacks also dislike the Latinos. Because they are “encroaching” on their welfare spoils.

            • EThompson says:

              “Or perhaps it’s because Jews are such democrats and so many blacks “get things” from the government.”

              So why bite the hand that feeds you?

              The world according to Liz seems to have become so unhinged even I can’t keep up with the increasing number of deranged nuances.

              • DevereauxDevereaux says:

                A scorpion and a frog are on the side of a river.
                Scorpion says, “Give me a ride across the river.”
                Frog says, “No. You’ll sting me and kill me.”
                Scorpion say, “No, I promise not to. Just take me across the river.”
                So the frog agrees, takes the scorpion on his back and begins swimming across the river. About the midpoint the scorpion stings the frog. As the frog is dying and the scorpion is about to drowned, the frog asks, “Why did you sting me?! We will both die!”
                Scorpion answers, “It’s my nature.”

  2. drlorentzdrlorentz says:

    Thanks for posting the interview. It is interesting to hear the conversion stories of former leftists. There’s a sameness about the stories: these folks wake up one day and realize that they have been immersed in a culture that is fundamentally anti-intellectual and intolerant: almost exactly the opposite of what it purports to be.

    Back in the 60s, when the hard leftists were on the outside of power and looking in, their self-image formed as the rebels, the thinkers, the innovators. Fifty years later, after their long march through the institutions, they control most of the levers of power but still think of themselves the same way. In short, they went from trying to “stick it to the man” to becoming “the man.”

    Will there be a counterrevolutionary march though the institutions by the new outsiders (us)? It’s not clear because people on the right have other interests beside politics. To carry forward the long march, one must be single-minded in dedication to the cause of politics.

  3. AdministratorAdministrator says:

    Breitbart’s own conversion is a magnificent tale.

  4. EThompson says:

    FYI, Centime, I was certainly deceived by the title of your post. :)

    Good stuff and good comments.