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The Day the Enlightenment Went Out (Garry Wills loses it)
The New York Times ^
| November 4, 2004
| Garry Wills
Posted on 11/04/2004 3:49:47 PM PST by EveningStar
This election confirms the brilliance of Karl Rove as a political strategist. He calculated that the religious conservatives, if they could be turned out, would be the deciding factor. The success of the plan was registered not only in the presidential results but also in all 11 of the state votes to ban same-sex marriage. Mr. Rove understands what surveys have shown, that many more Americans believe in the Virgin Birth than in Darwin's theory of evolution.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bushvictory; christianvote; crevolist; garrywills; voterturnout
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To: PhilipFreneau
This clown is a History professor? Our education system is in more trouble than I thought.
He's just an adjunct professor - i.e., not on a tenure track. Essentially an academic temp.
To: The Loan Arranger
He lived and died a Christian. You are half right.
Later in life he gave up belief in a personal GOD and became an agnostic.
His wife prayed for his soul......
82
posted on
11/04/2004 7:31:47 PM PST
by
Elsie
(Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going....)
To: EveningStar
"Professor Wills badly needs his meds"
I don't think they make a medicine for anti-Catholic hate which has metastasized into a generalized anti-religious bigotry. Yeah, Wills is a lapsed Catholic who likes to trash his former faith.
To: EveningStar
that many more Americans believe in the Virgin Birth than in Darwin's theory of evolution.
"Love your neighbor as yourself."
-Jesus
"Eat your neighbor before he eats you."
-Darwin
Geez isn't Christianity horrible?
To: The Loan Arranger
Read more about Darwin in this month's National Geogaphic.
(Even after being fooled by the Chinese chicken hoax a couple of years ago, NG STILL believes in 'Evolution'!)
85
posted on
11/04/2004 7:36:31 PM PST
by
Elsie
(Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going....)
To: durasell
I feel obliged to defend Wills. I've read many of his books and some of them are truly brilliant, like his bio of St.Augustine. Like virtually all writers, he's not consistantly great in either his prose style of analysis, so slack should be cut.
I lost any respect I had for Garry Wills during his shameless whoring for Michael Bellesiles and the now thoroughly discredited
Arming America. His
NY Times review of this book is one of the most unabashed exercises in advocacy-disguised-as-analysis that I have ever read.
To: Give Piece A Chance
I'm only judging him on the books that I've read by him...mostly the Lincoln book and the Augustine book. Very rarely read his reviews or magazine pieces. Again, the Lincoln book is terrific.
87
posted on
11/04/2004 7:45:15 PM PST
by
durasell
(Friends are so alarming, My lover's never charming...)
To: jennyp
Thank you for that.
Perhaps apropos, Isaac Newton kept a diary of sins. One of them - "Making water on His day."
Yikes! And Newton was a Unitarian heretic!
88
posted on
11/04/2004 8:33:35 PM PST
by
dr_lew
To: mlocher; PatrickHenry
but to think that one species can evolve to another species has never been proven. if fact, many scientists doubt the hypothesis of darwin's evolution based on the paleonotlogical record and the mathematical probabilities of it happening. there are other scientific evidences discrediting darwin's hypothesis, but i have bloviated too long here. bottom line, darwin's evolution is at best a hypothesis by his own definition of evolution.
Could this election really give creationists a renewed sense of power? Will we see a rash of creationism-in-science-class referenda in the states in 2006 as a new wedge issue to keep all these brand-new Christian conservative voters coming to the polls next time?
And is this something the crevo gang should hash out?
89
posted on
11/04/2004 11:47:59 PM PST
by
jennyp
(It was a dark and stormy night and the world was in crisis. As usual.)
To: silent_jonny
Wills was a Catholic back when he was sane. That must be at least 30 years ago, though.
90
posted on
11/05/2004 12:13:32 AM PST
by
maryz
To: jennyp
Could this election really give creationists a renewed sense of power? Will we see a rash of creationism-in-science-class referenda in the states in 2006 as a new wedge issue to keep all these brand-new Christian conservative voters coming to the polls next time? And is this something the crevo gang should hash out? We will indeed be dealing with this. But for now, I'd rather enjoy the election victory. It means that western civilization will be preserved. There are always forces of irrationality working against the modern world, and probably always will be, at a back-burner level of intensity; but Bush was dealing with a world-class problem and had to win so we could survive. We can deal later, probably state by state, with the unfortunate byproduct of a few Luddites feeling like it's springtime for the Dark Ages.
91
posted on
11/05/2004 3:38:03 AM PST
by
PatrickHenry
(Felix, qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas.)
To: Moconservative
Does enlightened mean "Atheist." I think that is what he is talking about here. I guess I am not enlightened because I am a God fearing Protestant and I guess I don't have the ability to think in Mr. Wills opinion. Yeah "enlightened" is one of them code words that historically precedes "reeducation camps".
To: PatrickHenry
...forces of irrationality...HMmmm...
FoI
Yes; it DOES have a certain ring to it - almost as good as VRWC, I think.
93
posted on
11/05/2004 4:32:36 AM PST
by
Elsie
(Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going....)
To: jennyp
But if fill in blank REALLY becomes ascendent in this country it would eventually do a lot of damage on its own. But... will the TRAINS run on time?
94
posted on
11/05/2004 4:36:54 AM PST
by
Elsie
(Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going....)
To: mlocher
...by his own definition... But, here in FR, RE-defining long dead folk's intentions, faith, lifestyle, is something we do best!
We are (by definition) agenda driven.
95
posted on
11/05/2004 4:41:02 AM PST
by
Elsie
(Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going....)
To: EveningStar
The Day the Enlightenment Went Out.... ....was the day he wrote this column.
96
posted on
11/05/2004 4:44:28 AM PST
by
Cincinatus
(Omnia relinquit servare Republicam)
To: PatrickHenry
Let's see..........
So far, in THIS thread, I'm a Luddite, gang-member, irrational, and, a moral zealot.
It's almost like being over at DU!
They KNOW that they are right: "Why don't those foolish Conservatives see the Light??"
97
posted on
11/05/2004 4:46:44 AM PST
by
Elsie
(Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going....)
To: EveningStar
It would probably come as a suprise to those on FR's crevo threads to learn that Bush voters are monolithic Creationists.
To: jennyp
Could this election really give creationists a renewed sense of power? Will we see a rash of creationism-in-science-class referenda in the states in 2006 as a new wedge issue to keep all these brand-new Christian conservative voters coming to the polls next time? your point is well taken. i hadn't look at it that way. i think it would be great, but politically i don't think evolution is quite the emotional issue that gay marriage is. but i hope i am wrong
99
posted on
11/05/2004 6:52:55 AM PST
by
mlocher
(america is a sovereign state)
To: Elsie
and our agenda is drien by principle and character!
100
posted on
11/05/2004 6:55:24 AM PST
by
mlocher
(america is a sovereign state)
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