The American Spectator

p> Hunter Baker replies: br> This sort of response is one of the main problems at Baylor. Many Baptists have so badly warped the notion of separation of church and state, they now think that a private university should be prevented from hiring Christian scholars capable of applying their faith to research and classroom. If this gentleman had a clue what kind of scholars were being hired, he wouldn’t spout these reprehensible talking points. I know many of these faculty and they can’t be capsulized as right-wing, evangelical, or fundamentalist. Some are Catholic, some liberal Democrats, and at least one has been rather unorthodoxically Jewish. /p>

I’m happy for this letter because it shows the world the kind of benighted, provincial, stereotyping that has been trotted out by men not fit to shine Robert Sloan’s shoes.

Meg Quinn hits the nail on the head referring to the prophet without honor in his own country. Although Robert Sloan has a long history at Baylor and was long a beloved figure, many of his old friends and neighbors have turned on him with a viciousness that is difficult to understand. I’m reminded of a song by Morrissey: “We hate it when our friends become successful.” (By the way, what sort of evangelical extremist quotes Morrissey?)

p> FROG-MARCHED br> Re: R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.’s Marchons, Marchons : /p>

The poor French! So many opportunities to joke about, yet so little time and energy.

Reportedly, Jay Leno said, “France has accused the U.S. of being rude and abusive to them and they’re taking it personally. And remember, every time an American is rude and abusive, they’re taking a job away from a Frenchman.”

Not funny is the Sept. 2003 assessment — “Our War With France” — of New York Times foreign-affairs correspondent Thomas L. Friedman. In part, he said, “It’s time we Americans came to terms with something: France is not just our annoying ally. It is not just our jealous rival. France is becoming our enemy…. France wants America to sink in a quagmire there [in Iraq] in the crazy hope that a weakened U.S. will pave the way for France to assume its ‘rightful’ place as America’s equal, if not superior, in shaping world affairs.”