The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Bits and Pieces

12.16.04 @ 12:01AM

(Page 2 of 6)

Abstinence as a choice is one thing, but as a consequence of lack of opportunity could well engender the sort of bitterness and anger for which Waxman is noted.
-- Paul Kotik
Playstation, Florida

ST. AUGUSTINE
Re: Steve Shaver's letter (under "Up From Weberism") in Reader Mail's Big Matters:

As a sometime contributor to this fine enterprise, I'm not surprised that American Spectator readers know more about people like Max Weber and John Calvin than I do. But correspondent Steve Shaver's Dec. 15 claim that Augustine of Hippo would be "by definition" a Calvinist should not pass unchallenged.

Not for nothing is that great African bishop acclaimed as a doctor of the Roman Catholic Church. Luther had to admit that he did not find any Augustinian support for his doctrine of justification by faith alone. Similarly, old claims that hailed Augustine as the father of evangelical Protestantism have been downplayed and debunked for years.

Anyone interested in reviewing what Augustine actually taught might profit from a close reading of the online Catholic Encyclopedia, which explains how Augustine charted an orthodox course between the excesses of the Semi-Pelagians on the one hand and the Predestinationists (like Calvin) on the other.

In other words, Augustine was "catholic" in both the universal and particular senses of that word. He influenced the Reformers, but never himself rejected the papacy or any aspect of Catholic doctrine, as the Calvinists many centuries after him certainly did.
-- Patrick O'Hannigan
San Diego, California

SCREAMERS
Re: George Neumayr's Dean of Abortion and The Democrats' Declaration of Independence:

Hitler is not the embodiment of Nazism, Michelangelo is not the soul of the Renaissance, and Howard Dean is not the would-be leader of the party of abortion. Never in all of my years on this earth have I heard a more glaringly obvious bald-faced contradiction of the truth than Mr. Dean's assertion. How, I ask myself, can anyone, Democrat or Republican, not register eye-popping surprise upon hearing this almost laughable denial by the Beautiful Screamer? The fact that the millions of hardline Democrats who have gone to the mat for abortion on demand, paid for by you and me, the American Taxpayer, keep a respectful silence while Dean utters this fantastic nonsense is mute testimony to the two facts: Number one, that Democrats know that they cannot win elections by proclaiming their heartfelt beliefs out loud, and Number two, that abortion has reached sacramental status in the party of compassion. It would appear that the Democratic mantra for the 2000's is: Brag about it on Monday, Deny it on Tuesday. Won't the next major election be a gas to watch!
-- Joseph Baum
Newton Falls, Ohio

George Neumayr's article about the Democrats rests on the following premises:

1. That Kerry's claim of endorsement by foreign governments was more important to him -- and to Democrats -- than his endorsement by American citizens.

2. That Democrats are seeking to undo the Constitution.

3. That Democrats want nothing to do with the Old America.

These premises may be true, but if so, they must be supported. Let's look at them more closely.

1. Kerry won 48% of the electorate in one of the largest turnouts in recent history. His numbers clobber Bush's numbers from 2000. It may well be that Kerry believed it was important that foreign leaders would like him better than Bush (notice that Neumayr doesn't refute this; it would be hard to refute this), but apparently this didn't bother 48% of us. Maybe it even appealed to them. Maybe being liked, respected, welcomed by the rest of the world isn't "bad."

2. Neumayr trots out the quote from Justice Breyer as the "cat" in the "bag" of the Secret Liberal Constitutional Convention. But the quote doesn't support his theory. As we know, our Constitution is being used as the model for emerging democracies, and will be as more and more of the world shifts to democracy in coming years. Notice that Breyer is talking about how the Constitution "fits into the governing documents of other nations." If he was really exposing the conspiracy Neumayr believes exists, he would have said something about how "the governing documents affect our Constitution" or maybe how the Constitution "fits with" those other documents. He doesn't.

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Trade, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Television, Business, Social Security, Protestantism, Abortion, Environment, Constitution, Law, Military, Iraq, NATO, Africa