The Nuremberg Chronicles, 1493.

What’s my reaction to the Defense Department’s decision to permit women in combat?

I was surprised at how little it roused me. Not because I’ve changed my complementarian views, you understand. It’s just that in the climate we’ve entered into – in light of all the other outrages I see around me – this is neither surprising or especially notable. I’m reminded of a guy I used to know – a self-proclaimed heathen – who used to say (I’m pretty sure he was quoting someone), “I feel so much better now that I’ve given up all hope.”

I’ve achieved the serenity of realizing that the American experiment is over and (with sadness) accepting that fact. The people who look at what is not and say, “Why not?” (insufferable busybodies all) have won the upper hand, and they’re not likely to give it up.

Can we argue back, make our case? I doubt it. I could point out, among other things, that although this probably only means a few of the beefier feminists in the armed forces getting the chance to get their legs blown off in the short run, it will not end with that. Those who believe in absolute equality won’t be satisfied until 50% of the military is female, even if they have to lower the physical standards radically in order to achieve that. Not today. Not tomorrow. But eventually. And what happens if we have a national emergency and reinstate the draft? How can the egalitarians justify a draft for males and not for females? No, your daughters – even the small, gentle ones who get sick at the sight of blood – will have to be drafted on the same basis as men. Eventually.

We can’t make our case anymore, because cases don’t get made anymore. Anywhere. In any area of life. I’ve had the experience more and more frequently with the years (I expect you’ve had the same) that when you try to make a point in an argument with someone, their response is not, “You’re wrong and here’s why,” but “Why do you hate me?”

It’s all about feelings in the world now. A vast, bottomless sea of raging emotions, where every soul battles to dominate all the others by appealing to the unassailable superiority of its own feelings over everybody else’s feelings. Our world is ruled by passions; we have become like the dumb beasts that know only what they feel. The ancient Stoics, without the benefit of Jewish or Christian Scriptures, realized that the happy life is the life not ruled by passion.

I expect a lot of blood will flow before we learn that lesson over again.