As all my vast literary following is aware, I have a special interest in what Sociologists call (I think) the Honor-Based Culture. I’m not a sociologist of any kind, but I’ve had to try to work out how the mindset works in order to write authentic characters in my Viking novels. It’s a subject of special interest these days, because pretty much all Islamic cultures are honor-based.

I get the impression that when Honor-Based Cultures are discussed, they’re generally treated as if they’re anomalies. Strange plants that grow only under controlled conditions.

I’m coming to believe otherwise. I think the Honor-Based Culture is the default human organizational system. It springs from fallen human nature. It’s what all cultures will be unless they’ve been a) suppressed by a more powerful force, like the Helots under Sparta, or b) transformed through belief, as with Christianity (and Christian culture long retained many elements of the Honor Code nevertheless).

I’m writing all this in order to set up a kind of shocking idea that occurred to me today. I think we’re developing a new Honor Culture.

“How can this be?” you may ask. “Aren’t we trying to suppress violence in every way? Aren’t our Western governments generally doing their best to suppress the carrying of arms, which is central to Honor Cultures?

Well, it’s a new kind of Honor Culture. Follow me closely, and I shall explain all: Continue reading Honor-Based Liberals →

Miami-Dade County school libraries had 49 copies of a book praising life in Cuba before the school board voted to get rid of them. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court ruling against the school board, so naturally the usual suspects are upset. I thought this was one of the right ways books could be removed from school libraries, but there’s a supreme court case from 1982 saying, according to the article, a school board does not have “the right to remove books from a school library if the board ‘disliked the ideas contained in it.'”

Really?

Professor Richard Colling has taught that Christians can believe in evolution too, and he’s still teaching at a Christian college. Can you believe it? I’m kidding, but there were some calling for his dismissal. Apparently, things are working out for Colling now.

When speaking up on campus. David French states:

When I speak on campus, one of the most frustrating experiences is hearing conservatives–and many faithful Christians–describe themselves as “silenced” or “afraid” to speak when there is no formal, legal barrier to their speech. . . . I hear these complaints, and don’t doubt their sincerity, but here is what these folks are really saying: “There are many things that I value far more than my conservative (or, sadly, Christian) principles, including the regard of all my peers, the ease of my academic career, and feeling welcome and accepted during the Thursday-Sunday party circuit. Please change the university so that I can speak my mind without any cost or consequence.”

He says it’s especially disappointing for Christians to complain, because the Bible teaches us not to fear such things, even to anticipate a struggle against the world’s wisdom. If God is for us, who can be against? What is light opposition compared to eternal weight of glory?

Forgiveness and Irony

As regular readers are aware by now, I am always correct when I predict the future.** This is not because I possess a spiritual gift or great wisdom, but because I’m the only person alive whose insanity perfectly matches reality.

Conservatives are all wondering about the same thing these days. “What will the Democrats do when their Stimulus Program crashes and burns? Will they admit defeat and try something sensible?”

No, of course not. This is what the Democrats will do, when unemployment is above 10% and large populations are living in tents and standing in food lines:

They will arrest former Pres. Bush and former VP Cheney, accuse them of high crimes and misdemeanors, and convene highly publicized show trials. The proceedings will be broadcast on large outdoor screens, for the benefit of those who no longer own TVs. A huge public relations campaign will be launched, for the purpose of amplifying public hatred toward Bush and Cheney.

This will be the circus which (along with government bread) will, they will hope, divert people from the failure of the Stimulus.

Once that’s over, they’ll take a page from FDR’s book and find a war to fight.

*If you’re too young to remember Li’l Abner, this reference will mean nothing to you. You should be ashamed of yourself.

**Except when predicting presidential elections.

The upper middle class can’t live in New York on $500,000. As almost sickening as that is, I still say government should not limit any private salary. They can set the pay for government jobs, and that’s it. They can offer government employees good health care, but keep it at that. They can set up IRAs for their people, but please don’t force me to invest in the government’s plan.