Oh, we're really going to fall for that...
We know Rod Dreher lies, and Keith's example is merely the latest evidence. His greatest example of long-form lying is his ridiculous narrative of why he left the Catholic Church. But, to paraphrase somebody, there be lies, dang lies and utter bullcrap:
United Airlines, the New York Stock Exchange, and the Wall Street Journal aren’t the only organizations that have encountered technical turbulence lately: on Tuesday an item was incorrectly published on Noah Millman’s blog due to an error in our system. The problem has now been fixed, and we apologize to Noah and to our readers for the mix-up.You can find Noah’s latest posts here at: The Necessity of Greece’s Separation and Obergefell and the Pursuit of Happiness.
The Hat Tip goes to Virgil —thanks man. (I'll continue writing when everyone is done laughing.)
"Spock, report."
"Captain: it appears that the entire electro-magnetic structure of Mr. Millman's article has transformed and undergone a mitotic reflex changing it from a criticism of Rod Dreher's Benedict Option to two separate articles entirely, one of which is a futile attempt to assign logic to Justice Kennedy's Obergefell decision."
"It is possible that the Klingons did this in order to distract people from their attacks on United Airlines, the New York Stock Exchange, and the Wall Street Journal."
Yeah, yeah... me and my wife, Morgan Fairchild, are really buying this story. And I thought I was joking comparing Dreher to Hillary. That should learn me. Earth to Rod, earth to Rod: it's not the crime, it's the cover-up. Ever hear that one?
But you have to admit that lying is so, so much easier than answering criticism with reasoned arguments. That is if you don't mind losing your remaining credibility. This shouldn't affect TAC readership one bit. They will keep giving out what their readers love. In shovelfuls.
The so-called Benedict Option, which is neither of Benedict nor is it an option, will not stand for criticism.
I think I'll end with a little inversion of I Cor. 13:4-7 which might apply.
The BenOp is impatient, the BenOp is unkind to the doubtful and is envious of better ideas; the BenOp brags arrogantly that no one understands it, it secures its own oxygen mask first, it is always provoked, it takes into account every wrong suffered, does not rejoice in the truth, but lies to protect itself; bears nothing, believes we're doomed, hopes to sell books, endures no criticism.
I've preserved Noah Millman's entire original article here. I hope they at least pay him for it.
Oh my gosh!!! This is delicious!!! Even better than oysters! Lol.
ReplyDeleteAt least TAC got to refer to themselves in the same sentence as the Wall Street Journal.
ReplyDeleteLet's enjoy the full flavor of what Rod Dreher brings to both TAC and Christianity by unpacking Pauli's Morgan Fairchild link in full:
ReplyDeletePathological Liars Anonymous
Tommy Flanagan.....Jon Lovitz
Announcer: And now, a message from Pathological Liars Anonymous.
Tommy Flanagan: Hello, my name is Tommy Flanagan, and I'm a member of Pathological Liars Anonymous. In fact.. I'm the president of the organization!
I didn't always lie. No, when I was a kid, I told the truth. But then one day, I got caught stealing money out of my mother's purse. I lied. I told her it was homework - that my teacher told me to do it. And she got fired! Yeah, that's what happened!
After that, lying was easy for me. I lied about my age and joined the army. I was thirteen at the time. Yeah.. I went to Vietnam, and I was injured catching a mortar shell in my teeth. And they made me a three-star general! And then I got a job in journalism, writing for the National Enquire.. er, Geographic! Yeah.. I was making twenty thousand a ye.. month! In fact, I won the Pulitzer Prize that year! Yeah, that's the ticket.
And then my cousin died - Joe Louis - and I took it hard. Maybe too hard - I tried to kill myself. Yeahh.. I did kill myself! Sure! I was medically dead for a week and a half! It was a woman that brought me out of it - Indira Gandhi! Yeah, right.. And she told me about Pathological Liars Anonymous.
Oh, you'd be surprised how many famous people belong. In fact.. at one of the meetings I met my wife - Morgan Fairchild! Yes, I'm a change man now, and all because of Pathological Liars Anonymous. Why, I - I even have my picture on the cover of Newsweek magazine. Yeah. Every day! Yeah.. that's the ticket! Yeah, you betcha!
[ fade ]
Oh, by the way. Just as I was composing this I received an email from a Catholic seminarian commenting on my posts and comments here at EQE. I've edited what he said just a bit to keep his identity confidential.
Keith! What a joy to read you every day. I love everything you write, and everything you say moves me deeply. I just wish we had more people out there like you and all the other fine people at Est Quod Est. Keep up the good work. I hope that gives you some hope!
It does. It really does. Yeah, you betcha!
The Hat Tip goes to Virgil —thanks man.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure.
I may have mentioned in an earlier comment (I don't remember) that several weeks ago links to this blog were forbidden on Twitter. I tried to tweet a post, and I got a pop-up window informing me that this site was malicious and that I appeared to be a bot. I complained, and the problem disappeared a few weeks later. That someone would have flagged this site as malicious (mind you, as in fraudulent or electronically harmful: we're not talking about a value judgment about tone), combined with the bizarre explanation of the disappearance of Noah Millman's post, arouses some legitimate suspicions. This whole "Benedict Option," the odd occurrences surrounding it, and Rod Dreher's behavior in promoting it all make the whole thing come across as a brand being protected far more than a serious religious movement—and, I should add, an Orthodox Christian movement to at least some degree, since my beloved Church is the Church Mr. Dreher has now chosen to belong to.
Virgil, you are to be commended for starkly distinguishing belief in Orthodoxy from belief in Dreher and his Benedict Option.
DeleteDreher has quite consciously used "orthodoxy", whether with a large or a small "o" as both the raison d'être for his BO - the BO is, after all, the only hope of defending the faith, particularly from having it decline into MTD - and as its sacralizing foundation.
This understandably renders some who may have only recently become Orthodox or only recently returned to it timid in addressing Dreher and his BO for fear that in so doing they may also be seen as betraying their newly found faith.