This Week in Reaction

Joseph Bottum illustrates what happens when social conservatives try to make peace with liberal democracy:

We are now at the point where, I believe, American Catholics should accept state recognition of same-sex marriage simply because they are Americans.

For that matter, plenty of practical concerns suggest that the bishops should cease to fight the passage of such laws. Campaigns against same-sex marriage are hurting the church, offering the opportunity to make Catholicism a byword for repression in a generation that, even among young Catholics, just doesn’t think that same-sex activity is worth fighting about. There’s a reasonable case to be made that the struggle against abortion is slowly winning, but the fight against public acceptance of same-sex behavior has been utterly lost.

Well, it’s good to see the Catholics needn’t give up the fight on that sacredest of sacred cows, abortion. At least not yet, because we might be “slowly winning”. Otherwise, we’d have to give up on that too, by Bottum’s calculus—a calculus which explains precisely how the front lines of the Culture War keep shifting, and only, despite our terminal niceness and nuance, in one direction. Wouldn’t want to have Catholicism become “a byword for repression”. Naw. Wouldn’t be prudent.

I’ll give up my opposition to same-sex “marriage” (and abortion and contraception and euthenasia and “No-Fault” divorce and women’s “lib” and the rest of the Whiggish raft) when they pry it from my dead cold fingers. Read all of Bottum’s 9300 meandering words, if you have the stomach for it. Douthat reads Bottum charitably but remains unconvinced. Zippy is tersely dismissive. And rightly so.

In other news…

… oh let’s see what we’ve got here.

Speaking of Zippy. He also covers the natural conception of property (vis-à-vis the modern one), with a followup.

Thrasymachus, at Deconstructing Leftism, has been on a tear this past week. He has up at least three parts of what is shaping up to be snappy series (of unadvertised length) on political systems. Plus, in honor of MLK’s famous speech, The Fifty Year Nightmare.

Frost provides a capable wrap up and adds a positive interpretation of the late Roosh-induced Manospherian dust-up. Apparently Roosh is reactionary enough. Okay. Time will tell.

After laying aside his career as roving (combox) bandit, Handle has acclimated well to his stationary role. Astute commentary is now available for one low price on Unz, Syria, NSA-insider movie ideas, Syria and (oh-yeah) Syria.

Anarcho-Papist Laliberte remains a publishing machine. All of it is worthwhile, even if occasionally wrong. Bryce dons the cap (a biretta) of Bible Scholar in Eve, the Original Feminist, offers some anti-feminist rhetorical advice, warns against just being your (same old rotten loser) self, offers up some high theory on markets and institutions, and offers up a principled and rational defense of betas, the engine of growth and defenders of tradition in any successful society.

Jim on Judaisms, past and future.

Young Whippersnapper, ARH, CS Lewis in hand, says Progressivism is not merely religion, but witchcraft. Works for me. Hey, maybe we can bring back the water test. Always remember: Abusus non tollit usum.

Hey, that’s all I got time for, and I’m sure I missed a bunch of great stuff in the Reactosphere®. So post worthy links and commentary of your own in the combox, and give yourself a share of authorial stipend.

Special thanks to whoever threw some bitcoins in my jar (15YsfBv9nHWdMiYhVJAK51MnLyVk85srAT) last week.

Til next “week”… The Reactivity Place, Over and Out.

[Added: If You Send Your Kid to Private School, You Are a Bad Person got quite a bit of (deserved, negative) attention. Although it seems rather prurient, it’s hard to resist listening when a progressive is talking to herself. Just be sure to wash your hands afterward.]