“A number of years ago, I discovered a root cause of America's culture war. … I have come to realize that the great divide in values is not between those who believe in God and those who do not, but between those who believe in a divine text and those who do not. …
“Jews and Christians who believe that God revealed the Torah, for example, are far more likely to believe that marriage must remain defined as only between a man and woman, and cannot be redefined to include members of the same sex.
“They believe that people are not basically good; that human life, not animal life, is sacred (because humans, not animals, are created in God's image); and that murderers should be liable to the death penalty. (The only law that is in all five books of the Torah is to put murderers to death.)
“On the other hand, Jews and Christians who believe that people wrote the Torah are far more likely to support a redefinition of marriage; to view human nature as basically good (and therefore more likely to ascribe human evil to outside influences); to be more receptive to seeing human beings as essentially another animal; and to oppose capital punishment for murderers.” — Dennis Prager in “The Culture War of the Word,” in the May 29 Los Angeles Times
Careless commitment
“Since [September 11], we have gone to war and have had nearly 1,700 young men and women lose their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq. Since then, we have gone through color codes, threats and warnings. Since then, we have heard the word 'sacrifice' used over and over by politicians. And yet, since then — incredibly, within weeks of the tragedy — most Americans have reverted to the life that they had led prior to 9/11.
“Yes, many did step forward right after 9/11, but, for most, the commitment was short-lived. Despite the rhetoric, sacrifice on a continuing, day-to-day basis has been rare. Why? Why do so few of us care? Why don't more of us share the burden?
“Make a pact with yourself to serve your community, state and nation and tackle the next stage of your journey with passion, accountability, compassion and truthfulness. Then and only then, as my grandfather said, will you have the right to be proud.” — Union College President Roger Hull, quoted in “Commencement 2005” in the July 1 Chronicle of Higher Education
Pre-fab pop
“Ben Brantley proposed that 'the style of vocalising that is rewarded on American Idol … is both intensely emotional and oddly impersonal. The accent is on abstract feelings, usually embodied by people of stunning ordinariness, than on particular character. Quivering vibrato, curlicued melisma, notes held past the vanishing point: the favourite technical tricks of “Idol” contestants are often like screams divorced from the pain or ecstasy that inspired them'.
“This separation of 'authentic' emotion from its performed facsimile links these two ubiquitous phenomena in contemporary singing — the breathy child and the gymnastic vocaliser. … Good, well-trained voices that can carry a tune and turn up the volume come cheap. What does not is the voice that identifies a character as specifically and individually as handwriting.' …
“Dido and Katie Melua exemplify this model for endless replicants of a thread of breathy vocalising. … Where is the new Aretha [Franklin]? The new Ella [Fitzgerald] or Billie [Holiday]? Well, I'd hazard a guess that the young Aretha wouldn't have got past the door of any of the major record companies today. They wouldn't know what to do with her.” — Barb Jungr, writing on “Why are pop singers so samey and sexless,” in the online magazine, Spiked, posted June 27.