Briefly

Who would have thought that a major Catholic cathedral would be a place of worship? This is apparently a surprise to the writers and editors of the Associated Press, which had a story last week headlined, “Tourist mecca Notre Dame also revered as place of worship.” Really? You mean it’s not just some medieval building in Paris where tourists like to visit? This is a horrible headline, but it’s not surprising for a news media which is increasingly filled with people who don’t associate with religious folks. Most modern news media people are shockingly out of touch with the huge segment of the population for which worship is still a big deal. Media people aren’t doing their jobs when they don’t bother to understand the culture of such a major part of their audience.

I got to hang out with little Isabella at dinner again tonight. She came running when she saw me and wanted me to pick her up. Then she wanted to see cat pictures and she wanted to know why I didn’t bring Lucy with me again. (She also stole a few French fries.) I know that raising healthy and happy children is the toughest job in the world — and some days can be miserable when you’re a parent — but being around kids makes me really eager to finally have some of my own.

Whenever someone speaks of “how society is organized,” he has his eyes on taking away whatever you have and “organizing” it as he sees fit. Language like this is about someone seizing control of people and their property. It’s the language of thugs, not of free people. Free people organize themselves and make voluntary arrangements with others. Top-down control is completely contrary to the rights of individuals, whether that control is being used to benefit one part of a society or another. It’s equally wrong whether the theft is in the name of big companies or a religion or the most sanctimonious of all — for the “little people.” Fighting the evil of one sort of dictatorship by advocating a different sort of dictatorship is just as evil.