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The Republican-MAGA movement's reactionary agenda is clear enough. But the deeper motivations of many Trump supporters, at least beneath their absurd and offensive stated beliefs, is much less so.

What we might call the Great Demolition plot includes establishing a corporate oligarchy, a neo-feudalist regime based on long-term minoritarian rule and a malevolent pseudo-Christian theocracy undergirded by state thuggery and social authoritarianism, all of it infused with an incoherent ideological blend of anarchic libertarianism (on guns and most forms of regulation) and fascistic nightmare (white supremacy, antisemitism and numerous grades of conspiracy theory).

Millions of Americans support this regressive and oppressive agenda, but their views are not identical or monolithic: There are the probably well-meaning but horribly misguided Joe and Jane Average, the bloodthirsty fascists, the apoplectic culture warriors, the scheming plutocrats, the uniformed sadists, the gun-radical civilians, the Christian nationalists and "Dominionists," the QAnon believers, the con artists and grifters, the conformists, the deeply traumatized and the profoundly misinformed. All understand themselves to be "patriots," of course.

Clearly, there is a wide spectrum of motivations, beliefs, personalities, interests and objectives, intensity of conviction and degree of lunacy among these mistaken millions. But how can one account for this herd-like descent into paranoia, cultish-nihilistic rage against reality, and proliferation of sociopathic behaviors? A general answer is that extreme beliefs bear little if any connection with the object they purport to discuss. They stem from complex and often subterranean interplay between biological forces (such as neural-hormonal wiring or gender), constructed biographies (whether individual or collective), economic interests, one's sense of belonging and social networks, and "belief formation," meaning the cognitive, affective and behavioral dynamics of decision-making.

What is behind crazy beliefs? Craziness, in one form or another. Crazy beliefs result from dysfunctions and toxicity that, in many individuals, generate unbearable anguish. A more specific answer, then, is that fear plays a central role in individual devolution and mass indoctrination. As Corey Robin points out, fear has a social history. It is a political feeling, the raison d'tre and oldest manipulation tactic of repressive groups and regimes. Many Americans suffer from fear, derived from multiple poisoned sources. Desperate and despondent, they lash out through nihilism, tribalism and rhetorical or actual violence.

Fear has been part of the human experience since time immemorial. From Howard Sackler's screenplay for Stanley Kubrick's 1953 film "Fear and Desire":

There is a war in this forest. Not a war that has been fought, nor one that will be, but any war. And the enemies who struggle here do not exist unless we call them into being. This forest then, and all that happens now is outside history. Only the unchanging shapes of fear and doubt and death are from our world. These soldiers that you see keep our language and our time but have no other country but the mind.

Britain and the United States, to cite the obvious examples, were able to develop generally successful and more or less democratic governments over time because powerful potential enemies were far away, while internal dissenters often emigrated or were crushed. Historically, this included Roman Catholics in the U.K. and anarchists, socialists, Black radicals and other political dissidents in the U.S. In America's case, two vast oceans allowed for safety from external invasion and also for considerable social, individual and ideological diversity. Yet after the traumas of 9/11, the war on terror, the Great Recession, the debacles in Iraq and Afghanistan and the COVID pandemic, Americans reacted as many other peoples have done before them, sliding downward into mass intolerance and violence.

That included the wholesale and largely unquestioned surrender of supposedly cherished freedoms through emergency laws and mass surveillance; extrajudicial kidnapping, torture and imprisonment; new forms of unconventional warfare (i.e., drones) waged against civilians and militants alike; and an enormous consolidation of power in the presidency and the executive branch. All of this went along with military adventurism, political radicalization and polarization, and an upsurge of magical beliefs and both mental and physical health crises, including opioid addictions, obesity and suicide.

After 20 years of mismanaged war in the Middle East, the U.S. finds itself in a situation disturbingly similar to Weimar Germany: disaffected veterans, militarized police, and right-wing radicalism converging with "mainstream" conservatism.

Fear is also inflamed through the national obsession with world domination, military power, militarized culture and gun idolatry. Historian Kathleen Belew, author of "Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America,"argues that each modern U.S. war was followed by a significant increase in domestic radicalism, white supremacy activism and paramilitary agitation. After 20 years of brutally mismanaged war in the greater Middle East, the U.S. finds itself in a situation disturbingly similar to Weimar Germany in 1919: With a relatively large and often disaffected veteran population (think of Timothy McVeigh), growing fascist penetration of the police and the military, increasingly militarized police forces, and armed militias (akin to the Freikorps in Germany) assaulting the legal-constitutional order. Right-wing radicalism has begun to converge with "mainstream" conservatism, fueled by a proliferation of entrepreneurs of chaos and the widespread cult of guns.

Fear also comes from the economy: Since the 1980s, economic survival has continued to demand more expensive degrees, longer working hours and greater productivity. Increasing financial pressure on individuals, families and communities has weakened the middle class by raising the costs of education, health care and real estate, and undermining wages, job security and organized labor. Americans fear exploitation and intimidation in the workplace, and also fear loss of status, health coverage and retirement pension. What's more, they fear each other, and not entirely without reason a factor that helps explain the proliferation of guns. (This is nearly identical to the classic "security dilemma" of international relations theory.)

Global economic forces subject Americans to the rule of the unaccountable one percent, the whims of the FIRE corporations (finance, insurance and real estate) and the condescension and pandering of their lackeys in both political parties. Workers tough it out while the masters of the new Gilded Age buy politicians, lawmakers, judges, think tanks, media outlets and experts; corrupt and exploit the skewed tax system; flout the law and the public interest (no major executive was incarcerated for the 2008 Great Recession); and corrupt the public spirit. To say that the system is rigged, as critics on both the left and right proclaim, is nowhere near adequate.

Abandoned by corporate Democrats, in 2016 the (white) working and middle classes turned in desperation toward an arsonist leading a gang of saboteurs. Their rage resulted from their dysfunctional context; their radicalization was a reaction against structural injustice. Their radical politics may be understood, in part, as a desperate reaction against despair. As Hannah Arendt wrote in "The Origins of Totalitarianism" about 1930s fascism, "the masses' escape from reality is a verdict against the world in which they're forced to live.... It's a protest against the real conditions of existence."

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Male anxiety and overcompensation have further befouled this witches' brew. Dominant models of American personhood, and especially manhood, are rooted in stereotypes of heroism, self-reliance, stoicism, greed, athleticism and competitive vigor, not to mention heterosexuality. Reality appears somewhat different, as the hard right is characterized by panic, emotional incontinence, unhinged rage and homicidal schadenfreude. (Of course I mean Donald Trump, but consider also Ann Coulter, Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Laura Ingraham, Alex Jones, Rush Limbaugh, Michelle Malkin, etc.)

Archetypes of manliness are grotesquely distorted by far-right online "communities" of gamers, "incels" and white supremacists, and entirely too many women who embrace a cartoonish vision of masculinity and denigrate feminism. Anguished "conservatives" and "patriots" are incensed by women's progress, the evolution of gender mores and increasing acceptance of a wide range of LGBTQ+ identities. They are simultaneously insecure and arrogant, fragile and bellicose. Their aggressive bombast and misogyny only serves to reveal the compensatory role played by performative toxic masculinity in lessening their inner turmoil and re-establishing a vague semblance of psychic safety.

There is a continuum that encompasses run-of-the mill misogynists, "pick-up artists," men's rights activists, the online manosphere (e.g., MGTOW), extreme gamers, incels, incels who murder women, the alt-right, and activists and politicians who want to strip women of their rights. Male supremacy also feeds white supremacy, as white sexual anguish stokes racial anguish over Black men's virility and fuels the spread of the "great replacement" conspiracy theory.

This shared hostility toward women and minorities springs from recognizable sociopathic traits: entitlement, grievance, raging righteousness, cruelty, and social domination. Many are looking for father figures, authoritarian or even punitive fathers, for unapologetically dominant alpha males (John Wayne, Rambo, Trump, "Top Gun," John Wick) and models on how to be a real man (Jordan Peterson). In April of this year, Tucker Carlson infamously pushed an apocalyptic-messianic "documentary" called "The End of Men" that advocated "testicle tanning," or exposing male genitalia to red light, supposedly to boost testosterone levels, as a form of "bromeopathy."

In his 1897 classic of sociology, "Suicide," mile Durkheim argued that suicide was not a purely individual phenomenon, but was influenced by collective forces. A society that nurtures functional "little platoons" ( la Edmund Burke) and the sound social integration and regulation of individuals helps them cope with the rigors of life. When that kind of integration fails, the result may be what Durkheim called "selfish suicide" (individuals who feel disconnected), while deficient regulation may facilitate "anomic suicide" (when an individual lacks a sense of rules and meaning). On the other hand, too much integration, as in the military or cult movements, can facilitate "altruistic suicide" (self-sacrifice for the group), while excessive regulation may facilitate "fatalistic suicides" (in which someone breaks under the weight of rigid social norms). In other words, unbalanced forms of social cohesion produce specific pathologies. It's not much of a leap to conceive that American society, with its social isolation, incessant consumerism, endless commercial spectacle and social Darwinism, could produce all sorts of alarming compensatory strategies, such as the manic, cultish, bellicose energy of the MAGA faithful.

Indeed, the fear of death whether biological and social is the fear that underpins countless others. As anthropologist Ernest Becker showed in "The Denial of Death," individuals will do almost anything to lessen or forget this primal terror. Trumpers repudiate their loved ones, vilify reason and science, internalize outlandish lies and embrace servitude and mob rule. Cognitive dissonance, motivated reasoning, confirmation bias and amnesia are the ticket into the warm embrace of the tribe, which is both an extension of one's precious ego and a framework for security the basis of Abraham Maslow's pyramid of fundamental human needs.

Furthermore, terror management and grief processing are closely connected. Elizabeth Kbler-Ross famously identified five stages of grief: denial, anger, depression, bargaining and acceptance. Millions of Trumpers grapple with loss and remain stuck at the initial, pain-filled levels of the grieving process: "The COVID virus is a myth, I am in control" (denial); "Mask mandate is Nazism and/or communism" (anger); "Dr. Fauci stole my life" (anger and depression); "If I take vitamin D, I won't be affected" (bargaining). They take longer to move toward acceptance, if that ever happens: "I will wash my hands and keep a safe distance." David Kessler, a foremost expert on grief and close collaborator of Kbler-Ross, added a sixth stage: seeking meaning. But actual meaning can only come after an acceptance of reality. Delusional sense-seeking is what happens when individuals and groups short-circuit the process, skip healthy grieving and rush into compensatory worlds.

The fear of economic exploitation, violence, political sclerosis, loneliness and death is easy enough to understand. Yet another fear torments Americans: fear of freedom.

The fear of economic exploitation, violence and war, institutional or political sclerosis, solipsism and death is easy to understand. Yet another fear secretly torments many Americans: fear of freedom, or rather fear of the charges and duties that responsible freedom entails. Erich Fromm, in his study of Nazism "Escape From Freedom," explains that the rigors of freedom create considerable anxiety in many individuals, who seek to lessen stress through three mechanisms: destructiveness, conformity with (and submission to) the group, and seeking refuge in an authoritarian movement that seems to offers direction and meaning. Today, the mainstream, conventional American sense of self is self-centered, entitled and inauthentic; and therefore also insecure and hyper-vigilant, aggrieved and bellicose. An epidemic of narcissism and unmoored subjectivity that cuts across generations, races, genders, sexual orientations, classes and political affiliations has fed the current crisis. Irritable individual sovereignty, freed from any sense of responsibility, helps many Trumpers indulge their narcissism, intellectual laziness and conformity.

Indeed, willful ignorance is key here. In 1546, John Heywood, perhaps inspired by Jeremiah 5:21, wrote: "There are none so blind as those who will not see." Self-indulgence mixes with the old populist mystique of practical knowledge and vocational skills to feed the fear and hatred of analytical culture and critical thinking and the particularly demanding form of freedom it offers.

As Richard Hofstadter remarked some 60 years ago, anti-intellectualism and paranoia are American traditions embedded in the national experience. In his 1963 classic "Anti-Intellectualism in American Life," heargues that intellectuals and experts are viewed as "pretentious, conceited, effeminate, and snobbish; and very likely immoral, dangerous, and subversive" and un-American. Historically, the American glorification of the "common man" tends to feed demagoguery, favors the lowest common denominator and fuels self-absorption, religious fundamentalism and suspicion of the experts and other Others. It is Jacksonian democracy run amok. Mangled English and a smug ignorance (of science, history, the world, legitimate sources of knowledge) become evidence of one's authenticity (Trump, Sarah Palin, George W. Bush) and good character. Hostility toward critical knowledge is also a form of revolt against the Enlightenment, against an ideal of truth that demands questioning one's ego, one's limits, one's safety and one's world. This ontological insecurity feeds paranoia, which Hofstadter defined as "the sense of heated exaggeration, suspiciousness, and conspiratorial fantasy" that characterizes "more or less normal people" throughout American history.

Paranoia is found across historical time and space. Its American avatar harks back to medieval Christian millenarianism and end-time fantasies of destruction and salvation, which Norman Cohn describes as

the megalomaniac view of oneself as the Elect, wholly good, abominably persecuted, yet assured of ultimate triumph; the attribution of gigantic and demonic powers to the adversary; the refusal to accept the ineluctable limitations and imperfections of human existence, such as transience, dissention, conflict, fallibility whether intellectual or moral; the obsession with inerrable prophecies, systematized misinterpretations, always gross and often grotesque.

This portrait of medieval lunatics can be applied verbatim to contemporary QAnon believers, Christian nationalists and other "patriots." Trumpism is a charismatic, cultish and nihilistic mass movement that calls for destruction "for them" and salvation "for us." This helps explain why sadism, cruelty and sheer frenzy run deep in the MAGA circus: they bind the mob together toward mass cruelty and some apocalyptic showdown. Charisma replaces common sense. As Bret Stephens writes about the decay of moderate conservatism on both sides of the Atlantic: "Where there is sense, there is not much charisma; when there is charisma, there is almost no sense."

Trumpist zealots converge on style and substance, while their goals and deeper motivations remain diverse. Many Trumpers are not fearful at all, but arrogant, domineering and coldly conniving. Others the sour, surly, and surreal specimens whom Jordan Klepper interviews regularly demonstrate the truth of the adage that "there are limits to human intelligence but no limits to human stupidity." Others, like the morally flexible evangelicals, use the "Cyrus the Great" rationalization (Isaiah 41:2-4, 45:1-3) to proclaim that Trump, though imperfect, was anointed by God because he delivered their most cherished goals. Millions of others spurred by anguish are riding along in the bacchanal, serving as the useful idiots and shock troops for the Pied Pipers, princes and principalities (Ephesians 6:12) of Trumpistan.

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America's heart of darkness: Making sense of the nonsensical allure of MAGA - Salon

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Readers weigh in on the Pope's remarks, Jordan Peterson's appraisal of our PM, and preserving the culture of Canada's 'Second Nation', in the Letters to the Editor

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Re: Papal visit should not obscure federal obligations to Indigenous-Canadians, Terry Glavin, July 27

Im sure the glaring ironies of the continuously referred to water metaphor, and repeated references to mothers and grandmothers in the various remarks made by Pope Francis, didnt escape many observers of his visit to Canada.

That water is the essence of life didnt need to be pointed out to those bands who still need to drink from plastic bottles on a daily basis despite Justin Trudeaus promise from 2015 to deliver clean driving water to all First Nations by 2021.

And the fact that headdressed males swarmed a stage in a disorderly and unseemly fashion to get selfies with the Pontiff while women stood on the periphery with no overt welcome to that apparently spontaneous moment spoke more loudly about the hypocrisy of womens place in the Catholic Church than could ever be over-ridden by Franciss words.

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Larry Baswick, Stratford, Ont.

I am deeply appreciative of the recent work of the Posts Terry Glavin in regard to the mistreatment of Canadas Indigenous peoples.

I have found his reports compelling and enormously valuable and perhaps more accurate and balanced than those found elsewhere within the Canadian media landscape.

And I am in awe of the measured, gracious comments from Canadas Indigenous leaders in Glavins articles. Their dignity in the face of these horrors should inspire us all.

Al Coates, Cambridge, Ont.

Re: Worst is yet to come from Trudeau Liberals, Jordan Peterson, July 27

If only one of the comments garnered by Jordan Peterson from conversations during his travels is true, it is an indictment of Justin Trudeau, the Liberal Party of Canada and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh. Canada is indeed the laughingstock of the world.

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Canada was once a proud country, punching above our weight in war and peacekeeping roles, a middle economy, trading with the world and a recognized nation of peace, order and good government. But the Liberals handling of the pandemic, overreaction to the truckers protest, climate hysteria, penalizing of Canadian taxpayers instead of China, decimation of our economy with constraints on our energy sector, condoning of public-sector incompetence, creation of chaos at airports, and contempt for our parliamentary system (while Britain illustrates how our democracy should work), expose a different picture. Justin Trudeau and the current Canadian government are a joke. The joke is on us.

Larry Sylvester, Acton, Ont.

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Bless the National Post for having the courage to publish Dr. Jordan Petersons appraisal of the current state of affairs in Canada. However, Postmedia must be very worried that publishing the article will jeopardize its standing as a qualified Canadian journalism organization. There is a way to mitigate the risk. Simply publish a rebuttal by noted Liberal pundit and deep thinker Gerald Butts.

Peter Keerma, Aurora, Ont.

Re: Trudeau will continue winning if Conservatives keep flip-flopping, Jamil Jivani, July 25

Jamil Jivani hit the nail on its head regarding the need for Conservatives to stop trying to cater to the left the left being bigger government resulting in greater intrusiveness into individual rights and the destruction of the fabric of a free society with all its consequences. A little more to the left and you can see the authoritarian communist party of China ruling. A little to the left and you can see the dictatorship in Russia.

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The more control a government has over its citizenry the greater the dictatorship. Nazism and communism share the same core concept, which is control by a small group using force to eventually control a society. These systems have resulted in incalculable suffering for humankind. Being in the spectrum but not on the extreme should not absolve our left-wing parties, however well-meaning they appear. The end result is always the same.

If we want to uphold freedom, the Conservatives should stop flip-flopping, whether they get elected or not.

Andr Behamdouni, Sturgeon Falls, Ont.

Re: The first rule of Poilievres Fight Club is there are no rules, John Ivison, July 27

Perhaps Pierre Poilievre is right that its time to get angry and charged up to vote and take down the real divisive monster in Canada: Justin Trudeau. Maybe Poilievres scorched-earth, take-no-prisoners approach is exactly what is needed to shake up and revitalize our failing institutions and restore a bit of trust in them.

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We keep taking the same tired, failing, status quo approach to politics and it just isnt working for the people anymore. Time for a change, even if it means tearing it all down to do it.

Corey Needer, Vaughan, Ont.

Re: Charest and Poilievre have an opportunity to build bridges between English and French Canada, Conrad Black, July 23

Pierre Trudeau was correct: French-Canadians must be masters in their own house, but their house is in Canada. Hence it is the prerogative of French-Canadians to pass laws that will protect their culture and language, and this is what Bill 96 is all about. It is the rights of the Quebec nation to take steps to preserve its heritage.

There is now Truth and Reconciliation taking place with First Nations, with all of us remembering that they were the ethnic groups that were the earliest known inhabitants of this country. Their common teaching is that people should live in harmony.

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Then came the Second Nation to inhabit Canada, the French, with Samuel de Champlain in 1608 founding what was to become the city of Quebec and New France. But then British rule took over and 10,000 Acadians, who were descendants of the early French settlers, were deported between 1755 and 1763. The Acadians had built a distinct culture and society over generations. The deportation was referred to as the Great Upheaval and the Great Expulsion. Obviously, the expulsion of the Canadian French nation was offensive and culturally oppressive.

Bill 96 should be seen as part of a reconciliation with the Second Nation, to bring harmony. It is to ensure the survival and flourishment of the Quebec Nation, to ensure the preservation of its heritage.

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Roger Cyr, Victoria, B.C.

Re: Ottawas unjust energy transition paints a bullseye on western Canada, Bill Bewick, July 27

The population of Sri Lanka is unable to feed itself after an economic meltdown and after their government forbade the use of agricultural fertilizers and pesticides. As a result of massive protests, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country, although he has said he will return at an unspecified date.

In Canada, Justin Trudeaus government has informed our agricultural sector it wants to cut greenhouse gas emissions from fertilizer by 30 per cent. When Canada experiences the resulting food shortages, let us hope Trudeau is forced to flee as well.

Robert B. Kalina, Oakville, Ont.

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Re: Canada shares expertise on moving grain from Ukraine, but faith in Russia nil, July 22

A Canadian Press article advised that some Ukrainian grain is being transported through Europe by rail.

Rail transport is complicated by the fact that Ukrainian railroads have a broad gauge (1.524 mm) track while most other European railroads have standard gauge (1.435 mm) tracks (as does most of Canada).

A way Canadian railroad expertise might help is by designing and managing the construction of a 150-kilometre standard gauge railway to link Odesa, in Ukraine, to the Bulgarian rail network for forwarding grain to shipping terminals in Istanbul, Turkey.

With war-time exigencies and temporary structures, it should be possible to construct this standard gauge trackage in several months. The Ukrainian Railway authorities have shown tremendous resilience and resourcefulness during the war and should be able to operate this railroad perhaps using 100-tonne grain hopper cars loaned by Canada.

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Derek Wilson, Port Moody, B.C.

Re: UNESCO: Nearly half of Telegrams Holocaust content contains denial, distortion, July 14

As a hidden infant child survivor whose father and whose fathers siblings and their spouses as well as other close family members perished in the Holocaust, I often wonder at the reaction of so many regarding the denial of this horror. A cursory study of Jewish history will show the presence of denial in one form or another throughout the ages.

Consider first the exodus from Egypt. From a purely secular point of view, the exodus of a slave nation from the most powerful empire on Earth, must have had cataclysmic economical, political and social effects on Egyptian society. Yet there is nary a reference to this event in Egyptian records. But Jews celebrate Passover to this day.

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And if we consider Persian sources, there is no record of the decree made almost 1,000 years after the Egyptian exodus, to annihilate every Jewish man, woman and child in the Persian empire. In the end it was a Holocaust that didnt happen. And Jews have celebrated their deliverance on Purim ever since.

If we fast forward to WWII, we note that it was the most documented war in history. We have an incredible storehouse of photographic evidence of the Holocaust, as well as the testimonies of thousands of survivors and rescuers. And yet with modern technology it is relatively easy to sophistically Photoshop extant evidence and to create new evidence.

So what do I expect my heirs to face long after I and all other survivors have gone? I am not suggesting that we, or they, should stop confronting Holocaust denial. Indeed, such denial should be vigorously opposed. Still, we should not be surprised or shocked when we see denial writ large. In the end, what is important, and lasting, is what we both Jew and Gentile pass down to our children. There will always be people of goodwill who will oppose the evil they confront. And I am alive to write this because of an extended Christian family who risked life, limb and torture to save a mother and her three children.

Eli Honig, Toronto

National Post and Financial Post welcome letters to the editor (150 words or fewer). Please include your name, address and daytime phone number. Email letters@nationalpost.com. Letters may be edited for length or clarity.

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Letters to the editor: Irony and inspiration in Pope Francis's visit - National Post

There has been no love lost between the Golden State Warriors' fan base and Charles Barkley.

But recently, the former player and current TV analyst said something that even the most die-hard Warriors' fan can agree with.

During an interview with NBC Sports Bay Area during the American Century Championship at Edgewood Tahoe Gold Course, Barkley gave an abundance of credit for Golden State's success to Bob Myers, the team's general manager. He even said he's one of the greatest things to ever happen to the franchise that's turned dynastic under his leadership.

Bob Myers has done a fabulous job," Barkley said. "He won the Finals for those guys this year, going out and getting Andrew Wiggins. He was the second-best player. Jordan Poole. Otto Porter."

While recognizing the Warriors as NBA Champions is undeniable, actually giving credit to the Warriors organization is somewhat uncharted territory for Barkley. As fans remember, Barkley refused to pick Golden State in any of the five games in the Western Conference Finals.

He openly stated that he could not in good conscience actually pick the Warriors even though he knew they were the better team. This drew "Chuck you suck!" chants from Warriors fans at Chase Center.

But Barkley has finally changed his tune, at least when it comes to the actual players and foundation of the franchise that's won four championships in the last eight years and yes, that's four more than Barkley, himself for those keeping score at home.

So, Bob Myers was the second-best thing to happen to the Warriors since Steph Curry the last few years," Barkley said. "So, give Bob Myers some credit. And, obviously, Otto Porter played great. Drafting Jordan Poole. You talk about Steph and those guys, give Bob Myers a ton of credit. He deserves it.

Excerpt from:

Charles Barkley Thinks Bob Myers is the 'Second-Best Thing' to Happen to Golden State - Sports Illustrated

This weeks announcement that Stan Grant will be permanent host of the ABCs Q&A follows widespread speculation about the future of the program. On some estimates, ratings have fallen by more than 50% from a peak of over 600,000 during its first decade under Tony Jones, who served as host from 2008.

Hamish Macdonald succeeded Jones in November 2019 but resigned in July last year, describinghis 18-month tenure as a bruising experience. Aside from being attacked on Sky News for his far left Green agenda, he was relentlessly trolled on social media, with virulent accusations of bias from both the left and the right.

Curiously, the BBCs Question Time Q&As prototype has followed a parallel trajectory. Its ratings have fallen precipitously, from nearly nine million to just over a million and the decline coincides with the replacement of veteran host David Dimbleby by seasoned BBC personality Fiona Bruce, whose own brand of charisma is no match for the gravitas of her predecessor.

Question Time is something of a cuckoo in the nest. In its 43-year history it has consistently featured leading commentators and parliamentarians; its two most longstanding presenters, Dimbleby and Robin Day, were the equivalent of BBC royalty. But since its takeover by a commercial production company in 1998, the program has crossed the line into terrain more generally associated with tabloid media.

Now its producers prefer guests like Brexiteer Nigel Farage, conservative psychologist Jordan Peterson and John Lydon (alias punk rocker Johnny Rotten), who serve to ratchet up the controversy. Its been claimed that paid audience plants are instructed to ask heavily weighted questions, and that the chairing is biased. And Bruce endures the kind of social media onslaught that drove Macdonald out.

Reports of disastrous ratings may themselves be a form of motivated attack. Audiences now have many more viewing options than the original live transmissions, and the BBC has persistently asserted that audience figures are higher than some surveys suggest.

Q&A is in much the same situation: while Sky claims the lefty lovefest has scored as low as 228,000, the ABC estimates the regular following through 2021 at more than 400,000. But thats still quite a drop-off since the programs heyday.

Are we just jaded with celebrity opinion shows, especially those founded in the leftright dramaturgy? The predictability is at times exhausting.

Macdonalds best episode was his first, in February 2020, when he chaired a session on the bushfires with a panel that included Kirsty McBain, then mayor of Bega, and Andrew Constance, Liberal MP for the area. The panel sat on office chairs in a semi-circle, genuinely sharing what they had all just been through, including Macdonald himself, who had reported from an evacuation centre as the fire front approached.

A few weeks later, though, it was back to business as usual, with the presenter in a glossy suit fielding the play of leftright argy-bargy in the studio.

We dont need this anymore. In many ways, the conventions of robust disagreement and both sides-ism are no longer a positive feature of civil society but rather a threat to it. As Republican Liz Cheney put it in a recent statement to the January 6th Committee, the normal sort of vitriolic, toxic partisanship has got to stop. And we have to recognise what is at stake.

Stan Grant has several times taken the helm as guest host of Q&A since Tony Joness departure. He prompted a furore in March this year when he expelled an audience member who expressed support for Putins invasion of Ukraine, asserting the program was contributing to media bias against Russia. There were calls of propaganda from the audience as the speaker proceeded to claim that Ukraine was responsible for all the violence.

Aired in the second week of the Russian invasion, this episode included speakers and audience members with family in the war zone. We encourage different points of view here, Grant said. But we cant have anyone who is sanctioning, supporting, violence.

Clearly caught off guard by an unscheduled audience intervention, Grant may have missed the essential point: that the statement, intentionally or not, was Russian propaganda. It was a critical moment for many reasons, one of which is that Grants subsequent appointment as host could signal a change in direction for the program.

That moment also raised the question of when we should call foul on claims about the right to express opinion, especially in a media culture increasingly subject to influence from organised, even state-run, propaganda. And what is propaganda? How does it manifest and how should we respond?

This, surely, would be a good focus for a Q&A program. Peter Pomerantsev, who has studied Russian propaganda for decades, would be the perfect guest. These are times in which we need sustained, forensic focus on complex issues. We need insight and analysis from people with knowledge and experience, not extemporised opinion from celebrities.

The Ukraine invasion is the starkest manifestation of the transformed geopolitical environment. With Donald Trump already moving to gather support for another tilt at the presidency, and the US justice department taking its time over the evidence against him, the future of American democracy is in jeopardy. In Australia we have a leader of the opposition who talks openly about war with China.

Jones, Macdonald and Grant have all had extensive experience as foreign correspondents. With domestic politics increasingly dwarfed by the massive geopolitical tensions of our era, those issues should be to the fore. Q&A, which originated as a premier platform for the opinion wars, now has an opportunity to lead the way out of them.

Originally posted here:

Can Q&A lead us out of the opinion wars its helped to fuel? - The Conversation

MYRNA BROWN, HOST:Good morning!

Some Republicans are flip-flopping on same-sex marriageand seem to be trimming their sails on pro-life.

Also, a challenge to the church from a friendly nonbeliever

NICK EICHER, HOST:Thats ahead on Culture Friday with Andrew Walker.

Also today a review of Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris.Arts and Media editor Collin Garbarino seeks a few minutes youd spare us.

And your listener feedback.

BROWN:Its Friday, July 29th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. Im Myrna Brown.

EICHER:And Im Nick Eicher. Good morning!

BROWN:Now news with Paul Butler.

PAUL BUTLER, NEWS ANCHOR:Kentucky floods In Kentucky, flash floods killed several people and forced many to their roofs Thursday.

Heres Flo Harris, Kentucky resident,

HARRIS: Its pretty scary, and knowing that theres nothing you can do about it.So what do you do? You stand there and watch it and pray that the Lord will take care of everybody.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said this is some of the worst flooding in the states history. Hundreds will likely lose their homes. Hes announced a state of emergency and called the National Guard.

BESHEAR: Were currently experiencing one of the worst most devastating flooding events in Kentuckys history.

As much as six inches of rain has fallen in some parts of Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia and the National Weather Service said about three more inches are likely.

GDP report bleak, Meta revenue down The U.S. economy is sinking toward a recession. The Commerce Department reported Thursday that the U.S. gross domestic product has fallen for a second straight quarter. Thats one informal, but not decisive, indicator of a recession.

Inflation has consumers buying less

AUDIO: I notice, like, I go and try to get milk and like even a half gallon of milk, it's hard to find for under $8, which is really hard.

But President Biden countered recession fears by pointing to economic positives.

BIDEN: If you look at our job market consumer spending business investment we see signs of economic progress in the second quarter as well.

Facebook reported its first ever revenue loss this quarter. Twitter and Snapalso reported second-quarter letdowns.

Biden/Xi follow up President Biden spoke with Chinese leader Xi Jinping for over two hours on Thursday. WORLDs Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: Chinas state media reported that the two leaders hadquotein-depth communication on U.S.-China relations and issues of mutual concern.

The morning conversation comes after China threatened a forceful response to House Speaker Nancy Pelosis possible visit to Taiwan.

Elsewhere in the Pacific: Kim Jong Un has threatened to use nuclear weapons if war breaks out against the U.S. or South Korea.

Reporting for WORLD, Im Josh Schumacher.

Ukraine grain exports update AUDIO: [Odessa port]

As the war between Russia and Ukraine drags on, ships are sitting idle in three Black Sea ports waiting to export 22 million tons of grain. That even after Russia said it would allow the ships safe passage out of the port in Odessa for 120 days.

Guy Platten, the secretary general of the International Chamber of Shipping, says security is a concern.

PLATTEN:You know, we need to ensure that the safety of the crew are paramount in getting the ships out.

Underwater mines populate the waters outside the ports and Russian missiles struck the port only hours after the two governments signed the agreement last Friday.

Airline merger JetBlue Airways announced Thursday that it will buy Spirit Airlines if antitrust regulators OK it. WORLDs Mary Muncy has more.

MARY MUNCY, REPORTER: A merger between Spirit and a different airline, Frontier, fell through on Wednesday, but by Thursday, JetBlue had agreed to buy Spirit for almost $4 billion.

The deal would put JetBlue fifth behind the big four airlinesAmerican, United, Delta, and Southwest.

The big four control about 80 percent of the U.S. market, soa JetBlue spokesman saidbuying Spirit would increase competition.

But groups like the anti-merger American Economic Liberties Project say it could raise other budget airlines prices.

Reporting for WORLD, Im Mary Muncy.

Gun profits Five major gun manufacturers made a combined $1 billion on semiautomatic, AR-15-style weapons in the last decade.That, according to a Congressional investigation released Wednesday.

Representative Carolyn Maloney of New York says the firearms companies used questionable marketing tactics. But Representative James Comer of Kentucky says the firearm industry has done nothing wrong.

COMER:Their customers are allowed to lawfully buy guns their customers are allowed to exercise their Second Amendment right.

Semiautomatic rifles have been used in several recent high-profile mass shootingsincluding in Buffalo, New York, and in Uvalde, Texas.

Im Paul Butler.Straight ahead: on Culture Friday, same-sex marriage, abortion, and a challenge to the church.

Plus, a review of a heartwarming movie now in theaters.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST:It's the 29th day of July, 2022. Glad to have you along for todays edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, Im Myrna Brown.

NICK EICHER, HOST:And Im Nick Eicher. First up: Culture Friday with Andrew Walker.

Andrews a professor of Christian ethics and apologetics at Southern Seminary and managing editor of WORLD Opinions. Morning, Andrew!

ANDREW WALKER, GUEST:Nick and Myrna, its always good to be with you.

BROWN:Andrew, we didn't get a chance to talk about this last week, but I know it's still on your mind.

You wrote, and I'm quoting you here, Most Republicans knees are buckling about having to go on the record about same-sex marriage. They fear political retribution, meaning they aren't really free. But truth and freedom go hand in hand. Rather than buckle at elite scorn, always testify to what is true. Live Free."

Of course, you were referring to the 47 Republican House members who essentially walked away from the party's stated principles and platform, not to mention what the Bible teaches about marriage, to cast a vote for same-sex marriage.

Here's the rub: When the Supreme court redefined marriage in 20-15, the collective response from Republicans was outrage.

What do you think has changed in seven years and why is this a defining cultural moment?

WALKER: Well, it's a good question. I think what we are noticing over the last seven years, is the ability for law to be a teacher. We see this principle laid down in Scripture. Paul says the law is a teacher, it's a paedagogus. What he means by that is, law shapes belief, belief shapes behavior, behavior shapes our understanding of customs.

We are now accustomed to five plus years of same-sex marriage, and United States. It's now routine. It's now by all accounts, traditional based on the evolving mores of the modern kind of secular worldview. I say that in jest, obviously.

But all this goes to show us is how if you don't keep the debate alive, individuals on the other side of the aisle will treat you like you're on the wrong side of history. And that's what we're seeing play out.

And I think theres a lot of Republican cowardice on this issue. You're right, they did speak out profusely against the Obergefell ruling, and rightfully so, because this was the Supreme Court, kind of bringing this issue to all 50 states, without any votes whatsoever.

But now that this all seems normal, the Republicans are abandoning principle. And as you mentioned in your question, they're abandoning their own platform of their own party. And so I think this goes to show you that if we are not testifying to what is true, what is false can easily come to the surface.

And so regardless of what happens, if there are 60 votes for this in the Senate, our calling as Christians doesn't change because the nature of marriage can't change. It's something outside the purview of politics, because God is the author of marriage. And our calling is to testify to what is true, regardless of the cost.

EICHER:That's interesting. Let's talk about another issue that seems to be buckling Republican knees, as you say and thats the issue of abortion, now that the Supreme Court has washed its hands of the issue and said this is now a matter for the peoples representatives to handle. And Im hearing rumblings that the peoples representatives are saying, at least some of them: Oh, great! This is going to kill us in the midterms. We need to lay low Maybe heres where we find out where evangelicals are because the criticism is they look the other way on Republican hypocrisy and this seems potentially an opportunity to show otherwise.

WALKER: It is really interesting that now that issues of life are back on the table, you know, one of the concerns that the pro-life community had about the mainstream Republican establishment is that they actually didn't really want Roe to ever be overturned. Because as long as they just paid lip service to the pro life movement, with Roe in place, abortion was really going nowhere.

But now there's actually opportunity for abortion to move in the states. And I wouldn't be shocked. I mean, I can't read the motives of every Republican office holder, but I wouldn't be shocked if there are some who were really turned off by this.

One of my good friends is a high ranking official in the Republican Senate side. And this individual told me about conversations with Republican consultants, who were really, really concerned about how overturning Roe could negatively impact Republicans come November. And my friend, who is very, very pro life, was about to pull his hair out because he said, How insane is it, that there are Republican operatives who are actually concerned and upset at the overturning of Roe v. Wade, when this again is what is purportedly at the center of the Republican Party's platform.

So there's some gross hypocrisy going on here. And listen, we need to call balls and strikes. When the Republicans get it wrong. When they're acting cowardly or hypocritically, they need called out for this.

EICHER:Speaking of calling the strike zoneI know you saw this onea well-known personality, public intellectual, saying the church is striking out. Im talking about the Canadian psychology professor Jordan Peterson. He put up a video on YouTube called a message to the Christian churches that among other things admonishes the church to focus ministry resources toward men, young men in particular. He's very passionate on it. Here's a bit of what he said.

PETERSON:... invite young men. Put up a billboard. Say, young men are welcome here. Tell those who have never been in a church exactly what to do, how to dress, when to show up, who to contact, and most importantly, what they can do. Ask more, not less, of those you are inviting. Attend to some souls. That's what youre supposed to do. Thats your holy duty. Do it. Now. Before its too late. The hour is nigh.

And I was thinking about that in light of a really good column you ran in WORLD Opinions by a new writer, Bethel McGrew. Americas lost boys, it was called. She talks about the Chicago Fourth of July shooter about how the warning signs are there if only we would look.

Jordan Peterson seems to have looked and hes urging churches to attend to these young people.

So my question is, first, I wonder if you think Jordan Peterson has it right and whether he has something to say to the churches that we ought to listen to.

WALKER:So I think on the whole, Jordan Peterson is correct in his diagnosis, about the nature of masculinity in our culture. Now, I don't think that full scale adoption of all that he's proposing is necessarily correct, because I think at the heart of some of Jordan Peterson's recommendations, is a very kind of mancentric, anthropocentric understanding of man trying to get himself to Godwhen in reality, the message of the Christian gospel is God bringing himself to man and to what to woman, to be clear.

But there is, I think, a general listlessness in our culture, about the nature of masculinity. I think there's at least two reasons for that: One at the pop culture level, ask yourself, How often do we see men portrayed in any type of ennobling capacity? A lot of times, especially on sitcoms, husbands, and fathers are portrayed as kind of absent-minded dunces. But then also, we have what I would call elite scorn at the notion of masculinity as well.

Now, I don't think we need to revert to kind of chest thumping bravado, to call for a healthy masculinity. That's not what I'm calling for. Im calling for a healthy, Biblical masculinity that understands what God has called us to in our masculinity, which is to be faithful providers and protectors and responsible individuals in society.

So I do think that there are many avenues in the culture that are causing men to second guess themselves and question whether anything about their status as men matters in society.

And so this is an opportunity. I mean, Jordan Peterson is correct insofar as he's saying to the church, Church, you need to talk about the excellence of what it means to be masculine. The church does have something to say here. The church is one of the few institutions in society that I would argue hasn't lost the very definition of what it means to be a man.

We're now living in this kind of genderless age, where, you know, you really can't be a man or a woman by any biological category. It's all a matter of your mind. But the church, through the word of God actually has a word here.

One of my favorite understandings of Christianity is that Christianity is a religion of assertion. We actually believe in truth, we actually believe that there is something composite to masculinity and femininity, and we need to champion that because if we don't champion that, we'll let kind of the culture despisers around us take advantage of our frailty, and to manipulate the conversationand I think to make men and boys for that matter, more worse off.

BROWN:All right, Andrew Walker. Hes a professor of Christian ethics and apologetics at Southern Seminary and managing editor of WORLD Opinions. Thanks, Andrew!

WALKER:Thank you.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST:Today is Friday, July 29th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. Im Myrna Brown.

NICK EICHER, HOST:And Im Nick Eicher. Up next, arts and media editor Collin Garbarino reviews a film currently in theaters. Its about not just following your dreams but helping others along the way.

COLLIN GARBARINO: Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris is a charming adaptation of Paul Gallicos 1958 novel of the same name. At first glance, the movie seems like a Cinderella story for older folksa humble cleaning lady embarks on an adventure to buy a life-changing dressbut this middle-aged Cinderella turns out to be something of a fairy godmother herself.

The year is 1957, and Ada Harris is a London war widow making ends meet by cleaning houses. Shes hard working and selfless, but her employers take her for granted. Her friends care for her, but sometimes they take her for granted too.

Archie: Why do you stick with her whos so crabby.

Mrs. Harris: Met her me first shift building planes. Never had a better friend.

Vi: Trouble with this oneshe always speak the truth. Cant help herself.

Archie: That is a terrible affliction. All right behave yourself ladies. Ill be watching you.

Her life has been on hold since World War II ended, but she finds new purpose after seeing her employers custom-made Christian Dior gown. Mrs. Harris decides she must have one too, but a Dior dresss 500-pound price tag is an impossibly large expense for someone like her. The determined Mrs. Harris scrimps and saves, and after an unexpected windfall, she heads to Paris to claim her gown.

But Mrs. Harris isnt prepared for the world of haute couture at the House of Dior, and purchasing a gown proves more complicated than expected.

Madame Colbert: [speaking French] This lady wishes to buy a dress. Direct her to a suitable shop. [speaking French] Go!

Andre: Please let me escort you out.

Mrs. Harris: No, no, no. Hang on a minute. Ive come miles. Saved every penny scrubbing floors and I dont know what, so I can buy this frock.

Madame Colbert: A Christian Dior is not for pennies. [speaking French]

Mrs. Harris: Right. If you think I ain't got the money. There.

Andre: [speaking French]

Some members of Pariss high society resent the disruption her simple virtues bring to their image-conscious world. But others embrace the good-natured Mrs. Harris, inspired by her honesty and love of others.

Marquis: Excuse me cher madame, but it would be my honor to have you view the collection as my guest. There you are. Merci. Shall we?

Mrs. Harris: Oh!

Mrs. Harriss quest for a luxurious dress might sound like a frivolous plot device, but the movie doesnt endorse materialism. Mrs. Harris doesnt pretend the dress will make her a better person. And no one, including Mrs. Harris, understands why she wants one.

Madame Colbert: This Dior dress that you admire so much. Where will you wear it? At the opera ball or Queen Charlottes? Will you wear it to polish floors or will you keep it shut in your wardrobe? A Dior dress is designed to astonish and delight. How will you do that, Mrs. Harris? Forgive me for saying this, but you are nobody. Invisible. How will you give this dress the life it deserves?

Originally posted here:

The World and Everything in It: July 29, 2022 - WORLD News Group

A visual representation of the souls of my children when they start lecturing me about my failings.

I finally worked up the wherewithal to start looking at my pictures from our trip. Matt had the better idea of posting big chunks of them every Sunday and then going back offline, whereas I thought, foolishly, that I would come home and sort them and then post them systematically. I added Post Pictures to my List Of All The Things I Will Do. I got home and started working down the list. Part of my magical thinking was that if I could just get to the end of my inbox, and do all the other miscellaneous admin (thats what I call it to myself) that always sits there, like the laundry, weighing on my conscience, I would be really happy.

So, I kid you not, I did just that (less the pictures). I coped with my inbox. I went through and paid all kinds of school fees. I found my stamps and mailed my letters. Iseriously, sit down and put down your iced coffeegot to the end of my list. I crossed the last thing off on Monday night and then sat back and waited for the flood of relief and joy that I knew, as certainly as night follows day, would overwhelm me.

But nothing happened. Nothing at all, except that I looked back at my phone and found I had three new tasks magically appear in my email that I didnt even know were going to hit me. And I was just as anxious as ever. And no feelings of happiness or relief whatsoever illuminated my soul. It was a huge and terrible disappointment.

And so, in the spirit of Solomon and all his experiments in temporal joy, let me just warn you off even trying.Do Not Devote Yourself To Admin. Dont. Dont make responding to email your full-time job. Youll do it all and youll still be stressed out. I mean, Im not suggesting you not do it at all, but, as the person who wrote Deep Work said (I think), shove that baby back in the corner. Admin should be confined to a small box, like a yapping angry dog. It shouldnt be let out to wander around and take over everything. Like the laundry, which should live in its own dismal room and be shoved back in whenever it spills out or whenever anything more interesting comes along, email and other sorts of tasks should be forced back into their desolating corner in favor of more satisfying pursuits, like pulling up weeds, arguing with your children about Jordan Peterson, and trying to recreate the Coffee With Milk that you ordered once in Portugal.

Not a very good picture, I admit, but stopping to fix it is really beyond my abilities right now. To put any nice pictures here Im going to have to go back and resize everything and Im not sure how. Hopefully, it isnt as complicated as it looks. Meanwhile, as I said, my children have had a lot of things to say about Jordan Peterson. Apparently, a lot of them watched his short lecture to the church (I havent had a chance to yet) and were both bemused and incensed. For some reason, most of them are big JP fans. The oldest is working her way through his lectures on the Bible and can often be found, headphones plugged in, smiling and shaking her head. They are interesting, but, as she says, he so often misses the point. As to what the church should be doing, my children wanted to give Jordan Peterson some advice. Of course, he is right that young men are being cast off and that the church should particularly invite them in and affirm their biological realities. But (and this is the advice bit) it would be helpful if Professor Peterson would take the trouble to discover what the church is for. And he could do that by reading more Christian writers andthey were quite adamant about thisgiving in and going to church himself. If CS Lewis could submit himself to the mediocrity of the C of E on an ordinary Sunday morning, and Jesus himself could go to the Synagogue for his whole earthly lifeand my goodness, what must it be like to sit there and listen to one dubious and confused biblical exposition after another, oh wait, God does it still! He is there in every worship service in every corner of every country through all timethan even Jordan Peterson can, and should, go. Because it is only by going and submitting ones impressive intellect to the mercies and grace of the ordinary gathering of faithful worshippers that the point of the exercise gradually becomes clear. And that is that Jesus saves us from ourselves and unites us to him. Thats a message that young men need, but also older ones, and women as well.

My children pointed their fingers at me and practically shoutedGo to church, Jordan. The young menand young womenof today who listen to you insist.

And now, if you will excuse me, Im going to go have my morning walk in this hideous thousand-degree weather. And after that, I have no idea. I probably need to go buy a latte since I cant make a good one myself and I cant crop my pictures either. Have a nice day!

See original here:

Wisdom of the Ages: Email, Jordan Peterson, and a Latte - Patheos

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With the recent Supreme Court decision striking down Roe v. Wade, pro-life and pro-abortion factions have been jockeying to further influence our nations culture. Its hard not to notice the hateful ugliness of a visceral recoil coming from leftist activists. So why exactly does a nations culture matter? Whats at stake? Why does choosing to live a life of virtue, or vice, even matter?

With abortion and many other issues, the world is in a massive state of confusion. Violence is increasing. Order is breaking down. Everyone knows that there is something wrong afoot. Everything that is good these days is under attack. Whats going on, and what can everyday people do about it?

In Against the Grain: Heroic Catholics Through the Centuries I tell the story of 21 saints from 21 centuries focused on 21 virtues and why virtue matters especially for our time. Better understanding individuals who lived as shining examples, as signs of contradiction, who did what was right and not what was necessarily always popular. Against the Grain is a summons to heroic virtue, to sainthood, for all. To be a saint is to change the world one soul at a time.

When the world tilts toward crazy, the desire for the heroic increases. Americans love superheroes. Feel good stories about good defeating evil. Our rational brains inform us that while comic book and movie superheroes arent real, were fascinated by them nonetheless. Why is that? Instinctively we love our military, police, firefighters, medical and everyday heroes. Heroes give us solace, energy, and hope.

MARIO LOPEZ SHARES PHOTOS OF HIS SON'S FIRST COMMUNION

Details of St Savior in Chora church, known as Kariye in Turkish, in Istanbul, Friday, Aug. 21, 2020. Turkey on Friday formally converted former Byzantine church, St Savior in Chora, into a mosque, a month after it similarly turned Istanbul's landmark Hagia Sophia into a Muslim house of prayer, drawing international rebuke.(AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Catholics know that those who have lived lives of heroic virtue, our Saints, were not fictitious, but real. We look to them to imitate them as they give us true solace, energy and hope. Living lives of heroic virtue is what is required to fix our broken families, nation, and church.

Dr. Jordan Peterson recently asked Church leaders to start asking more of young people. He spoke of "making big demandsbig asksof her members. By so doing they would get a heroic response, heroic involvement, and heroic dedication. Do we prefer short-term safety, affiliation or status over long-term freedom, belonging and heroism?"

Against the Grain, while focusing on heroic saints, is a highly relatable book as it also focuses on struggles and weaknesses. Against the Grain shows the path the saints walked to get to the point of strength. And thats the example that you and I need. Where we too say, "Why not me?"

Against the Grain is a roadmap. It is a message to take action. An action of resistance to the globalists "Great Reset," "Great Transition," and to the anti-Christian elites.

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People Praying in a church

Against the Grain is also a life preserver. More to the point, its an eternal life preserver. When the culture is swamping your boat with garbage and nonsense, living a life of greater virtue, perhaps even heroic virtue, is an eternal life preserver.

We are called to be extraordinary in the ordinary. As the world whips itself into further frenzy, confusion, and madness, the cross is the answer. Saint Bruno, founder of the Carthusians, said in the 11th century, "While the world changes, the cross stands firm." Stand firm with the cross.

Against the Grain is a playbook for the good guys to stop playing defense and start playing offense. If you have been conditioned to go with the flow of our immoral culture, this book is not for you. If you live as a sign of contradiction amidst our coarsening culture, and are looking to live a life of greater virtue, perhaps even heroic virtue, be fortified with Against the Grain.

Against the Grain is a book that will change the way you see your faith and your relationship with humanity. Its about an epic struggle and mostly, about our future. As Saint John Vianney said, "The saints did not all begin well; but they all ended well. We have begun badly; let us end well, and we shall go one day and meet them in heaven."

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(Photo by Wathiq Khuzaie/Getty Images) (2005 Getty Images)

Against the Grain is for culture-warrior, patriotic, serious, faithful Catholics, and people of all faiths interested in the Catholic story. This story isnt just about our forefathers. Its about each persons personal quest to find the courage to be truly faithful in a world where Catholicism is often unwelcome.

Dont wait for Calvary. Instead, move forward with moral confidence. If need be, heroic confidence. Step into the breach. Stand out. Go against the grain.

Saints are heroes. Be one.

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Learn from these heroic saints who lived against the grain - Fox News

On the internet, youll find extreme dieters of all types, and many of them will swear to you that theirs is the only healthy way for a human to eat. At one end of the spectrum, theres Jordan Peterson with his carnivore diet, consisting of nothing but beef, salt and water. At the other, frugivore diets pushed by YouTubers and their ilk are not just vegan and raw but almost entirely made up of fresh fruit. And then, of course, we have the classic and unapologetically restrictive weight loss programs like the cabbage soup diet, the Master Cleanse (aka the lemonade diet), and the currently trendy Mono Diet, where you eat only one food.

Advocates for highly restrictive diets like these tend to massively overemphasize the benefits of their approved food while seriously exaggerating the drawbacks of all other foods. But these are only the most extreme examples of a supposed wellness culture that makes huge generalizations and routinely manipulates or straight-up ignores scientific evidence. Unfortunately, this approach ends up polluting even those conversations that do have some legitimate basisfor instance, veganism.

There are plenty of health benefits to a plant-based diet, and unlike the above examples, its not even necessarily a particularly restrictive dieteven nonvegans and nonvegetarians who eat primarily plant-based can reap the benefits. But the unfortunate truth is that like most things on the internet, a grain of truth gets stretched far beyond the bounds of what science can actually prove.

Its not hard to imagine why some voices for veganism might exaggerate or even fabricate health-related claims. The animal agriculture industry enacts gruesome violence against animals, as well as many of its laborers and, of course, the health of the planet. So if health is what will compel people to change their diets in a way thats beneficial for animals and the environment, its easy to see why some activists and influencers would push nutritional facts as the most effective avenue to help end the industry.

But ultimately, misinformation is only going to harm the movements credibility. Veganism is a more widespread idea in our society now than ever beforewe cant afford to risk causing folks to dismiss the whole thing as bunk. And all of this misinformation, exaggeration, and cherry-picking is a shame, because it obscures the actual strong evidence of the benefits of eating less meat, eggs, or dairy: lower risk of heart disease, stroke, and several types of cancer, to name just a few.

Regrettably, conversations around veganism tend to be rife with pseudoscience. Its not hard to find vegan influencers who spout unproven theories as though they were fact, utilize confusing and misguided logic, or say things that are plainly falselike that a vegan diet can change your eye color. Even actual medical doctors have been known to make dramatic and shaky claims, such as that a single meal high in animal fat can cripple a persons arteries, citing one single, decades-old study that featured just 10 subjects and no control group.

Youll hear people saying that nothing less than a 100% plant-based diet can be considered optimally healthy, when the reality is, we just dont have the data to back that up. Sure, there are plenty of studies that do support the general idea that plant-based eating is healthy in one way or another, and plenty of them are recent and use reliable methodologies. But even good data can be woefully misinterpreted. Correlation often gets mistaken for causation, and its difficultif not impossibleto isolate very specific inputs and outcomes (like, does cheese cause cancer?) because human biology and lifestyles are complicated.

Heres an example: James Beard Award-winning Washington Post columnist Tamar Haspel points to this Bloomberg article, the headline of which boldly claims, One Avocado a Week Cuts Risk of Heart Disease by 20%. Which sounds huge! But a closer look reveals that the study only demonstrates an association between avocados and heart disease, not a causal relationship. Do avocados cut the risk of heart disease, or do people who make overall heart-healthy lifestyle choices just eat a lot of avocados? Based on this study alone, we cant say. Any conclusion is, at best, a loose interpretation of the facts.

And the issues with nutritional science as we know it today go even deeper. For one thing, many of these studies (including the avocado one) rely on self-reported information from study participants. Thats putting a lot of faith in regular people to accurately and honestly measure their own eating habits, which human beings are famously bad at. When the input data is already in question, its hard to trust any conclusions drawn from it.

Even putting that aside, observational studies dont allow scientists to randomize their study subjects. If were just noting what real people are actually doing, we cant separate the elements we want to examinefor instance, meat consumptionfrom other factors like income, education, gender, smoking and drinking behavior, and what else they eat. As a result, the kind of information we get from these studies is imprecise;and unless the results include very dramatic, statistically significant trends, its risky to extrapolate much from them.

But getting the kind of data we could reliably work with is more or less impossible. To truly control a study, researchers would have to literally control everything eaten by hundreds of participants (or more) over a period of years, in order to eliminate all (or even most) potential confounding factors. Real human lives are just too complicated to regiment the way a true lab study requires.

Furthermore, the biological world is just more complicated than wed like to think. Different people have different nutritional needs. For people with certain gastrointestinal conditions, eating fully vegan just isnt feasible. But even barring that, human bodies are unique and one person may not process a particular food in the exact way another person would. With that in mind, one-size-fits-all health advice of any kind should probably be subject to some heavy skepticism. Given all of this, its no wonder that doctors, nutritionists, researchers, and other credentialed expertsnot to mention third party interpreters of research, like journalists and other media figurestend to give diverse, often contradictory advice.

Meanwhile, an alarming portion of the population, and even of the scientific community, are apparently indifferent to nutritional science altogether. Fewer than 20% of medical schools in the U.S. have a single required course on nutrition, and the majority of medical schools teach less than 25 hours of nutrition education in the four years it takes to complete an MD program. All this, despite the fact that diet-related diseasemuch as heart disease and type 2 diabetesare among the leading causes of death in the U.S. today.

Our diet-obsessed culture is constantly searching for a magic bullet to fix all the diet-related problems we face. We try complicated, often punishing, and sometimes even dangerous methods to, ostensibly, get healthy (often a euphemism for lose weight), based on so-called empirical evidence thats shaky at best. The fact is, nutritional science just isnt at a point where we can confidently dole out sweeping directives on how people should eat. Sure, there are some points that the medical community has reached some degree of consensus on: The American Heart Association tells us that eating a lot of meat is not a healthy way to lose weight, especially for folks who have or are at risk for heart disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says to avoid processed food and sugary drinks in order to lower our risk of heart disease and stroke. And the American Cancer Society tells us to eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

Eat your veggies and avoid soda are probably not groundbreaking bits of advice for most people, and theyre certainly not going to sell any flashy new diet books. Anyone whos spouting granular advice on exactly what and what not to eat is probably operating more on faith than facts. Perhaps a 100% vegan diet is the healthiest way for humans to eat, after allbut we just dont know for sure. Its past time vegan influencers and activists embrace that scientific reality. The credibility of veganism, and the future of a more sustainable and compassionate world, depend on it.

Read more:

Vegans need to stop exaggerating the health benefits of a plant-based diet - Fast Company

I

My preference for female artistes (outside groups) has two sides in a balance. On one side there is Joan Baez, Janis Joplin, Carole King, and Joni Mitchell. On the other, there's Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Nina Simone.

There are others like Olivia Newton John, Mary Hopkin, and Sarah Vaughan, but I listen to the above seven more.

Baez, Joplin, King, and Mitchell pushed the boundaries of songwriting for women. They were storytellers telling their own stories, and stories of their time.

Fitzgerald, Holiday, and Simone were singers who gave life to the great American songbooks and composer-songwriters of their time. However, Fitzgerald had her fair contribution to songwriting. Holiday also wrote a few songs.

When I reached the end of my formative years, these seven female voices became my lighthouse.

II

Aman Bhai, a friend who happens to be a child psychiatrist once told me, if you treat a child as an adult, they'll respond back as an adult. I remembered this. When I became a father, I would encourage serious and open discussions with my daughter, Annapurna. Whether because of this or not, Annapurna has shared things with me ever since she and I can remember. This gave both of us a portal to transcend a generation divide.

A couple years ago, I asked Annapurna to give me a list of some albums I could present her in vinyl (LP). A few days later she gave me her list. The second serial was circled. It was Amy Winehouse's Back to Black.

Annapurna told me, "Listen to this album. You'll like Amy."

I had no idea who Amy Winehouse was. The only guess I could make was from her surname. It was evident she was Jewish and white. I now had to listen to the "Back to Black" single.

The 10-second intro sent shivers down my spine. The moment Amy started to sing, I was blown away. Had I listened blindfold, I'd have thought I was listening to a black voice. When she spoke, I was even more surprised. She had a British accent. London Cockney to be precise.

The seven female voices that tuned my ears are all from the USA, with Joni from Canada. I never came across one British female voice worthy to be inducted into my personal "hall of fame". And here I was listening to such a voice that was full of power and majesty.

My curiosity didn't end here. Amy's voice was tearing emotions out with honesty. The lyrics were unexpectedly explicit, but honest. The voice was raw, natural, and full of melancholy. In the melancholy there was an emptiness.

I never heard a female voice with this emptiness. I had to find out more.

III

Back to Black has eleven songs. Each song is different, but they all string into a common thread. Like Joni Mitchell's Blue (1971), Back to Black is an autobiography of a young girl trying to understand relationships. Like Carole King's Tapestry (1971), the album navigates through different experiences of a young girl.

Back to Black songs are songs of love and betrayal. They're not sugary. If love can kiss, it can also bleed. This is the freshness and honesty I never found in depth in the song writing of Baez, Joplin, King, and Mitchell.

There was still something different with Amy. In her voice, you can feel blues, gospel, and jazz oozing. However, it wasn't polished. It was raw. Only Billie Holiday, in the seven female voices that were my lighthouse, had that raw voice.

Once you hear a voice like that, you know there's a story behind all this.

IV

The more I explored Amy through her studio albums and live performances, the more it became evident, that she wasn't listening to sugary pop while growing up. Coming from a musical family, and her paternal grandma Cynthia knowing the jazz musician Ronnie Scott, intimately told you what type of songs her young ears were subject to.

Frank Sinatra's "Fly Me to The Moon" was one of the first songs Amy listened, at the age of two. She would sing the song to cheer her up.

While growing up, she listened to Motown girl groups. She listened to gospel voices in Mahalia Jackson and Aretha Franklin. She listened to the jazz of Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, and Thelonius Monk. Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday also trained her ears. Carole King, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Alanis Morissette, and others were also with her in her formative years.

Amy only wanted to be a jazz singer. When she applied to the Sylvia Young Theatre, she wrote in her essay, she wanted people to hear her voice and forget their troubles. Many certainly did. She also wrote songs to forget her troubles. Sadly, she failed to make ends meet.

Growing up near and later settling in Camden in London exposed Amy to the bright and dark sides of popular culture. Camden is a place that makes dreams. And dreams can go either way. They can be fairy tales or can end up in nightmares. When you live between the two in a place like Camden, you need to be managed well. Sadly, that wasn't the case with Amy, before or after her fame. Her death was just the end, but her troubles started well before that fateful day, July 23, 2011, when she never woke up.

V

Amy Winehouse was the missing link in my balance of seven female voices. The balance needed a voice that would resemble both its sides. Amy was that voice. Through Amy I explored Adele, Fiona Apple, Billie Eilish and some others. Somehow, they lack that raw, honest, and sincere emotion in their voice, and the lyrics came so naturally with Amy.

Although Amy is no longer with us, "I'm not ashamed even if the guilt kills me" to say that she was a breath of fresh air while she sang, and fresher now as we look back with a smile on our faces on an artiste who was honest and natural.

Asrar Chowdhury is a Professor of Economics at Jahangirnagar University. He is the author of Echoes in SHOUT of the Daily Star. Email: asrarul@gmail.com; asrarul@juniv.edu

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Remembering the honest and natural voice of Amy Winehouse - The Daily Star