I was reminded today of a post I made back in 2016 about my (almost) brush with serial killer Ted Bundy. The post tells the story and references a series of comments I made to a ThinkingChristian blog post. I was a minor participant, but I am not unhappy with what I wrote even though I only vaguely remember doing it. You can find my comments in that blog post by searching on “chapman55k.”
Kelly got me this book for Christmas. I have read up to page 119 so far. I like it. At the same time, the book features what seem to be unsupported assertions that might not have stood the test of time. Maybe they are valid assertions, but we cannot know that from what was written as far as I can tell. The cited McCarthy example is a case in point. I would venture to guess that most are in agreement with the assertion, but I know that it is an ongoing discussion. It is irritating because I think I am learning a lot from the book, but I cannot be exactly sure because of these unsupported viewpoints. Browsing the citations in the end notes for the chapters did not mitigate my uneasiness.
McCarthy threatened the entire edifice of anticommunism by associating it with crackpot theories and embarrassing theatrics.
Continetti, M. (2022). The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism. Basic Books. Page 110
Maybe I should not have started this post with a diatribe on my reservations about this book because I am enjoying it immensely. It was a spectacular gift. At the same time, an analysis of conservatism associated with both the New York Times, National Review, and Bill Kristol with the bulk of the author’s life lived in the Northeast with twenty years in Washington, D.C. gives me great pause. It reinforces my decision to not characterize myself as conservative nor of the right, but as a follower of Jesus. It is hard for me to imagine that someone of this pedigree has any real sense of what people think in fly-over country which makes up the vast bulk of those who make up “the right.”
That the author is characterized as an intellectual in this podcast, also gives me pause.
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