So long as radical professors wrote in incomprehensible jargon and confined themselves to discussions of literature or popular culture, the public was content to ignore them, or to let out an occasional chuckle at their expense. But with a question of supreme national importance on the line, the public is watching the academy as never before, and shows every inclination to judge and find wanting what it sees there.
Monday, October 29
Sedaris is spending more time than ever on planes, but he has never felt more safe. "That's because people look like they want to kill anyone who makes a wrong move," he said. "The only thing making me a little nervous is that pilots are sometimes asking people to introduce themselves to the person next to them, and shake their hands. That's why I'm not a Catholic. That's my worst nightmare."
Of course, he's a humorist - he's openly gay, and probably not up for the whole Andrew Sullivan angst thing, but the point is fascinating for what it reflects. Could it be possible that the ridiculous, totally non-liturgical act of pre-Mass introductions designed to bring about some sense of (in reality) faux community is seeping into the general perception of the definition of Catholicism? And...surprise, surprise...it's a turn-off???
Maybe not. Daniel Pipes has a helpful column about this in this morning's New York Post.
It's also important to remember that the majority of Arab-Americans are not Muslim - they're Christian.