If you read only one article about New York State's democratic assault...

... on the institution of marriage, I suggest going with this lengthy, thorough, and very good NRO interview, conducted by Kathryn Lopez, with Robert P. George, professor at Princeton and one of the foremost defenders of marriage. Highly recommended.

UPDATE (June 29, 2011): Also see canon lawyer Dr. Edward Peters' helpful post, "One demur to Robert George's excellent interview on marriage", on his "In the Light of the Law" blog. Also see his other new post, "A note on Gov. Cuomo's devotion to St. Thomas More".

Comments

[Howard]

When I first saw the headline, I read it as "If you read only one article about New York State's demonic assault..." Somehow, the "mistake" still seems a better fit.

[Charles E Flynn]

If there were a Pulitzer Prize for an interview, this rare reminder of what Ivy League college professors are supposed to be able to accomplish in the defense of civilization should win one.

[Ed Peters]

You are right Carl, this is really a must-read. I think I will demur on one point, but I'll consider that elsewhere. Again, thanks for flagging this, it's essential reading.

[Carl E. Olson]

Ed: Does that one point have to do with a certain Guv?

[Ed Peters]

CEF, totally agree.

Carl, Yup: http://canonlawblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/one-demur-to-robert-georges-excellent.html

[Charles E Flynn]

@Ed Peters,

So, there are now two required pieces of reading, but the second is shorter than the first. Thanks for your valuable insights.

When I was in high school (a Catholic school I attended partly because the local public high schools were tainted by sexual abuse) we had a private afternoon screening at a local theater of "A Man for All Seasons." I have never forgotten the importance my teachers rightly attached to that film, and the chilling line about losing one's soul for something of no eternal significance.

[Robert Miller]

Yes. The full interview is must reading. Exquisite insight and analysis.

But ...

What are we going to do about it? (Sorry for the Leninist tone of the question, but I can't help it.)

What I really draw from the whole brilliant interview is that the whole pro-life, pro-marriage movement in the US (and, for that matter even moreso, in Europe) needs to convert itself from an implicit to an explicit countercultural revolution.

And this countercultural revolution may take one of two forms -- both of which are visible already.

One is the form of withdrawal. In this form, the countercultural revolution returns to its "tribal" roots, constitutes itself as normative in opposition to the secular society and concentrates on building up a pro-life and pro-family culture.

The other form is the form of combat. In this form, our parishes, our schools, our universities, our dioceses -- the Holy See itself -- belong to us as precious accretions of Tradition. Our challenge is to discover what is the most prudent way for us to fight.

Personally, I opt for the second form. Although I am attracted to the first, I cannot forget that this (global) civilization has been formed (in the US, as in the rest of the US-inculturated world)by an impulse which seems to be irreformably anti-Christ.

Catholic Spain, today as yesterday, in the witness of its Catholic tradition in resistance to the enemies of the Catholic Thing, seems to be leading the way:

Arriba Espana! Viva Cristo Rey!

[Charles E Flynn]

The book mentioned on page 5 of the article:

The Dream and the Nightmare: The Sixties' Legacy to the Underclass, by Myron Magnet.

[Carl E. Olson]

Magnet's book is an eye-opening work. It certainly opened my eyes to a number of facts when I first read it back in 1993 or so.