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Whilst I am Waiting

The internet ought to alert you to what the world is like if you harbour any illusions. Like people, it can be good, and horrifying in its coldness. Today, in Rome, the Pope is building on an effort begun on multiple fronts, and one very honourably associated with reform Judaism, to bring together Muslim and Christian scholars in dialogue.

It's a small step. But if I have readers who think that the cold war was won by arms buildups and confrontation, and forget the corrosive power of the human rights propounded at Helsinki and upheld by Sakharov, they should think again. Revolutions can begin with whispers, and meditations on freedom hidden behind the eyes until people aren't scared of dying for them any more. The present summit is a gathering where whispers might gather in minds.

And I have come across another story, of what all people of goodwill face if we do not find some way out of our weasel hole. Three days ago, a young girl of 13 was buried up to her neck and stoned to death by fifty men, according to a shariah judgment. The deed took place in a football stadium in front of 1000 people. Her crime was to have been raped.

In the absence of government, and of law, Somalia has not been wholly given over to anarchy. It is yet one of many areas where a very very dark Islamism has taken hold. I hope that the renowned ferocious intelligence of the man who seems to be President-elect of the United States grasps how dark the enemies of any sort of decent life anywhere can be. Here is a small catalogue of its crimes against women, the essence of life, just this year.

Akira Iriye has a point that runs through his work. What is done inside the limits of a home or a country today can be done outside tomorrow, for good or bad. That is the true origin of the idea of a regime, and of the idea of regime change so sullied by the past eight years.

God help the people of good will; and God help us all.

The picture at the top of this blog post is a favourite one, placed for no good reason-- Burchfield's Orion in December

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