Category Archives: Arts & culture

Defending religious freedom

Writing on the “On Faith” blog of the Washington Post, Georgetown University professor of government Michael Kessler asserts that the Supreme Court is losing a “big defender of religious freedom” with the impending retirement of David Souter:

Souter may be best known for his razor-sharp majority opinion in the Ten Commandments case McCreary County v. ACLU, 545 U.S. 844 (2005). McCreary County had posted the Ten Commandments, first on its own, then in two subsequent displays with other historical documents, meant to soften the religious intent of the display…. The record was fairly clear that the legislation requiring the displays was originally intended to promote a sectarian endorsement of the Ten Commandments….

Souter’s opinion, besides cutting to the heart of the endorsement problem, argued persuasively on historical grounds that the twin prongs of the First Amendment’s religion clauses — establishment and free exercise — were intended to protect individual religious freedom: “The Framers and the citizens of their time intended not only to protect the integrity of individual conscience in religious matters, but to guard against the civic divisiveness that follows when the Government weighs in on one side of religious debate; nothing does a better job of roiling society.”

Against Justice Scalia’s dissenting view that government could… endorse basic tenets of monotheism, Souter argued that the Founders practiced and required neutrality. Without official neutrality on matters of doctrine, the government becomes embroiled in sectarian disputes, choosing some sectarian positions over others: “We are centuries away from the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre and the treatment of heretics in early Massachusetts, but the divisiveness of religion in current public life is inescapable. This is no time to deny the prudence of understanding the Establishment Clause to require the Government to stay neutral on religious belief, which is reserved for the conscience of the individual.”

It’s worth reading the whole post. And it’s worth reflecting on how Republicans like Souter who live in New England are very different from the Republican “base” in other parts of the country: good solid fiscal conservatives with a strong libertarian streak when it comes to social issues. If you went into most Unitarian churches in New England even forrty years ago, chances are the great majority of the churchgoers would have been Republicans.

Maine did the right thing

Maine’s governor, John Baldacci, did the right thing today and signed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in Maine. Like many others, I do hope that Barack Obama was listening when Baldacci said: “In the past, I opposed gay marriage while supporting the idea of civil unions. I have come to believe that this is a question of fairness and of equal protection under the law, and that a civil union is not equal to civil marriage.”

This makes five states that now have legal same-sex marriage. There are something like twenty-five states that have outlawed same-sex marriage. However, since younger voters increasingly favor legalizing same-sex marriage, I hope it’s just a matter of time before most of those twenty-five states do the right thing, and alter their laws to allow same-sex marriage.

In memory: John King

I just learned that John King, arguably the only classical musician to perform at a virtuoso level on the ‘ukulele, died April 27. His sensibility and technique was that of a classical guitarist, but he also took advantage of some of the unique characteristics of the ‘ukulele: e.g., he played using the Baroque-era campanela style of guitar playing, which requires the re-entrant tuning of the ‘ukulele; he made the short sustain of the ‘ukulele’s individual notes help increase clarity of individual notes while allowing resonant response of open strings to come through; etc.

King may be best known for his adaptations of Bach to the ‘ukulele. But I have been most moved by his arrangements of classical Hawai’ian music. The shimmering, bell-like sounds of King’s playing match the melodies of composers like Miriam Likelike, William Pitt Leleihhoku, Lydia Lili’uokalani, and David Kalakaua. King’s performances sound small and intimate, like the instrument he played, yet they are also informed by King’s distinct musical sensibility. As a fitting way to remember King, here he is in a YouTube performance of Ka Ipo Lei Manu, a song composed by Julia Kapiolani:



Obituary in the San Francisco Chronicle. King’s Web site.

American Left with a sense of humor?

I’ve been reading The American Left in the Twentieth Century by the historian John P. Diggins. Published in 1973, the book covers the three main leftist movements in America from 1900 to 1973: the “Lyrical Left” of the teens, the “Old Left” of the thirties, and the “New Left” of the sixties. Each of these movements ended badly: the Lyrical Left was crushed upon America’s entry into the First World War; the Old Left began to die during the Second World War, and then was destroyed by the McCarthy witch-hunts of the late forties and fifties; and the New Left fell apart after 1968 due to internal factionalism and ineffectiveness, and external repression. Here’s a depressing thought: since there hasn’t been an American Left movement since 1968 (sorry, folks, but Barack Obama is Center-Right), you wouldn’t have to add much to make The American Left in the Twentieth Century cover the rest of the century.

My favorite American leftist movement has to be the Lyrical Left of the teens. They actually had a sense of humor. The only leftist movement that I knew personally was the remains of the New Left, and Lord knows they were mostly a humorless bunch. I guess that’s why I’ve always assumed that to be a Leftist, you had to be overly serious and inflexible, which would explain my extreme unwillingness to join any American Leftist organization, even though I’m a Leftist myself. But one of the primary publications of the Lyrical Left, a periodical called The Masses, said this on its masthead: “A magazine with a sense of humor and no respect for the respectable: frank, arrogant, impertinent, searching for the true causes: a magazine directed against rigidity and dogma wherever it is found…” Historian Diggins writes, “Free from doctrinal strains, The Masses gave radicalism a well-needed lift of laughter.”

Like American religion, most American leftist politics is rigid and humorless. So imagine that, if you can: an American Left with an actual sense of humor. Those were the days.

Congee, mmm…

Through an interesting chain of circumstance, today I wound up meeting my cousin Nancy in Boston. It was lunchtime, and we were both hungry. We talked about where we might have lunch, and I mentioned that my stomach is still feeling queasy and all I really wanted to eat was some nice white rice and soft vegetables. Nancy, who is a fluent Chinese speaker and who worked in the Chinese community in Boston twenty years ago, said, “I know just what you need. Come on.”

So we walked down to Chinatown, and then walked around looking at restaurants. When we got to the Windsor Dim Sum Cafe on Tyler Street, Nancy said, “Here, let’s try this one. See in the window?” She pointed to a neon sign with Chinese characters and the word “Congee” in Roman letters. “They have congee here.”

We went inside. Nancy ordered various dim sum dishes for herself, and chicken congee for me. It turns out that congee is white rice made with eight or ten parts of water to one part rice, and cooked slowly for an hour or more. The end result is a warm, comforting rice porridge. The chicken congee had chicken broth and bits of chicken in it. “Comfort food,” said Nancy, “people eat it when they’re sick, too.” I liked the chicken congee so much I ordered a bowl of plain rice congee. My stomach felt much better afterwards.

Now I shall have to try to make congee on my own. I found this recipe for basic congee on a software devceloper’s blog.

Gelatin desserts

My stomach is still pretty queasy from the nasty viral infection I had last week, so I am still eating lots of bland foods. In particular, I am eating lots of gelatin desserts. For those who might be in the same situation, I offer this brief guide to gelatin desserts.

Be careful of Royal brand gelatin desserts: some flavors include aspartame as a sweetener, in addition to sugar. I discovered that aspartame can (how can I put this politely) further inflame the gastro-intestinal tract, leading to unpleasant consequences.

As for Jell-o brand gelatin desserts, stick with the old tried-and-true flavors. Some of the more exotic flavors, like “Berry Blue” and “Black Cherry,” taste chemical-y. Whereas good old orange Jell-o tastes like Tang orange-flavored drink. Actually, come to think of it, Tang tastes chemical-y too, but at least it tastes like chemicals I’m used to tasting.

I will be glad when I can return to eating normal food.

Note to self

Self: Please remember that if you have strained your abdominal muscles from a bout of power-barfing in the past seven days, it is not wise to watch old episodes of the Muppet Show. You will just strain your abdominal muscles all over again from laughing so hard. Especially if you watch the show featuring Carol Burnett.

On the other hand, your overall attitude will improve enormously.

Community clinic

I have new health insurance since the last time I visited the doctor, for some bureaucratic reason that I do not understand. But that meant that I am no longer tied to a primary care physician (whom I never saw) with an office in a suburban office park. I have to say, I never felt I got good care at that suburban medical center. I think they were more interested in building expensive new buildings than in actually providing good patient care.

When I decided I needed to see a doctor this morning, I walked two blocks up the street to the Greater New Bedford Community Health Center. I filled out the preliminary forms, which included the question: “What is your primary language? Check one: English. Portuguese. Cape Verdean/Cruiole. Spanish. French. Other.” I was pretty sure I heard all five of those languages being spoken around me in the bright, busy, slightly messy waiting room.

Everyone was friendly. The woman who set up my account apologized when my insurance company kept her on hold: “Sorry to keep you waiting, hon.” I was shown to an examination room, and sat there for about forty minutes until the doctor arrived. He was the nicest, most humane M.D. from whom I have received care for at least the past decade. He talked with me at length, told me that I probably had a viral infection, that a viral infection with symptoms similar to mine has been going around, that I probably started eating solid food too soon. His manner was reassuring and healing.

The doctor told me to eat only clear broth, jello, and apple juice; just a little as a time. When I feel ready, I’m allowed to graduate to weak tea, rice, mashed potatoes, and other bland food, “but” as the doctor told me, smiling, “with nothing that makes food taste so good.” It may be another week before things settle down.

As I say, it was the friendliest, best, most reassuring health care visit I have had in years. And this was not at a fancy suburban clinic, but at an inner-city clinic which provides free care to anyone who needs it. (Your remarks on the current moral crisis in American health care may be included in the comments below; Marxists, don’t hold back.)