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No Love for Linker

Here are a few other critical responses to Damon Linker’s bizarre attack on Fr. Neuhaus, plus Ross Douthat’s latest response. Even more unforgiving is Mark Gauvreau Judge’s counterblast, James Panero’s remarks at The New Criterion blog and these comments at No Left Turns by Paul Seaton. Hat tip to Stuart Buck for the Mere Comments […]

Here are a few other critical responses to Damon Linker’s bizarre attack on Fr. Neuhaus, plus Ross Douthat’s latest response. Even more unforgiving is Mark Gauvreau Judge’s counterblast, James Panero’s remarks at The New Criterion blog and these comments at No Left Turns by Paul Seaton.

Hat tip to Stuart Buck for the Mere Comments and Mirror of Justice links.

Here is part of Mr. Seaton’s comment:

He [Linker] doesn’t understand the notion of “regime,” he doesn’t understand the fundamental distinction between “separation” and “strict separation,” he doesn’t understand that the Catholic intellectual tradition combines reason and Faith, he doesn’t understand the distinction between principle and prudence.

Ouch.

However, Linker is not entirely alone. The Kossacks (well, actually, just Philocrites) have ridden to his defense! Here is the blogger Philocrites thanking Linker for alerting us to those “dangerous” trends in Neuhaus’ thought:

His [Neuhaus’] efforts to revive Christendom, however, and the antiliberal and antidemocratic dimensions of his thought must be challenged.

His efforts to do what now? Which dimensions? I’m sorry, but Philocrites is too credulous by far and has apparently very happily swallowed Linker’s snake oil. I don’t know that Linker would even have put things quite that bluntly–it is literally impossible to see Neuhaus as “reviver of Christendom,” because he holds no brief for that period of Christian history and generally agrees with Christendom’s critics about its flaws and why it had to go. That’s not surprising, since most people alive today probably take the same view, including some Christian conservatives to the right of Neuhaus, but to imagine that Neuhaus is pining, Novalis-like, for the old days of a united Christian world or yearns, Bonald-like, for the days of hierarchy and authority is to confuse him with, well, me, which I imagine Fr. Neuhaus would find most unpleasant.

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