Joseph Loconte
As British journalist Daniel Johnson sees it, the terrorist attacks of 9/11 have revealed, and instigated, a raft of “moral cowardice and intellectual confusion on both sides of the Atlantic.” Johnson, with some help from the London-based Social Affairs Unit, is hurling himself into the breach. He has just launched a new monthly magazine called Standpoint, whose mission is to “invoke the noblest ideals to which humanity has aspired.” I was in London last week for the magazine’s launch event, held at Hertford House, with its dazzling Wallace Collection of 25 galleries of French 18th century painting, furniture, and other items. The overflow event in central London attracted writers, scholars and politicians of various hues.
In his introductory essay for the magazine, Johnson identifies a few of the ideals he and his colleagues intend to defend: the dignity of the individual and the family; the freedom to worship and to refrain from worship; scientific inquiry limited only by respect for life; parliamentary democracy and the free market; and toleration of minority views and practices, but not at the price of moral relativism. “To defend and celebrate Western civilization is not merely desirable; it is imperative,” he writes. “We take for granted the values and achievements of this civilization, but it is dangerous to assume either that these values are indeed universally shared, or that our achievements cannot be turned against us.”
Dangerous indeed. If the premier issue of Standpoint is any suggestion, the forces of cowardice and confusion will have to contend with a new voice of conviction and moral clarity—and not a moment too soon.
Fodder, Arts and Culture, Society, Mon 02 Jun 2008
The entire object of true education is to make people not merely to do the right things, but enjoy them; not merely industrious, but to love industry; not merely learned, but to love knowledge; not merely pure, but to love purity; not merely just, but to hunger and thirst after justice.
John Ruskin
