Foreign Dispatches

"Born This Way" : A Stupid Argument for Gay Rights

I've argued on here a few years ago that apologetically insisting "I was born this way" (i.e. "I can't help it!") is no basis for arguing for one's right to live as one pleases, regardless of others' religious hangups, but it's taken the recent statements by Cynthia Nixon to bring the issue to the fore where it belongs. As Frank Bruni points out, no such argument from genetics has ever been required to justify freedom to worship as one pleases, and yet this is a principle which is universally* accepted in the Western world today. Why then should a "born this way" argument be necessary for gay rights?

A Quarrel Between People of Whom We Know Nothing

If you know anything at all about the history of the 20th century, then you've probably read of the famous phrase uttered by Neville Chamberlain, and usually in the context of his being held up as an exemplar of craven cowardice in the face of militaristic aggression. As attractively simple as this portrayal may be, however - particularly to politicians looking to score cheap points - it does little justice to the reality of Chamberlain the man or his political efforts; as a corrective, I strongly suggest listening to all 8 minutes and 27 seconds of the full speech in which these often-quoted words were spoken, and judging for oneself whether the speaker seems at all the cowardly fool he has so often been made out to be.