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The Seven Deadly Sins make a comeback
"The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things", Hieronymus Bosch via Wikipedia
Further to my comment on the Kavanaugh affair last week: the inquisition of Brett Kavanaugh is revealing unsuspected depths of moral sensitivity in the liberal establishment.
You only have to read the headings of New York Times articles to see the growing list of vices the SCOTUS nominee exemplifies: lying, drunkenness, anger – and, of course, lust.
Accusations of pride, covetousness, gluttony, envy and sloth will no doubt be added, if they haven’t already, completing Kavanaugh’s complement of the Seven Deadly Sins and turning him into a figure from some medieval morality play.
These thoughts are prompted by a Twitter thread I came across today started by Washington Post opinion writer Charles Lane. He said:
Something very interesting is happening in the culture right now: the re-moralization of alcohol consumptionWhereas in recent years the "disease" model of addiction seemed to be gaining dominance, replacing previous models that emphasized need for compassion toward substance users, even in the face of their addiction-induced misbehaviour
The #Kavanaugh episode is seeing the re-emergence of an idiom — "mean drunk"; "blackout drunk"; "a sloppy drunk" — that implies shame and blame
Not saying that's right or wrong, just noteworthy, given broader national discussion of opioid and other substance use disorders in which great effort had been exerted to purge public discourse of such terminology
This could be big. If #MeToo started a re-moralisation of sex, the trial of Judge Kavanaugh has made it irreversible. The same goes for excessive drinking, anger and lying. From now on the upper echelons of society will have to live exemplary lives, starting from childhood, or they will be disqualified from public office.
At this rate The Times and the Democrats will soon be calling for displays of the Ten Commandments to be restored to state courthouses. And a good thing, too.
Carolyn Moynihan is deputy editor of MercatorNet.
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