A mighty wind
One of the reasons that the Claremont Review of Books is my favorite magazine is that, consistent with the mission of the Claremont Institute, the CRB wages intellectual battle on behalf of the founding principles of the United States. (Subscribe online here.) I am joined in my admiration for the magazine by a who's who of stars in the conservative constellation including the late, great Milton Friedman:
“The Claremont Review of Books is full of splendid essays and reviews—well-written, based on deep scholarly knowledge, raising issues of lasting importance. I read it cover to cover, which takes some time, because there’s a lot of thought-provoking content.”In the winter issue of the CRB, Christopher Levenick reviews five new volumes by outspoken votaries of the Christian Left, among them Jimmy Carter’s Our Endangered Values. (One masterpiece after another!) These books, says Levenick, have one telling thing in common: their sermonizing focuses less on individual moral behavior than on collective political action. No surprise that their concerns are those of liberal politics, backed by divine sanction -- or so they believe. An excerpt:-- Michael Barone
“Each issue of the Claremont Review of Books covers an extraordinary wide range of books, each well and thoughtfully reviewed and is introduced by a gem of a comment by its literate editor, Charles R. Kesler. I recommend it highly.”--Milton Friedman
“A life in journalism, and in Washington, has taught me three things. First, not only do ideas have consequences, only ideas have large and lasting consequences. Second, books are still the primary carriers of ideas. Third, the Claremont Review of Books offers invaluable reflections on the most thoughtful books about politics.”
--George F. Will
“In my judgment, the Claremont Review of Books is one of the best edited and best written magazines of any kind in America, and an invaluable center of conservative thought on a rich and varied range of subjects to the discussion of which it unfailingly brings to bear the highest order of critical intelligence.”--Norman Podhoretz
"The CRB—or what my wife calls “the big, smart magazine”—is one of the best and most intelligent things to happen to the conservative movement. It's good and smart for America, too."--William J. Bennett
“The Claremont Review of Books is an indispensable publication. Every issue is full of original perspectives on the big questions to the small corners of life that illuminate them. If like me you start reading late in the evening, you may lose sleep but you'll gain an awful lot.”--Mark Steyn
Take the Religious Left’s approach to poverty. To their great credit, these writers are dead serious about feeding the hungry and clothing the naked. Unfortunately, however, they perceive this obligation as primarily and properly the work of government. Little acknowledgment is made of the private sector’s role in creating affluence, or of the fact that a zealous redistribution of present assets will inhibit the creation of future wealth.Levenick's review is "Like a mighty wind."Yet these errors of practical economics are of less consequence than the grave theological misapprehension beneath them. The challenge and the burden of almsgiving are and ought to be personal. Christian charity does not consist of petitioning the state to redress economic grievances. Rather, it calls upon the individual believer to comfort the afflicted. An ethic geared primarily toward government undermines the crucial sense of personal responsibility for the least of one’s brethren. True charity, like true faith, must be voluntary if it is to be efficacious.
