Safe Haven

Brief Eulogy and An Evangelical Confession I barely know the name of Oriana Fallaci. I know she’s an author who, in brief, wrote in defense of the West and capitalism. From her perch either in Tuscany or New York City, she often urged her native Italy to shed its socialism and embrace closer ties with the US. From what I was able to glean from reports, she had the guts to call Islam stupid, and present it (at least its most dominant forms) as a direct threat to society as we know it. Sure, she and I could find things to agree upon politically, but people who stir the pot semi-constructively at least are cool in my book. We lost her on September 15. We’re not perfect as a nation, or as a Western culture, but maybe it is time to stop apologizing, in terms of asserting our right to exist. Neither our colossal failures, nor others’ perceptions of those failures mean that we must assent to self-flagellating nihilism. Though I do respect human beings and the questions of existence that must ...