web analytics
May 25, 2013 /16 Sivan, 5773
At a Glance ▼
InDepth
Sponsored Post
The Tosfos Yomtov was convinced that the death of 300,000 –600,000 Jews during the Chmielnicki massacres of 1648-49 were because of improper Tefila. Communicated: Tefilla

Chillul Tefila Bifarhesia, as well as halachicly challenged verbiage and dress, are external manifestations of a critical lack of personal yiras shomayim which has lethal consequences.



Olympic Opening Ceremonies and the Death Throes of a Civilization

tell a friend
Palestinians celebrating the opening of the 2012 Olympics Games

Photo Credit: Issam Rimawi/Flash90

Britain is not alone in her shallow, artistic commemorations of a dying culture.  Western Europe’s official vision of itself largely boils down to that.  I believe there are still many individuals in Europe – as distinct from the ruling precincts of political correctness and utopianism – who have the courage to forge a different future.  But as a useful vehicle for what needs to be done, the continent’s official organizations, its governments and agencies, are beyond their expiration date.  Too many of them do not serve the people now, but only indenture and discourage them.

Such a situation cannot endure.  No amount of artistic entertainment can make fear, loss of purpose, and politically correct weakness noble or inspiring, much less invincible.  The post-liberal culture and political idea of Europe are not in a position to triumph today.  They are not even in a position to survive.

Some bonus material evoking what England once was.  A poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson:

England and America in 1782*

 

O thou that sendest out the man

To rule by land and sea,

Strong mother of a lion-line,

Be proud of those strong sons of thine

Who wrenched their rights from thee!

 

What wonder if in noble heat

Those men thine arms withstood,

Retaught the lessons thou hadst taught,

And in thy spirit with thee fought –

Who sprang from English blood!

 

But thou rejoice with liberal joy,

Lift up thy rocky face,

And shatter, when the storms are black,

In many a streaming torrent back,

The seas that shock thy base!

 

Whatever harmonies of law

The growing world assume,

Thy work is thine – the single note

From that deep chord which Hampden smote

Will vibrate to the doom.

* G. Robert Stange, ed., The Poetical Works of Tennyson: Cambridge Edition (Boston. Houghton-Mifflin, 1974), p. 62 and note, p. 627)

Originally published at http://hotair.com/greenroom/archives/2012/07/28/olympic-opening-ceremonies-and-the-death-throes-of-a-civilization/

tell a friend

About the Author: J.E. Dyer is a retired US Naval intelligence officer who served around the world, afloat and ashore, from 1983 to 2004.


You might also be interested in:


no comments

You must log in to post a comment.

No Responses to “Olympic Opening Ceremonies and the Death Throes of a Civilization”

  1. Ellen Feinberg Blitz says:
    July 29, 2012 at 3:29 AM

    The International Olympic Committee’s refusal to commemorate the 11 Israeli athletes killed by terrorists in Munich in 1972 because the IOC doesn’t want to “politicize” the games doesn't stand up to its actions.

  2. Nür Al-Dajani says:
    July 29, 2012 at 3:29 PM

    Sir, stop living in your past. There is a reason we are "TRYING" to evolve into more civilized humans.

    • Suzanne Weinstein says:
      July 29, 2012 at 4:50 PM

      Who will pay your tuition fees for York? So far, the Jews and Christians built that school. Where in the Koran are civiilized beings? The ones that marry nine year old girls? The ones that stone woman for 'looking' at a man? The ones that go to heaven for killing non-believers? Bring it on my dear, you too will wear a Burkah if you support Sharia law and you too will be a slave unto your husband.

    • Gil Gilman says:
      July 29, 2012 at 5:49 PM

      This by far the silliest thing I have read here in recent months. I can only say…"you first…lol"

    • Charlie Hall says:
      July 30, 2012 at 5:31 AM

      There are numerous discussions in the Talmud about nine year olds — or younger — getting married off by their fathers, with no choice on the part of the girl. It is explicitly permitted by the Torah. Furthermore, the Torah itself contains narratives where entire populations of non-believers are killed.

      Fortunately we don't do any of that any more. Most Muslims don't want to, either.

  3. Gil Gilman says:
    July 29, 2012 at 5:53 PM

    I truly believe that WAS the Queen jumping out of the helicopter. I also believe that Olympic politics are clean, and that a second Obama administration will be even better than the first.

  4. Jacqueline Edwards says:
    July 30, 2012 at 12:14 AM

    Dujani…do you honestly believe we ought not remember our past? Further, if this is civilized, I for one want to be 'un-civilized' and I completely understand where you are coming from…you obviously believe in 'evolvution'! Thanks, not a chance. But, God bless you dear.

  5. Gabor Fränkl says:
    July 30, 2012 at 4:16 AM

    Absolutely agree…

  6. Charlie Hall says:
    July 30, 2012 at 5:28 AM

    "But then, a civilization that singles out some humans, like Israeli Jews, to show less care for – less solidarity with – is a weak and unsustainable one. "

    I agree. And ironically it is the UK's National Health Service, along with a somewhat different health system in Israel, that are some of the best examples of a society caring about all of its citizens, not allowing only the well to do to have access to health care.

    Unfortunately, most of the Republican Party in the US wants to keep the US in such a week and unsustainable condition.

  7. Charlie Hall says:
    July 30, 2012 at 5:44 AM

    Many have proclaimed the death of nations and civilizations. Back in 1967, the Broadway musical "Hair" proclaimed the US to be a "dying nation" thanks to the Vietnam war. I suspect that this essay will be as accurate as the authors of "Hair".

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

Current Top Story
David Arenberg lost many things during his nearly 12 years in prison, but he found a connection to Judaism.
A Jew Grows in Prison
Latest Indepth Stories
Al-Dura_Postage_Stamp
InDepth → Op-Eds

France 2 and Enderlin must have their press accreditation revoked and be thrown out of Israel.

Palestinian kindergarten children enacting a military operation.
InDepth → Op-Eds

Slaughter is a routine, widespread practice among many Moslem families.

Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas has said he will never recognize a Jewish state and there will be no Jews allowed in a Palestinian State.
InDepth → Op-Eds

parently an affront to J Street’s worldview, the focus of which appears to be the creation of a Palestinian State, whether or not that will bring peace.

Member of Knesset Moshe Feiglin (Likud).
InDepth → Columns → Moshe Feiglin

The importance of the caucus on organ harvesting in China, sponsored recently by the Liberal Lobby in the Knesset, cannot be exaggerated.

InDepth → Columns → Dov Shurin

My mother, the eldest daughter of Reb Yaakov Kamenetsky, zt”l, was niftar last month at the age of 92. She took her last breath in her home in Efrat, Israel, next door to the shul that was my father’s for 24 years before his passing in 2007.

InDepth → Columns → Louis Rene Beres

Following the Boston Marathon bombing, one crucial point will likely remain overlooked. The most loathsome aspect of this or any other terror bombing attack on civilians will always lie in the inexpressibility of physical pain. While all decent people will abhor the idea of bombs expressly directed at the innocent, whether here or in other countries, none will ever be able to process the very deepest horrors of what has been inflicted.

InDepth → Columns → Keeping Jerusalem

It’s only natural to see increasing evidence of Jerusalem’s glorious Jewish past being unearthed, quite literally, under modern Israeli sovereignty. The new archaeological finds are also very timely – as the Arab onslaught attempting to detach Jerusalem from its Jewish roots gains steam, the facts on the ground, or “under” the ground, show quite otherwise.

InDepth → Op-Eds

The Talmud (Berachot 26b) says, “tefillot avot tiknum” – “prayer was established by the avot.” The Talmud then uses the following verse (Bereshit 19:27) to prove how Avraham established prayer: “Vayaskem Avraham baboker el hamakom asher amad sham et pnei Hashem” – “And Avraham got up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before God.”

InDepth → Op-Eds

Nearly 13 years ago, then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak journeyed to Camp David to end the conflict with the Palestinians. With the approval of President Clinton, he offered Yasir Arafat an independent Palestinian state in almost all of the West Bank, Gaza and in part of Jerusalem. Arafat said no.

InDepth → Op-Eds

The news that the Internal Revenue Service unfairly targeted conservative groups has brought renewed spotlight on a 2010 lawsuit filed by the pro-Israel group Z Street, which alleges it was also singled out by the IRS when applying for tax-exempt status.

InDepth → Editorial

In an editorial last week (“Circling the Wagons”) we noted the efforts by the administration and its supporters to dismiss allegations that the government’s spin on the Benghazi attack was designed to shield the president and that the IRS was improperly used to stifle opposition to Mr. Obama’s reelection.

InDepth → Editorial

As the controversies besetting the Obama administration continue to grow in number and intensity, the prospect that President Obama would seriously consider military action against Iran, should that country continue its drive to become a nuclear power, becomes more and more remote. So we welcome the current enhancement of sanctions against Iran on the federal and New York State levels.

InDepth → Interviews and Profiles

To his parents’ friends, he was “Mrs. Greenberg’s disgrace,” but to sports fans he is one of the greatest – if not the greatest – Jewish baseball players of all time. Long before Sandy Koufax, Hank Greenberg excited Jewish sports fans with his prowess on the baseball diamond.

More Articles from J. E. Dyer
Chuck Hagel
InDepth → Analysis → J.E. Dyer

Chuck Hagel writes his own narrative, in which threats aren’t really threats and policies that actually work are just horrible.

ht-newton-bee-school-shooting-nt-121214-wg-jpg
InDepth → Analysis → J.E. Dyer

Connecticut has some of the tightest restrictions in the country and Mrs. Lanza was in full compliance with them.

InDepth → Analysis → J.E. Dyer

At least we can probably count on the Muslims Brotherhood to refrain from making bunny-snuff videos.

InDepth → Analysis → J.E. Dyer

One of the key lessons from a career in Naval Intelligence is that if you can imagine it, someone is trying to do it.

InDepth → Analysis → J.E. Dyer

Missile tests popping up all over Asia should be seen in this light. Everyone’s arming up, starting with Russia

InDepth → Analysis → J.E. Dyer

Many readers are no doubt aware of the millions in taxpayer dollars that the Obama administration has contracted out to PR firms for the purpose of hawking Obamacare to a reluctant public.

InDepth → Analysis → J.E. Dyer

Morsi has assumed dictatorial powers in Egypt. Courageous Egyptians are protesting that move, but Morsi has less compunction than Mubarak did, and we can expect the protests to be dealt with effectively. Those of us who said Morsi was an Islamist extremist who would quickly reestablish authoritarianism in Egypt – with a sharia flavor – were right. There’s a new Pharaoh in town.

InDepth → Analysis → J.E. Dyer

Why are we sending an amphibious readiness group (ARG) with a Marine expeditionary unit (MEU) embarked to sit off the Levantine coast? U.S. officials say it’s to be prepared for any eventuality, including the need to evacuate American citizens, as the conflict between Hamas and Israel heats up.

    Latest Poll

    If you could only choose one of the following scenarios regarding Chareidi IDF service, which would you choose?





    View Results

    Loading ... Loading ...

Printed from: http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/analysis/j-e-dyer/olympic-opening-ceremonies-and-the-death-throes-of-a-civilization/2012/07/29/

Scan this QR code to visit this page online:

No related posts.

Close