LONDON CALLING

Posted at 7:26 a.m. ET

I attended a fine talk last night by Herbert London, president of the Hudson Institute and professor emeritus at New York University.  He's just written a brief and utterly readable book called "America's Secular Challenge, The Rise of a New National Religion," which I commend to you.  (You can click on the Amazon link at the top of our right-hand column to order, should you wish.)

London, a prominent social critic, is concerned about the rise of secularism in America, and the historic challenge it poses to the traditional notion of a country founded on the Judeo-Christian ethic.  Part of that challenge, and one that worries London greatly, is the tearing down of the idea of American exceptionalism, the belief that our values and dreams are in fact exceptional, and an inspiration to the world. 

Herb London made the point that, during the Tiananmen Square riots in China in 1989, the protesters constructed a model, not of Marx or Lenin, or the Eiffel Tower, but a model of the Statue of Liberty.  Of course, America's "intellectual" classes scoffed, or pretended not to notice, but the image cannot be denied.

And so London worries about Barack Obama, who seems to accept the idea of a secular society pretty much on a par with other societies, and London notes that, during his recent Berlin speech, Obama proclaimed himself a citizen of the world.  But he's not running for president of the world.  He's running for president of the United States.  We wonder how he will see his own country as he sits in the Oval Office during a crisis, or a conflict with a dictatorship.  The evidence thus far is less than encouraging.  We hope for a positive surprise.

October 23, 2008.