In high school, I loved reading the Opposing Viewpoints series. These were books that presented conservative and liberal viewpoints on controversial issues. It wasn’t always easy to put things into the typical right-left spectrum, for people are sometimes more complicated than that! Consequently, you saw in the Central America book a speech by Reagan defending America’s involvement in Central America, followed by a speech by conservative Senator Jesse Helms critiquing American policy.
I remember seeing an article in one of the Opposing Viewpoints books calling Madonna a “vapid” celebrity. Because I was on a Madonna kick a year ago, I wanted to track down that article, for it commented on Madonna’s family and religious background. And, lo and behold, the article was by the late Joseph Sobran! You can read it here, while listening to “Material Girl” here. Enjoy!
I want to post some links about Sobran:
http://www.flynnfiles.com/archives/politics2010/joe_sobran_rip.html
http://spectator.org/blog/2010/09/30/joe-sobran-rip
http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/2010/09/30/joseph-sobran-r-i-p/
http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2010/09/30/joseph-sobran/
Why am I posting these? You can tell by the articles and the comments underneath them that Joseph Sobran was a polarizing figure within the conservative movement. Opponents accused him of anti-Semitism and held that his anti-war stance was outdated after 9/11. Supporters admired him as a defender of limited government, as they lamented that neo-conservatism had taken over the conservative movement in America. People were touched by him, in that he influenced their way of seeing the world. And there are those who remember his kindness, generosity, wit, and scholarship on Shakespeare, while others recall that he was snippy with them when they questioned his anti-war and other stances.
What’s interesting is that this guy did so much in the conservative movement and touched and provoked so many people, and yet the mainstream media did not even mention his passing (as far as I know). It’s like he never existed, in their eyes. Moreover, for many, Sobran will be remembered as an anti-Semite, whether or not he even was that. But there was more to him than his stance on Israel and his speech before the Institute for Historical Review, for he was a human being.