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Murphy and Steinfels

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from: Margaret Steinfels

History Bites

Posted Thursday, Feb. 18, 1999, at 12:27 PM ET

Yes, that forehead is unmarked, and unmarred. Notice: no worry lines. Did I mention spotting a woman at the ballet last night who had a cross as big as a $20 bill on her forehead? A lot to repent for, perhaps. It was impressive, Big and Straight. Must have used an eyeliner, none of that accidental smudge look the clergy strive for. Maybe it's a test run for hypoallergenic liturgical makeup, say from Elizabeth Arden.

Well now, for Boston. Isn't Boston too convoluted for a political convention? You need a grid system of streets and wide-open spaces so all those delegates can run amok. I have never been to a political convention, but I remember when they were exciting events, cliffhangers. In my glorious Chicago childhood the Democratic convention was one of the summer's highlights--only every four years of course, even in Chicago. Real politics was exciting. Too bad it no longer is. This is why la scandale had such power. It looked like politics.

History bites: It is stunning to see the havoc of the Kurdish situation still making its mark at the end of the century. The Treaty of Sèvres was it? That gave them their own country. Do you think WWI will break out again in 2014? The Times' front-page interview with the Kosovo Liberation Army officers brings all of that to mind as well. And apropo of our glancing discussion of "Men's Health" in yesterday's paper: Do we think testosterone may be the greatest threat to male health--at least until Bob Dole's age? Just asking.

Also on the front page: report from Oregon. (Only!) 15 people killed themselves with their physicians' assistance in 1997. Is this the end of civilization as we know it? Why would any state, even Oregon, give doctors that power? A sure territory for the klutz factor to flourish--i.e., the lowest common denominator M.D. will move in and "assist" lots of people. The Oregon Health Department report of last year's activities also said that most people who chose physician-assisted suicide did not say they were doing so for reasons of pain or financial difficulties. No, it sounds like they were all control freaks and they still wanted control. As a control freak myself, I feel it would be a relief not to have to be in control at the end. Isn't that what death is all about--out of control? Relieved of personal responsibility for spelling the Treaty of Sèvres correctly? And what about those accent marks?

I will remember never to go to a convention at Disney World. But look at the bright side. All those monks and moral theologians kept a lot of children from the place that week. That is an ultimate good, I believe.

Speaking of good: Iris Murdoch's best work of philosophy in my opinion is The Sovereignty of Good. It is excellent, it is thin, and it is readable. Lenten reading?

I guess wer'e on the cusp of our denouement, eh? Did I tell you what I was doing for Lent?

the breakfast table
entries
1234567891011121314151617
from: Margaret Steinfels

History Bites

Posted Thursday, Feb. 18, 1999, at 12:27 PM ET
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Cullen Murphy is the managing editor of the Atlantic Monthly and the author of the comic strip Prince Valiant. His book The Word According to Eve: Women and the Bible in Ancient Times and Our Own was published last fall. Margaret O'Brien Steinfels is the editor of Commonweal, an independent biweekly journal of political, religious, and literary opinion.
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