Two pieces by Quin Hillyer at National Review Online;
NOTE: I’VE PUBLISHED SEVERAL PIECES ON MARTIN LUTHER HERE RECENTLY, BUT THIS FIRST STORY BELOW IS THE MOST DEFINITIVE REFLECTION OF MINE, WRAPPING UP THE SERIES:
At 500 years, Luther’s mixed legacy: As the Christian world today commemorates the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s posting of his famous 95 Theses, it would do well to learn from Luther’s inability to control the revolution he somewhat unwittingly inspired.
It’s the sort of story that often repeats itself. The Lutherist reformers spurred the bloody peasant revolts; Burkean liberals yielded to radical revolutionaries; Girondins yielded to the Jacobins until in turn the Jacobins ate their own; the Mensheviks yielded to Bolsheviks and catalyzed the deaths of nearly 100 million people. And here on the American right, the Bannonites see our current “establishment” and vow to “burn it down,” without having any real idea how or what to build on the embers.
But that’s getting ahead of the story. First, let’s take a moment to marvel at what Luther wrought.
As Norman McCrummen, a scholar in Mobile, Ala., recently reminded his listeners in a three-part lecture, Luther originally posted his theses while expecting his mission to be within a long and honorable tradition of reform within the existing (Catholic) church. From the Council of Nicaea to the saintly ministries of Augustine and Francis (among many others), the sometimes-wayward church had repeatedly reoriented itself on truer paths…. [For the rest, please follow this link.]
Robert Alt for the Sixth Circuit: I write to endorse the suggestion of conservative champion and former Ohio secretary of state Ken Blackwell that NRO’s old friend and sometime contributor Robert Alt be nominated to the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. I have been told quite reliably (although not by Robert himself, to whom I haven’t spoken in quite some time) that Robert is indeed on at least a semi-short list for the spot (i.e., under serious, rather than just cursory, consideration).
Without even knowing who else is on the list, I can say with great certainty that nobody could possibly be a better addition to the federal appellate bench. As Blackwell notes, Alt actually clerked for the terrific, thoughtful conservative judge he would be replacing, Alice Batchelder. Robert knows the circuit, and he knows the law. Anyone who has ever worked with him knows he is brilliant; anyone who has spent time with him knows he is a warm, engaging, wonderful human being. And anyone who has watched as he moved from the Heritage Foundation to the Buckeye Institute knows that Robert has the soul of a reformer, selflessly dedicated to the public weal…. [The full blog post is at this link.]
