Anything Goes, by Brad Miner

In olden days, a glimpse of stocking
Was looked on as something shocking
But now, God knows
Anything goes

– “Anything Goes” by Cole Porter (1934)

A single headline at Vatican News got me thinking:

Pope says Israel’s attack on Hamas in Qatar marks a ‘very serious situation’

In itself, it’s a simple statement of fact. And it’s chilling if, as in my mind, it evokes “wars and rumors of wars” (Matthew 24:6-7, Mark 13:7, and Luke 21:9). The world is a dangerous place, and diplomacy is essential.

But there are existential reasons for skepticism about the success of diplomatic efforts, let alone of pacifist statements concerning Gaza, etc. Besides, negotiations (let alone good intentions) won’t save the world; Christ will. If we all lived in God’s light, we’d have peace on earth. Failing that . . .

Sweet reason is important, but I admire Jonathan Swift’s warning (from A Letter to a Young Gentleman, Lately Enter’d Into Holy Orders by a Person of Quality, 1721): “Reasoning will never make a Man correct an ill Opinion, which by Reasoning he never acquired.” In other words, “It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he never used reason to arrive at in the first place.” ….

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