Rolling Stone just says no

In America's ideal of freedom, the public interest depends on private character—on integrity and tolerance toward others and the rule of conscience in our own lives. Self-government relies, in the end, on the governing of the self.

That edifice of character is built in families, supported by communities with standards, and sustained in our national life by the truths of Sinai, the Sermon on the Mount, the words of the Koran and the varied faiths of our people. Americans move forward in every generation by reaffirming all that is good and true that came before—ideals of justice and conduct that are the same yesterday, today and forever.
—George W. Bush, 2005 Inaugural Address

There’s nothing postmodern about those words. How so many people came to believe that we could dissect, disassemble and ultimately repudiate the wisdom of the ages is beyond me. But there you have it—in the words of so many academics, artists, celebs and others allied with the current zeitgeist, who eschew what they interpret as retro, outdated beliefs of our president.

And here you have it as well. Today CNN reports Rolling Stone magazine has rejected an ad from Zondervan, the nation’s largest publisher of the Bible. The ad was to have run next month, in conjunction with the release of a Bible that is translated into words young people can more easily understand, according to a spokesman for Zondervan. But Rolling Stone isn’t having any of it, even though it took the cash for the ad last July. (One assumes the return check is in the mail.)

A representative for the publisher of Rolling Stone explained, “We are not in the business of publishing advertising for religious messages."

Instead, Rolling Stone is, and always has been, in the business of publishing advertising for multimillionaire rock icons. Last December, the magazine ran a glowing review of the new U2 album, “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.”

The review reads, in part:

“Nobody wants a skinny Santa, and for damn sure nobody wants a hipster Bono. We want him over the top, playing with unforgettable fire. We want him to sing in Latin or feed the world or play Jesus to the lepers in his head…Nobody else is even remotely qualified.”

Apparently not even Jesus Christ himself.

Note to my readers: I have been incredibly busy of late. I’m planning to move to lower Manhattan in March, and I’ve been working away on a business plan that I hope will get me some working capital for my new business. Dispatches will be sporadic over the next few weeks. Hang in there. When the move is completed, I will return with twice-weekly musings on whatever the heck happens to be in my head.