I'm pleased to see that the New York Review of Books decided to provide free access to a number of articles in the February 9, 2006 issue that I wanted to point out to friends:

• Jimmy Carter & the Culture of Death is Gary Wills' review of Jimmy Carter's new book, Our Endangered Values : America's Moral Crisis.

• The Passion of C.S. Lewis, which I found entertaining because unlike many of my friends, I have never liked the Narnia books or film(s). I've read only one of the seven books (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) and then only as a disenchanted adult. Alison Lurie offers plenty of insight into Narnia as children's literature. Unfortunately, she overreaches in the concluding paragraphs with:

  It is no surprise that
  conservative Christians admire these books. They teach us to accept
  authority; to love and follow our leaders instinctively, as the
  children in the Narnia books love and follow Aslan. By implication,
  they suggest that we should and will admire and fear and obey whatever
  impressive-looking and powerful male authority figures we come in
  contact with. They also suggest that without the help of Aslan (that
  is, of such powerful figures, or their representatives on earth) we are
  bound to fail. Alone, we are weak and ignorant and helpless. Individual
  initiative is limited—almost everything has already been planned out
  for us in advance, and we cannot know anything or achieve anything
  without the help of God.

  This is, of course, the kind of mindset that evangelical churches
  prefer and cultivate: the kind that makes people vote against their own
  economic and social interests, that makes successful, attractive, and
  apparently intelligent young men and women want to become the
  apprentices of Donald Trump, or of much worse rich and powerful
  figures. This mindset could even be called deluded, since in this world
  a giant lion does not usually appear to see that the right side wins
  and all the good people are happy. In Narnia faith in Aslan, who comes
  among his followers and speaks to them, may make sense: but here on
  earth, as the classic folk tales have told us for generations, it is
  better to depend on your own courage and wit and skill, and the good
  advice of less than omnipotent beings.

  Nice rhetorical flourishes here -- but associating The Apprentice
  with Narnia and conservative Christians?? Is Lurie saying that
  anyone who believes in a God who will ultimately set things right is "deluded"?
  Figuring out what authority is and what authority to follow are not easy
  tasks. Some of us do believe in ultimate authority that looks like neither
  Donald Trump or the "giant lion" that Lurie delights in poking fun at.

• Genocide in Slow Motion is a review of two books on the genocide in Darfur. I miss reading Nicholas Kristof's columns in The New York Times (but not enough to pay for TimesSelect.
  It was through Kristof's writings that I first learned about Darfur.
  I'm grateful for writers such as Kristof who help to keep the Darfur conflict
  in front of people like me, who are so prone to forget. I've been
  meaning to write a letter to the editor about Darfur but have not been
  able to do so. A good starting place as I look to act is A Million Voices for Darfur.