On April 8, 2005 I was diagnosed with cancer and ever since I have been asking the question, why me. Like many cancer patients, I wondered if there was something I did to bring this on myself. Was it my diet? Was it one too many beers? Of course, if I left it up to others I would get a plethora of answers none of which I probably want to hear. A close relative of mine, who is a born again Christian, suggested that there was a lesson to be learned in having cancer. I'm not sure what lesson I'm to learn as I puke my guts up from the side effects of chemotherapy. I'm not sure what lesson I'm to learn as my toes remain numb because of neuropathy. I'm not sure what lesson I'm to learn as I stare at the 8 inch scar on my belly after surgery for the resection of my liver. The bottom line is there is no lesson to be learned. When I think about lessons I have learned I think about the time when I was probably too angry to have sent that email. Or the time I told a lie that hurt someone. Those are instances in which inportant lessons are learned but not in having cancer.

The point I'm trying to make here is simply this, I don't want to be told that God is in everything that I do, say, think, believe etc. Unfortunately, there are those among us who think that everything has to do with God and religion. For example, many see the war between Israel and Hezbollah as Armageddon. And still others see the destruction of the World Trade Center as God's second coming. And those among us see God in every aspect of politics and if you are not with them you are against them. That is where this article comes in. Heather MacDonald makes what I consider to be the best argument for true Conservatism. While I'm sure there are issues that Ms. MacDonald and I would disagree this is not one of them.

I have to give a hat tip to Andrew Sullivan, my hero, whose blog is where I first read the article.