James Bartholomew of The Spectator on the subject of modern virtue:
“No one actually has
to do anything. Virtue comes from mere words or even from silently held beliefs.
There was a time in the distant past when people thought you could only be
virtuous by doing things: by helping the blind man across the road; looking
after your elderly parents instead of dumping them in a home; staying in a
not-wholly-perfect marriage for the sake of the children. These things involve
effort and self-sacrifice. That sounds hard! Much more convenient to achieve
virtue by expressing hatred of those who think the health service could be
improved by introducing competition.”
“Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”
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