Boys of Athens studied dances,

while boys of Sparta fought with lances.

InstaPundit features (in an extended quote), Michael Novak's observations about Athens and Sparta -- and how we Americans should learn to combine elements of both -- is very thoughtful, poignant advice, as well as a lesson on the wrongful nature of the Culture War.

I can't get the exact link right now, but please read AgendaBender's new piece on Christmas composers.

Then think about Michael Novak's ideas.

Hmmmmm.........

(I can already see that getting exact links ain't easy when you're moblogging....)

UPDATE: Well, I might as well finish this on my regular computer.
Michael Demmons' thoughts (via InstaPundit) echo the link (from AgendaBender) about Christmas music:

The reason for emphasizing that the composers of some of our favorite Christmas music were gay is not that gays and lesbians do not know this; many do. The reason is rather that so many people who are deeply hostile to homosexuality and legal equality for gays do not know it, or blind themselves to it, or try not to think about it.
Remember: The goal of the religious right is that if it cannot entirely extirpate homosexuality from the human race, at least homosexuality should be rendered legally, socially and culturally utterly invisible. They want to be able to enjoy what gays have produced without having to face the fact that they have any reason to be grateful to someone gay. They want to have all the pleasures of their bigotry without any discomforting cost or cognitive dissonance.
For that very reason, it is incumbent upon us to press the fact that
these are gay composers upon those very people - to mention it at every possible opportunity. And the more homophobic they are, the more important it is to press it especially insistently - in a loving way, of course.
Our goal should be to make them as uncomfortable and conflicted as possible about enjoying the gay music of Christmas, to ratchet up the psychological cost of their bigotry so that some might eventually wonder whether their bigotry is worth it. Bigotry should never come cheap and it should never be let off easy - especially at Christmas!

I do not think homosexuality or heterosexuality should be an issue (something I have said many, many times in this blog).

But if people like those nuts who succeeded in removing "all images of gay groups that have protested at the Lincoln Memorial" continue to behave this way, then they make it crystal clear that their goal is not merely discrimination and imprisonment -- but censorship and eradication of all mention of homosexuality.

That justifies telling them about Tchaikovsky, and Handel and the rest of them!

And after that, demand that they boycott the Nutcracker Suite, Handel's Messiah performances, and if they don't, then tell them to go pound sand.

Talk about nuts; it sounds like the lunatics are running the asylum.... People are entitled to their opinions, but how did these people get the power to issue such edicts, anyway?

Hopefully, the story (link updated) will turn out to be bogus and I can issue a retraction!