Song of Solomon is not just a love story. It’s a kidnapping story.

The world does not like defiant Jews. It does not like Jews who talk back. Jews who call attention to false narratives and tell tyrants and bureaucrats to eat cyanide. The world likes its Jews docile, groveling, or dead. The world likes its Jews docile, groveling, or dead, because docile, groveling, and dead Jews don’t challenge whatever narrative agenda-driven actors concoct about them. Whereas living, vocal, opinionated Jews insist on being the ones to tell their own story. Stories that a world who hates Jews don’t want to hear.

There’s a distinctly American quality of believing—or at least wanting to believe—that the best is yet to come. And as a result, there’s almost an instant dislike for the cynic. In fact, when we call someone a cynic, we don’t even think of its dictionary definition—“the belief that most people lack sincerity and operate out of self-interest”—(much less the philosophers of cynicism like Diogenes or Metrocles). When we call someone a cynic, we’re calling them bitter. A “content cynic” or “happy cynic”, most Americans would tell you, is an oxymoron. Cynics are grouchy. Cynics are not personable. Nobody likes a naysayer (a word, by the way, that originated in the American colonies in 1721). In American culture, if somebody tells you they have dreams, the only socially acceptable response is to validate them. You don’t ask questions and you certainly don’t suggest that somebody’s dream is a bad idea. We are a dream culture. We traffic in dreams. When Martin Luther King marched on Washington, his immortal words were “I have a dream.” And in a dream society, realism—especially if it leans toward the negative—is considered rude. Instead we are optimistic. We believe in anti-aging cream, fad diets, and New Year’s Resolutions. But worse, we still believe politicians and parties can be our saviors.

Yes, yes… I know that even a specific legal definition of pornography has vexed anti-porn campaigners in the past. But surely a nation which invented scotch tape and sent a guy to the moon can come up with a happy medium definition of “visual pornography” that allows us to watch Bridgerton but prevents us from watching Gag Me Harder Stepbrother 2.

An ordered society contains people in a constant state of growth embracing the tasks, appearances, and attitudes expected of their years. As such, these are people who understand consequences, trade-offs, delayed gratification, and doing without. These are not people who are lured by baby talk, or soundbites, or bumper sticker slogans on important issues. They are not taken in by easy-to-see scams, or prone to believing they can achieve success quickly, or addicted to drama and gossip. And we should want that kind of society because that kind of society—the optimal society—passes down values no other lesser society can: patience, restraint, thrift, moderation, courage, resolve, tenacity, mercy, honesty, goodwill, respect.

“Vanity of vanities” is just what I needed.