By Publius | Ross Douthat has written insightfully about the Newtown massacre in the NY Times. Citing Dostoevksy’s “The Brothers Karamazov,” he talks about the Christian response to suffering: “…the Christmas story isn’t just the manger and the shepherds and the baby Jesus, meek and mild. The rage of Herod is there as well, and the slaughtered innocents of Bethlehem, and the myrrh that prepares bodies for the grave. The cross looms behind the stable – the shadow of violence, agony and death. In the leafless hills of western Connecticut, this is the only Christmas spirit that could possibly matter now.” Read the article here.