Word: veneered
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More important than rancor over specific positions is the impression that social crusading is turning the faith into a "political agenda masked with a veneer of spirituality," in the harsh words of Kent Hill of the conservative Institute on Religion and Democracy. A. James Reichley of the Brookings Institution believes that mainline "social and political action takes away from the religious focus." Mainliners sometimes seem more convinced about the virtues of the Sandinistas or the vices of Nestle than, say, the meaning of Christ's Crucifixion and Resurrection...
...more committed friends switch allegiance from communes to consuming. At the pivotal moment in the play's second act, Heidi (played by Joan Allen) stands behind a lectern on a bare stage, giving a luncheon speech to the alumnae of the prep school she once attended. Slowly the successful veneer of Heidi's life is stripped away as she tries to ad-lib a free-form answer to the assigned topic, "Women, Where Are We Going?" Heidi's soliloquy ends with these words: "I don't blame any of us. We're all concerned, intelligent, good women." Pause...
...beneath the veneer of rosy statistics, evidence is mounting that East Germany's orthodox course ultimately leads to a dead end. A Prussian work ethic and meticulous implementation of carefully honed five-year plans are no longer quite enough. Even that well-oiled machine is wearing down under the same contradictions of Communism that have driven other East bloc economies onto the rocks. Pointing to the increasing scarcity of consumer goods, ten- year waiting lists for East German-made Trabant automobiles and deepening competition in foreign markets from third world producers, a Western diplomat in Berlin says, "They are treading...
...good, well-intentioned men and women who will be seduced by the scene, and by its facade of grandeur and tradition. But as anyone who knows anything about final clubs can see, this appearance is a farce, a feeble attempt by insecure undergraduate men to gloss themselves in a veneer of sophistication...
...next President has always resisted definition. His career has been marked by ideological gyrations. His often tangled syntax sometimes suggests a lack of inner clarity. One of the rare glimpses of the "quiet man" beneath the political veneer came in his soaring address to the Republican Convention. But rather than continuing the process of self-definition, Bush in the fall campaign relied on angry scripts, as he launched a fusillade of demeaning attacks against the hapless Michael Dukakis. Was this red-meat rhetoric reflective of the real George Bush? On election night, Bush offered the broad hint that...