A problem with G.K. Chesterton
Things he uses as examples of reductio ad absurdum are now being outdone by reality. Take this passage from "The Everlasting Man", where G.K.C. discusses the horror of the Carthginian Empire:
"These highly civilised people really met together to invoke the blessing of heaven on their empire by throwing hundreds of their infants into a large furnace. We can only realise the combination by imagining a number of Manchester merchants with chimney-pot hats and mutton-chop whiskers, going to church every Sunday at eleven o'clock to see a baby roasted alive. "
Compare it with this monstrosity apparently being shown in Chesterton's own country now.