Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Guess Who's Coming to Slackfast?

Did I say "reslackification?" Allow me to clarify. There are two ways to promote slack awareness, one positive, the other negative. But both involve an increased consciousness of gratitude for the a priori slack that "always is."

The via negativa, or "slackfast," is mainly for seasoned Raccoons who are tough enough to withstand a complete submersion into anti-slack in order to gain a deeper appreciation of their everyday slack. In other religions it goes by the name of "renunciation," or "self-denial," or "penitence," etc.

I won't go into to all the details, but flying across the country with an extremely spirited and easily bored four year-old boy is the type of thing that qualifies for a solemn slackfast.

But then miss your flight. Then wait around in the airport for the next flight out. Then miss your connecting flight in Atlanta because the engine of the plane blew up and had to be rebuilt. Add the fact that Mrs. G. had some sort of viral infection and I was trying to manage my diabetes in unfamiliar and unpredictable circumstances, which is always an adventure (this morning my blood sugar was by far the highest it's been in five years).

Then go to visit your in-law's house in Sarasota, which is about as child-friendly as the Louvre, except with no security guards to stop your monkeyboy from doing a cartwheel into some priceless object or taking his "light saver" (saber) to an original painting hanging over the bed he's jumping on. And you don't want to go outside to tire him out, because it's like a freaking sauna out there. No, you really can't imagine, unless you've ever tried to guard Michael Jordan one-on-one while playing basketball in a china shop.

Of course I love my in-laws, but to enter their world is to enter the world of 100% Orthodox Jewish Atheist Manhattan New York Times FDR-saved-us liberal religiosity. The occasion was their 50th wedding anniversary, with half a century of friends gathered from all over the country. Nevertheless, no matter the number, I am always Marilyn Munster. Since my conversation partner is inevitably like one of those medieval Europeans who hated Jews despite (or because of!) never having actually encountered one, there is always a certain surprise that 1) I am there, but 2) that I don't have horns. It's like a meet-and-greet with all of our trolls.

So what did I learn over the weekend? Mainly all the things I already knew -- all of the axiomatic truths that are the basis of liberal thought, not arrived at through thought: that the Supreme Court stole the election of 2000, that Bush lied us into war, that the world now hates us because of Bush, that we are only in the middle east because we are jingoistic and/or want to steal the oil, that we are destroying the planet, that vaccinations cause untold harm to children, that affirmative action does not involve racial quotas, that only conservatives say nasty things about liberals but never vice versa, that the New York Times is an objective and credible source of information, that Obama is brilliant, that putting murderers to death is immoral, that Keynesian economics actually works (and is working right now -- didn't you see those guys working on the highway on the way from the airport?).

But those were only the main themes. I also learned some more nuanced things, for example, that our food supply is completely poisonous, that morality somehow transcends God (rendering him unnecessary), and that for the first half century AD there was a pitched battle between Christian and Greek religion, and that today we could all very easily be worshipping Zeus and Neptune. Just like Sponge Bob, come to think of it.

What else... the sacred right to kill your fetus is right there in the Constitution, plain as day (this from a lawyer, no less)... That all of the expertise in the world somehow ended up at the New York Times (or perhaps in the government) and cannot possibly be distributed among independent bloggers.

At any rate, the exercise worked. When I finally got home, I kissed the floor of the slackatoreum, and here I am, hoping that this coffee will dissipate the jet lag.

Oh yes. While on the plane, I did manage to read Thomas Sowell's indispensable Vision of the Anointed. Pure. Light. Period. (More Light in today's column.)

Can you imagine what a better world this would be if liberal racists had dubbed Sowell their King of Negroes instead of Al Sharpton? But that is obviously an impossibility, for doing so would make white liberals unnecessary for the compassionate care and feeding of their helpless mascots and political lawn jockeys. The purpose of liberal racism is not to help blacks, but to help white liberals feel morally superior.

By the way, the next time I'm in Sarasota, I'm thinking of inviting local readers over to the house. I would even waive the standard $1.50 fee for personal appearances ($1.75 for children under 60) if you could manage to lavish a bit of cult-like devotion upon me in the presence of my in-laws. No, you don't have to scrape and grovel. None of that. Just a little starry-eyed devotion. A breathless request to sign your copy. Could I make Petey appear? Etc. Oh, and please leave your guns at home, and don't dress like a Nazi. Just this once.

Under the present circumstances, is it possible to plunge back into the proofs of God? We shall see.

I did periodically check out some of my usual internet haunts in order to touch base with spiritual equilibrium and sanity. In the sidebar over at American Digest there was a link to a wistful observation by Sherlock Holmes, who is speaking to Watson:

“I cannot live without brainwork. What else is there to live for? Stand at the window here. Was ever such a dreary, dismal, unprofitable world? See how the yellow fog swirls down the street and drifts across the duncoloured houses. What could be more hopelessly prosaic and material? What is the use of having powers, Doctor, when one has no field upon which to exert them?"

That's a little bit how I am left feeling when I am plunged into the slackfast of the purely secular world. Schuon says something similar: "Modern men want to conquer space, but the least of contemplative states, or the least of intellections bearing on metaphysical realities, carries us to the heights from which the nebula of Andromeda appears scarcely more than a terrestrial accident." You know the old Buddhist gag: "the more one travels, the less one really knows."

So very true. One is tempted to say, "no s*it, Sherlock," but that would be vulgar. Plus, it is by no means obvious to the rank-and-foul who compulsively travel precisely as an antidote to their slackless lives. But the effect is always temporary, and lasts only as long as the illusion of surface novelty. I am always reminded of the wise words of Beavis: you can't run away from your bunghole. But do they even teach Beavis & Butthead anymore in our postmodern schools?

It's amazing how disparate strands can be woven together in the intellect, and only in the intellect, for example Schuon and Sowell. For when Sowell talks about the "anointed," he's referring to the nihilocracy of the left, which simultaneously condemns us to, and then presumes to rescue us from, its own dreary and visionless vision of reality. For the secular left, there is no meaning except for the meaning they will impose upon you through the medium of the state. The "promethean minds" of the anointed

"believe themselves capable of 'self-creation,' all within the framework of an existence that is absurd, but no one notices -- and this is typical -- the absurdity of admitting the appearance within an absurd world of a being regarded as capable of noticing the absurdity" (Schuon).

No matter. Dear Leader will ride to the rescue and inject our children with the politics of meaning and the meaning of politics: study hard to stop the fiction of global warming. Cure AIDS so that sodomites may resume doing what they do. Help the president defeat the bitter clingers who bitterly cling to the primitive idea that the state is not our Massa' and that the cosmic center is in the individual, not the collective.

71 comments:

Northern Bandit said...

Family reunions help to reset somewhat the myopia that can set in from living our intellectual lives primarily online. They serve to remind us to hate the sin but love the sinner. Like most 'coons I have people across the spectrum in my world. Actually most are fairly apolitical, and those who are leftish tend to be that way by default, having been subjected to the education system and the media for decades. One leftish atheist cousin is quite certainly one of the kindest, happiest and humblest men I know. There are right-wingers on the American side of the family who are conversely seriously disturbed people (the sort who almost seem to salivate at the prospect of a burglar, so that they can kill him).

Of course leftism is every bit as demonic as we say it is here. We know it is evil for we have many of us been there already. Individuals are a different matter. Each must be encountered and evaluated on his/her merits. Subscribing to delusional beliefs does not necessarily make one irredeemably evil, nor does self-identifying with the "good guys" automatically confer moral superiority.

Love transcends politics, I suppose.

Gagdad Bob said...

Yes, one of the major differences between liberals and conservatives is that it is quite possible for the former to live in a hermetically sealed world in which one never encounters serious opposition, whereas that is impossible for the conservative. I mean, even at the airport they force feed the leftist agenda through CNN, just like in 1984. You can't get away. Imagine if they piped in Rush Limbaugh -- which most people would actually prefer.

ximeze said...

Praise be to Yottle, Dear Leader has returned safely to the den.

Anonymous said...

This was certainly a very entertaining read, Bob.

Yes, the slackfast...I've had many such as yours and they are never pleasant.

You wrote:

"Could I make Petey appear?"

And so I will ask: could you?

I would appreciate any information at all you could supply about Petey.

I'm guessing you don't get much respect for your blog from your in-laws and their peers; that's too bad but what can you expect?

As far as influence, one can hope a little teeny bit of yours rubbed off on to one or another of the company there, someone with just a smidgeon of receptivity.

So when amidst the slackless, you can still work some good.

swiftone said...

I don't know if you meant to post a howler this morning, but I haven't laughed so hard at a blog post in a long while. Northern Bandit has obviously had family reunions too. I'm off to mine. "Don't you want to take (smaller grandson...image of Future Leader) instead of...(older, the quiet easy one?)" I know the drill well with the bed bouncing and priceless antiques and constantly braced for the next disaster. It was indeed a slackfast! Fun to watch the threads rewoven as you reenter slaaaaaaack. Wouldn't it be fun to trail a few acolytes in Sarasota!

Alan said...

The first part of this post was a perfect preview of my upcoming trip to Canada for my brother's (second) wedding.

Of course, I'm doubly different in that I moved to the US and love it here (I think that is a worse crime than being religious to a Canadian!)

I'll keep Northern Bandit's recommendation in mind: "They serve to remind us to hate the sin but love the sinner." :-)

Jimmy Wynn said...

My family reunions tend to run the other way--lauding the greatness of Fox news, all the while referring to blacks and "ni.....", and suggesting we need an armed rebellion to fend off our president.
It's funny, reading the book on conservatism you recommended, it was interesting to read about the absolute hatred between. the Federalists and the Jeffersonians. One huge difference then, was that there were huge differences. We are all big governement, one worlders now, with exceptions in the margins.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

"Nevertheless, no matter the number, I am always Marilyn Munster."

I always wondered why I could identify with her. And Thing.

Welcome back Bob!

Skully said...

I always identified with Gomez.
But my family hates it when I whip out my sword and use my rapier wit.

Gagdad Bob said...

Alan--

Just remember Dennis Prager's dictum -- never try to convince the other person or get them to agree. Just seek clarity of differences.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

"But those were only the main themes. I also learned some more nuanced things, for example, that our food supply is completely poisonous,..."

That must've made for some fun conversation around the dinner table.

Whosesideareyouonboys? said...

by Walter Brasch




It's Labor Day, and that means millions of Americans are celebrating. Most Americans have no idea what Labor Day is, other than self-serving political speeches, hot dogs, burgers, a pool party, and the last day of a three-day holiday. Few even know that Labor Day exists to allow people to remember and honor the struggles for respect, dignity, and acceptable wages and working conditions for the rank-and-file employees.




We don't know that the Knights of Labor created the first Labor Day in 1882 and that Congress made it a national holiday in 1894.




Almost none of us, including life-long union workers, know the personalities of the labor movement. About Mother Jones (1830-1930), the militant "angel of the coal fields" for more than six decades. About "Big Bill" Haywood (1869-1928) who organized the Industrial Workers of the World, a universal coalition to fight for the rights of all labor. About cigar-chomping Samuel Gompers (1850-1924), the first president of the American Federation of Labor, a job he held for 38 years.




We don't know about Sidney Hillman (1887-1946) who led strikes in 1916 to reduce the work week to 48 hours, from the standard 54–60 hours, and then helped create the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) before becoming a major political force for workers during the labor-friendly Roosevelt administration. Missing from our collective knowledge is the life of Saul Alinsky (1909-1972), known as the "father of grassroots political campaigns" who worked alongside Cesar Chavez (1927-1993) who used Alinsky's tactics to organize the United Farm Workers.




Most of us probably never heard about Eugene Debs (1855-1926), Joe Hill (1879-1915), and thousands of others who went to prison or were murdered defending the rights of the workers not only to organize, but to demand better working conditions. The names of Tompkins Square, Cripple Creek, Homestead, Haymarket, Lattimer, Lawrence, and dozens of other places where police forces massacred workers are unknown. We don't know about the Avondale mine fire that killed 110, because of faulty construction of the colliery and a disregard for worker safety, or of the fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory, where 148 women, some as young as 12, working under brutal sweat-shop conditions, died because a fire door was chained. We won't become involved in the struggle, risk our jobs and futures. That's someone else's responsibility. We'll just follow inane rules and complain privately.




Most Americans, and certainly most journalists, don't know the story of Horace Greeley, a social activist and the nation's most prominent ante-bellum publisher, who created The New York Typographical Union for his typesetters and printers because he believed they needed representation. Most journalists also don't know about Heywood Broun (1888-1939), one of the nation's best-paid columnists who risked his own financial stability to create The Newspaper Guild in 1935 to help those reporters making one-hundredth of his salary. Most media don't even have local stories about Labor Day, preferring to run nationally-distributed stories and not "waste" any of the few reporters they have left....

Skully said...

"Of course I love my in-laws, but to enter their world is to enter the world of 100% Orthodox Jewish Atheist Manhattan New York Times FDR-saved-us liberal religiosity."

Egads! All that, plus the poisonous food supply just ain't kosher!

Skully said...

Okay, who let the commie in?

Joe McArthy said...

No kidding, I yearn for the 60 hour work week! Those commies have ruined us!

Van Harvey said...

"I won't go into to all the details, but flying across the country with an extremely spirited and easily bored four year-old boy is the type of thing that qualifies for a solemn slackfast."


Brought back the slackless memory of flying to Hawaii from St. Louis with our oldest, then 3? 4?, my wife was working the flight (Stewardess), so I was the bundle of joy handler for him and all my appreciative fellow passengers.

How well did it go? Well... it was about 12 years before we tried it again.

Skully said...

"(the sort who almost seem to salivate at the prospect of a burglar, so that they can kill him)."

Hey don't knock it until you tried it. Of course, clean-up can be a chore, so I understand where yer coming from, NB.

Van Harvey said...

"Oh yes. While on the plane, I did manage to read Thomas Sowell's indispensable Vision of the Anointed. Pure. Light. Period."

All 4 thumbs up and a tail wiggle to boot on that!

Skully said...

Don't worry, Joe, you can still work 60 hours and more per week. Just join the military. Even the Air Force works more than 40 hours per week.

Builds good character and work ethics.

hoarhey said...

Hey commie,
Mind telling us what the labor unions have done since 1939 besides help bankrupt two auto manufacturers turning them over to government/union control?
Bloated and corrupt.

Susannah said...

"No, you really can't imagine, unless you've ever tried to guard Michael Jordan one-on-one while playing basketball in a china shop." [Raises hand and whispers "amen"] :)

Susannah said...

NB, my MIL is also a sweetheart who votes with leftwingers every time. I think she's easily played upon by demagogues is all, 'cause she is just so nice and generous.

laketrout said...

> No kidding, I yearn
> for the 60 hour work week!

The number of hours you work each week is not handed down from on high. Unless you're a communist.

hoarhey said...

Bob said,

"Oh, and please leave your guns at home"

I'll be carrying concealed, they'll never know.

And you don't have to be among east coast Jews to obtain the same whiz-dumb. Just spend some time with the older, hard hearted, selfish Catholic woman up the road or the anti religion neighbor couple, both with the defective gene which calcifies political thought and understanding at age 18.

julie said...

Hoarhey, while DH & I lived in Ohio he had the pleasure of watching up close while the local labor union (nursing) forced a strike in order to shut down local hospitals and long-term care centers, simply to demonstrate that it had the muscle. Because, you know, they care about the little guys.

Warren said...

So, how does Mrs. G handle her family these days? Must be especially interesting, now that she has become a Catholic.... I at least waited until virtually my whole family was safely dead before I entered the Church (which would certainly have killed some of them if they had not been dead already).

the grogtender said...

That was too funny. And oh, how I can relate to your in-law situation...

I had to remove myself from all get togethers with them. At least until I figure out how to be around them without losing my mind.

Interestingly, they took to compulsively traveling the world in the last few years, too. What's that all about anyway?

Van Harvey said...

Joe McArthy said "I yearn for the 60 hour work week! Those commies have ruined us!"

Damn straight! I'd settle for 50, or even 45hrs... but the darned idiots in the whitehouse have stimulated the last two Corps I've worked for to limit us to 40 hrs, and even force a weeks vacation into the last quarter - unpaid, natch.

What these bozo's have wrought is... oh... wait... you weren't trying to be sarcastic, were you? Are you one of the bozo's to?

I should have noticed the bright red nose....

hoarhey said...

While I don't deny that labor unions have done some good in the past, that day is over and they've become so inbred, self interested and corrupt as to currently be a negative force in the country. Sort of like what's happened to the federal government.
I'm waiting for a current (say 1980s till today) contribution commie, just one. Maybe you could cite all the innovative ideas the NEA has come up with in educating our kids. Not.

julie said...

...100% Orthodox Jewish Atheist Manhattan New York Times FDR-saved-us liberal religiosity.

On that note, there are some interesting thoughts at Commentary Magazine: Why Are Jews Liberals?

Warren said...

BTW, I myself picked up "Vision of the Anointed" yesterday afternoon and spent about an hour skimming through it. I read the book when it was first out and thought it was absolutely great, but I hadn't given it a thought in many years.... until yesterday afternoon.

Odd.

Northern Bandit said...

Susannah:

Same again with one of the pastors at our church. Spend an hour with him privately and it is abundantly clear he simply lacks the historical and philosophical background to understand why leftism is anathema to Christianity (if not vice versa).

Anonymous said...

OK annimouses, get down from the table now. The cat is back!

I will surley take this one with me today:

"...never try to convince the other person or get them to agree. Just seek clarity of differences."


/Johan

LexAequitas said...

"So what did I learn over the weekend? Mainly all the things I already knew -- all of the axiomatic truths that are the basis of liberal thought, not arrived at through thought"

And so, do you suppose that if you really, really pressed them on those "axiomatic truths", they might eventually have come up with something like, "they're self-evident", and called you an idiot for not seeing it?

Alan said...

Bob re; Prager - very sage advice (perhaps not nearly as much fun, but the better path to travel ;-) (esp. with my brother)

commie said...

Skully,
Sorry to be tardy, just was able to play again.
Don't misunderstand, I agree that most unions today have become corrupt. My anecdotal knowledge of the UPS union is fairly positive and hasn't run the company in the ground, while negotiating excellent pay and benefits. Also, I can't deny that the MLB player's union has done incredible things for the players while baseball continues to thrive.
I would counter, though, that I can't think of much that the US government has done in the past 20 years that has any merit either. Corruption seems intrinsic.

Anonymous said...

Well, the communist commentator spoke an obvious truth, namely that a certain amount of leftism will always be needed.

But as hoarhey pointed out, sometimes the needed leftist element seems, well, uneeded.

But don't be fooled. The unions need to exist. Their mere existence is a deterrent to scurillious labor practices. But it must be said they don't technically need to 'do' much anymore except exist in principle.

So, a little respect for the commie is indicated as Bob is not a good historian of these events, or so it would seem.

You can't just take Bob on his word. Not even Bob takes himself on his word. Look at all sides. Keep an open mind.

Susannah said...

I'm very fortunate to have been brought up genetically conservative. I realize that. :) My dear dad (God rest his soul) was politically active from well before I was born, and had me making calls and sealing letters during the Reagan campaigns. He was a thoughtful Christian, who explored the "whys" behind everything. No better childhood! :D

Susannah said...

The conservative movement lost a gentle grassroots warrior when we lost him. :( I'm torn between wishing him back, and being glad he's not here to see the Nanny-in-chief we elected.

Ephrem Antony Gray said...

Those Liberalists say conservatives are born 'fearful' - I figure it's the fear of the Lord. Proregressives seem to lack it in spades. The first fear makes ya do good, and the second fear makes ya love it. Or so say the God-bearin' Fathers.

wv: comye

robinstarfish said...

Ah - East Coast Jewish in-law family reunions! Fond/not memories...good for stories at least. Fortunately (for me) most of them have died off by now.

Anonymous said...

A mystery here is how Bob can get away with this blog about his in-laws (which can be viewed by his wife Leslie).

It seems indiscreet; this is the kind of thing liable to touch off a nasty and simmering resentment.

Is this marital seppuku of a sort?

Joan of Argghh! said...

Sarasota? Practically next door, seeing as you flew so far to get there! Sweltering? Why, it's balmy as a tropical paradise.

****

political lawn jockeys.

That's gonna leave a mark. Brilliant and accurate.

wv: aspiffe; as if I'm pissed?

Northern Bandit said...

One Cosmos - The Leica M9 of web sites (any shutterbug coons out there?)

Leica M9 -- Compact, unassuming package with basic, fully manual controls. Inside is a whopping full-frame sensor and optics which have been the best on earth since the 1920s.

Rick said...

Well, me an Cuz pooled our money and, to make a long story short, I'm gonna pay his way next year.
If...you're wearing the attack rabbit slippers when they open the door.
Those gun boats weren't built to stay tied to the dock, mister.

Oh, and can I borrow $1.50? Cuz says he'll co-sign.

Anna said...

Going on all the mentions and quotes of Bion, I like this wv:

bionst


"It's like a meet-and-greet with all of our trolls."

Chuckled big time.


Oh, I'm Anna. I've been posting as Elephant but figure it's time to go by my real name. The reason for Elephant is that I like them and was using it for all my internet account URLs when I first made my blogger profile in Dec. 2007. It wasn't intended as a political reference. Not that that would be the worst reference, but really it didn't come to mind when I picked it as a moniker. I like elephants!

Rick said...

Our Labor Day family reunion was not at the Louvre this year. Same as all the others. However. No cocky political talk at all. Very unlike recent years. Also played the Marilyn Muster back then. And I was never one to bring the politics up. Learned that one very early on. I became a master of changing the subject. All default libs. No jobs lost, but some pretty damn close. No names named, no that Bush. Also no “O” mentioned; like an O vacuum. And way more serious this year about “the times”. Private conversations with me, rather than the round-tables. In the past, the concern seemed a bit contrived. Not this time. Other than that, which was very little, all was pleasant.
My guess is, it hasn’t trickled up yet, Bob.
Roger out.

Rick said...

Hi Anna!

mushroom said...

believe themselves capable of 'self-creation,' all within the framework of an existence that is absurd


The first time I heard the idea of self-creation stated bluntly was from a convict in a prison. He could not figure out why I was laughing.

Any time I visit my wife's relatives I come home singing, "What a long, strange trip it's been."

Van Harvey said...

"Nevertheless, no matter the number, I am always Marilyn Munster."


As with everyone else, the bell trolls the same here too... most of mine are Boston based uber-liberals, teachers, NEA grant gobblers, an ACLU fundraiser, some glowbull warming activists attached to D.C. politico's - we had a week long family reunion cruise for my wife's G-Ma's 90th - right after I was laid off earlier this year... Marilyn Munster indeed!

In more ways than one, and just as with Marilyn, you can't help but feel fondly for Uncle Herman, Grand Pa, Lily and Wolfie... but you also can't help but notice the scars, dripping blood and bloodless or green tinge to their skin....

Family... where'd we be without 'em?

Van Harvey said...

Hey Anna-la-font now blue!

Gagdad Bob said...

Search of the day:

Sniffing Underwear - psychotherapy

Northern Bandit said...

It has taken be 2 years of junior 'coon absorbtion. I'm on page 30 of the Meditations (tarot).

Are there any other 'coons who want to read all around Scripture, but when it is presented turn away from it for another post -- another time.

Why am I afraid to confront scripture directly?

Northern Bandit said...

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

to an inheritance incorruptible
and undefiled
and that does not fade away,
reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith the salvation of your souls. (1 Pet 1.3-9)

Northern Bandit said...

After that, we can safely slumber.

Anonymous said...

Amen brother.

phil g said...

Wow GBob you just described my former neighbor who I shared a driveway with until we escaped, err, moved. He's a Jewish atheist law professor Ivy League educated from the East Coast and reads and quotes the NYT everyday. You described this tribe perfectly. They all think exactly the same. They're like zombie robots with incredibly powerful processors and superb verbal skills. They can argue any subject into a big illogical circle very articulately.

Happy to hear you survived close contact with this species and glad to have you back.

Johan (Kaffepaus) said...

NB said:
"Are there any other 'coons who want to read all around Scripture, but when it is presented turn away from it for another post -- another time."

Yes, there is. Hi!

"Why am I afraid to confront scripture directly?"

I acctially walked into a (the) catholic book store here in Stockholm and bought myself a Bible, maybe a month ago. Still have not opened it. Occasionally (on the subway or when waiting) I do use my mobile phone to read a "daily excerpt" from an online version of the Bible.


Vw: "quali" :)

/Johan

Anonymous said...

"So what did I learn over the weekend?"

Well there you have it, the extreme conservative meets the extreme liberal, neither of which is grounded in logic.

Personally, as a moderate liberal, there is no logic in saying the supreme court stole the election: it would have ended the same regardless, however the supreme court itself knew its decision was pretty weak and practically admitted it by claiming that its decision was not to be referenced by future cases(explicitly stating you do not with to apply case law in a case law judicial system says a lot more about their personal beliefs than their actual judgment).

Saying that Bush lied us into war is only inaccurate if you feel that lying means purposefully telling something that isn't true. However even then that claim is weak. Repeatedly the Bush administration refuted itself(thinking specifically of Donald Rumsfeld saying they "know" the weapons were around "Tikrit" and various other specifics, then saying they never said that--one of those must be a lie). No matter which way you put it, saying the Bush administration lied is merely an observation, and there is plenty of video and news footage to back it up. Either the Bush administration lied us into war, or they lied about what they said to get us into war. But they lied, provable using just their own statements.

As for the middle east, why are we there? That's not our land. It's half-way across the world, and we attacked Iraq before any other country. It didn't take a genius to see that it was an excuse to do it, I find it hard to believe conservatives can't admit they were looking for an excuse to attack Iraq. Hell my mother called it before Bush even defeated Gore. "Well when Bush wins he's gonn'a finish up his dad's war." Of course she expected Bush to win, as did I.

As for destroying the world, I don't believe that. I just believe that we shouldn't need an excuse to be efficient and clean. Respect the land you live on. And saving money on energy is just common sense. I don't see why conservatives fight liberals on that issue when they should still agree on the ends. For some they do, but some conservatives honestly seem like they're making an excuse to be wasteful, when being wasteful never seems like common sense to anybody(otherwise why do conservatives fight Obama on wasteful spending?)

As for vaccinations hurting children, that's pure ignorance with no foundation. I'll never defend anybody claiming that.

Affirmative action does require quotas. They're not explicitly stated, but liberals who deny it must not understand how it could be enforced.

Liberals and conservatives say nasty things about each other all the time, that's just human nature. Both play the victim card all the time as well.

No media outlet is reliable or credible(remember they all are competing for readers, so they must pander to somebody).

Obama is smart, but not smart at everything. Say what you want, but the man has a Juris Doctor from Harvard. He's still a mortal, and there's still a lot he gets wrong.

Eh, putting murderers to death isn't immoral, but there's a much more intelligent debate against capital punishment that stretches further than even this piece of work I'm conjuring here.

Keynesian economics isn't really being followed by Obama(I understand that people think Keynes said spending gets us out of recessions but that's missing the most important part which is the conditions in which it will work, which are being ignored).

Our food supply isn't poisoned, but there is certainly a lot more promotion of the consumption of unhealthy foods.

Its backwards to say morality transcends God. It's more like morality is not derived from God. Otherwise every person would have the same morals.

The whole worshiping Zeus, eh, I don't get in to hypothetical often, this is one of those times I'll refuse to comment on potential alternate histories. It more likely would have been Juno/Jupiter, however.

Anonymous said...

Lastly killing fetuses isn't a right that I'm aware of. But if he hadn't taken any time to find the morality behind the issue, he'd probably think of abortion the same way I do....

The biggest reason I support legal abortions is because of the atrocities I've heard of about women I've known personally or very directly known. The reason I support legal abortions is because I know what a woman will do to herself or an unborn child(or in one instance a newborn child) if they don't want to have a child. Quite frankly, if you disagree with abortions, stop blaming the abortion clinics, and start wondering why a woman would get a late-term abortion. It's a serious issue that conservative seem to ignore. Of course abortion isn't moral, but don't you wonder why women have abortions, and what would happen to them or their children if they didn't have an abortion?

I guaran-fucking-tee that you'd rather have your child get an abortion than see the family dog dig up a dead baby in your back yard at a family picnic. It was my girlfriend's cousin who did it, hid the pregnancy, had the baby in her parents closet.

Anonymous said...

"...don't you wonder why women have abortions, and what would happen to them or their children if they didn't have an abortion?"

A clarification, at the end of this it should have said, "and they did not want the child?"

The point was there are young women who really do not want a child and will do almost anything to get rid of it.(for any number of reasons, personally for 3 close examples to me, it's been because of public humiliation, fear from the reaction of her conservative parents, and a high school junior was peer pressured to do a back-alley abortion and even given money to help her do it.)

Rick said...

NB, Johan,
Fear/afraid is a good place to begin, I think. And fear is a very saturated word in this context. Fear may be the milk; certainly used in much of the Bible. Meat comes later and then fear takes on new meaning. But fear is still a good word. It may help to articulate (to yourself) “why” you are afraid.
Thanks to Bob, MOTT was one of the books I felt I needed to read to get me into the proper frame of mind before approaching the Bible again after the first try about 15 years ago. Back then I had the approach at least half-wrong and didn’t get very far. I was respectful and had an open mind, but I didn’t consciously, actively, think it was the Word of God – and what that truly meant. Hopefully some of the fear is that you realize the magnitude of this most precious thing that it is; the certainly delicate, intangible Word of God is life itself. And yet it is also not delicate and intangible.
MOTT helped me, I believe as well as another book by Tomberg. May not help for everyone. I just find him a very patient, generous and kind teacher. Besides, there is no rush. The subject, thank God, is inexhaustible anyway. It can’t not be.

laketrout said...

> I guaran-fucking-tee that
> you'd rather have your child
> get an abortion than see
> the family dog dig up a dead
> baby in your back yard at a
> family picnic.

Use some judgement. You don't have to believe every lie cooked up by your "girlfriend's cousin".

Van Harvey said...

aninnymouse said "Personally, as a moderate liberal, there is no logic..." and "... I don't believe ..."

You could have saved a lot of time and html by leaving it at that. Moderate liberal means only that you don't really believe in anything, or if you do, you'll pretend you don't in order to avoid conflict.

And of course you like to talk alot about what you don't have to say.

Johan (Kaffepaus) said...

Thanks for your words Ricky, I guess time will eventually catch up with me :)

Anonymous said...

"And of course you like to talk alot about what you don't have to say."

So much irony in this statement. Did you actually address anything I said?

I know people like Van. They don't have an argument, so they give up, but pretend they've won.

As for the guy saying that my girlfriends cousin's story isn't true, well, there are always newspapers, and there's always Google. Wouldn't want to keep you from cold harsh reality.

Anonymous said...

"You could have saved a lot of time and html by leaving it at that. Moderate liberal means only that you don't really believe in anything, or if you do, you'll pretend you don't in order to avoid conflict."

This statement indicates you are a complete dumbass. You think people take neutral stances to avoid conflict? Bullshit. Obviously you must think that you have to take everything your spoon fed right? So you basically admit as a conservative you have no independence? That's the only thing one could conclude. Obviously if I don't buy every thing liberals or conservatives say, I must be avoiding conflict? Fuck you. Let's see you call that avoiding conflict.

Anonymous said...

But the rational part of me wants to see how Van manages to argue his statement.

Really. I'm finding it hard to believe that somebody could say something so stupid and actually try to pass it off as witty. I swear it has to be sarcasm.

Van Harvey said...

aninnymouse "I know people like Van. They don't have an argument, so they give up, but pretend they've won."

LOL! Do you have any idea how many of your own troll bro's are laughing their asses off at you right now?!

You're obviously a newly minted amateur aninnymouse around here, proudly, boldly, taking a STAND... as anonymous.... talk about a low irony diet.

I've spelled it out for "you" too many times recently to give a crap about your silly posturing tonight - got my fill already from Obama.

Here's a recent OC post from 8/27The Business of Isness digging into first principles in the comments section, or you could nearly at random begin clicking back on other posts and get all the stands and arguments you can eat.

Or, you're welcome to make a fool of yourself at my site as well - or actually argue honestly, which I'd very much appreciate and engage in - , here's a couple places to start on delving into First Principles, as regards:

Hume, and from him into the development of Modern Political Philosophy,
or Philosophy in general,
or this which selects a series of posts (in reverse order) on the ideas behind Justice, digging into Rousseau, Hobbes, Bacon, Machiavelli and Descartes (so far).

See ya soon....

S.W.A.K.

Rick said...

Anon 6:01am said:

“I know what a woman will do to herself or an unborn child”

Thank you for cluing me in to my wife and mother there. I never knew…
And perhaps the equally as splendid:

“I guaran-fucking-tee that you'd rather have your child get an abortion than see the family dog dig up a dead baby in your back yard at a family picnic.”

Placing aside for the moment that you know what most, if not all “women will do” if only common circumstances merely present themselves, just so we’re clear, what’s the part you find most horrifying? (If anything) The killing and covering-up of the baby or the interruption of the dinner party?

Near as I can tell, if the dog didn’t do what dogs do – dig up things, you would, and women in general would be, should be, fine with the killing and covering up part of the story.

As to your guarantee, I would very much prefer to not have either of those horrible things take place. I know, since I am me and you are not, that I would prefer there not have been 40 million or 4 million or 1 US government endorsed killing and covering-up. What I find shocking is that you think there’s a big difference between the two parts of your story. That and the fact that you would be proud enough to say it out loud, and claim the rest of us simply don’t have your integrity and courage.

At least the dog was doing what dogs were meant to do.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Hey Rick!

Well said, buddy! I'm sure, despite the clarity of your comment, that abortioninny will still miss your point, but it's a helluva doozy!

Abortioninny really oughtta do some honest self examination and ask itself why it wrote what it wrote, and why it thinks that way about unborn babies and women.

I'm glad I can't relate to abortioninny's scalpel-like "wit", because if I could I would be horrified beyond belief.

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