From: Arlo J. Bensinger (ajb102@psu.edu)
Date: Wed Nov 17 2004 - 03:32:33 GMT
All,
>
> P.S. Notice that the knee-jerk response so far has been to launch an ad
> hominem attack on Washington rather than seriously address the question.
Pointing out historical facts is ad hominem attacks?
The answer, as I read it, is that quoting Washington as proof of the need for
"religious underpinnings" for a nation's morality is like quoting Sid Vicious
on the need for musical censorship, or the editor of High Times on the morality
of the drug war. It was asking for this type of response.
Besides, as I've said, it is the evident "heroification" of these "founders"
that I find to be a valuable, education lesson in critical thinking. As one
poster commented, they were just men.
I find it interesting that someone who defends freedom so loudly (in financial
aspects anyway), would seemingly propose that a theocracy would be an
improvement for our society. Your staunch support of the religious right's
agenda (at least surrounding homosexuality and promiscuous sex), and now this
proposal for religious foundations...
I was thinking about this as I was feeding the campus squirrels over lunch (this
is true!), earlier you argued strongly (via Pirsig) that New York City was the
greatest, most dynamic city in the world. It embodied the kind of "freedom"
from social restrictions you believed made London, Amsterdam, etc. "dull".
And yet, how would NYC be if the religious right had its way? Wouldn't it become
like those Middle Eastern cities you hate so much, with their enslaving
religious-social restrictions on individuals? Do you think the vibrancy of the
city you love so much would be maintained? Or, do you think you can do away
with individual freedoms outside the marketplace and still have NYC as it is
today?
And another thing... if NYC is the shining example of DQ, and what every other
city and every other nation should aspire to... why did the citizens of NYC
(and every other metropolitan area in the US) want Bush out of office? Was it
because they were aware of the threats to DQ that these social level
restrictions mandated by the religious right?
Hmmmm...
Arlo
MOQ.ORG - http://www.moq.org
Mail Archives:
Aug '98 - Oct '02 - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/
Nov '02 Onward - http://www.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/summary.html
MD Queries - horse@darkstar.uk.net
To unsubscribe from moq_discuss follow the instructions at:
http://www.moq.org/md/subscribe.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Wed Nov 17 2004 - 04:15:48 GMT