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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!!
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To: E who wrote (53551)8/30/1999 5:16:00 PM
From: jbe  Read Replies (1) of 108807
 
Interesting thoughts, E. Let me add a few thoughts of my own (though I can't guarantee that they too will be interesting).

"Moderation" is sometimes a euphemism for "indifference." I know that I am much more "moderate" on matters I do not care much about, or simply do not know enough about to form an opinion.

It is also certainly true that it is one thing to be "immoderate" for or against something or other, and quite another to try to force others to accept your point of view. You put it this way:

I think the crucial distinction between the dangerous and the undangerous is not the degree of intensity of belief, but the degree of commitment to the idea that free discourse and civil argument can, over time, lead to compromises or solutions that can be lived with by all parties.

I would agree -- when we are talking about situations where free discourse and civil argument are indeed the norm, as I think they generally are in this country today. We should remember, however, that it is not always or everywhere so. Suppose, to use an example you cite yourself, the "moderates" in society had allowed the suppression of free speech ("free discourse"). What "compromises" can then be reached -- and with whom?

In such cases, perhaps old Goldwater (to think I should ever quote Goldwater!) was right when he said: "Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice."

Joan

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