"Will you be the head of the new thought Police, or will you just act in an advisory role?"
LOL! They already have a Head! :) And they make your little congregation look like a gang of pikers!
Of course, you know perfectly well from, "Should God Be Replaced" that I have fought unceasingly against the Thought Police, and against their controlling intolerance--their moral absolutism. You have seen me, time and again--go to bat for the principles of individual liberty, freedom of thought, free speech, etc.
But your tactics are duly noted, so I commend to you some wisdom from Mark Twain who was well aquainted with people of fractional wit:
"Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please."
To those who may be genuinely confused over references to thought in this discussion, I repeat: We have been talking about having consideration for the thoughts of others. In other words--precisely the opposite picture to the one being suggested here by Greg as a sop to a sore ego.
I think part of the confusion that many people have stems from the back-assed way in which society brought "hate" crimes into the continuum of motive. The philosophical truth is that "hate crimes" are those which are inhuman to such a degree that they may be viewed as the default for maximum social disapproval (however that may be expressed in any one particular society), while everything lesser than this may attract some sympathy due to mitigating circumstances around the situation, the intent, etc. It is the human approach for everyone, with the exception of moral absolutists, to give consideration to the meaning of the transgressing behaviour. This requires consideration.
To act without understanding is to act without compassion, and without sense or bearing. It is the willingness to engage in sincere dialogue toward understanding which distinguishes us from the Thought Police of the Inquisition era (and, of course, before and after)--who simply killed those whom tried to assert their natural right to think and to reason--and to thus live as humans.
Tolerant people have always sought to be understanding in their response to socially proscribed behaviours. It is what being human is all about. Tolerant people understand that circumstances alter cases, and only the very young or naive--or the very bigoted--refuse to consider an act in context. Moral absolutists often forego this aspect of being human due to the intolerance which is immanent in any and all of the multitude of "I'm right, you're wrong" schools of religious dogma.
None of this, however, is to deny that, in practice, the justice system does a piss poor job of applying intelligence to the endeavor...a failure that is not always evidence of culpability!
Outside of those unfortunate societies controlled by moral absolutists (such as the Taliban of Afghanistan, or the RC Church in her glory days), those entrusted with the responsibility of community safety have always practised the human response of seeking to understand the meaning behind the actions of transgressors--the motive behind the act. In the Age of Reason, humankind broke the fetters of the moral absolutists, and thus modern democracy was born.
Our justice system has always measured its response to transgressors by giving due consideration to the thoughts and motives of the perpetrator, and thus determining a measured and rational response (within the limitations which prevailed). We don't hang teenage girls for witches as certain moral absolutists would and did. We questioned the truth of these nutbars, then we applied science and sincere dialogue to the "witches", and we found sane explanations for why young girls might develop hysteria, etc.--and also for why the female gender was getting a disproportionate share of the judicious attention...
Greg, you are not nearly so dense as the image you choose to project. I mean that as a compliment. Some people become so educated that they reach the point of being EXTREMELY stupid. You do not show any signs of being at risk for such an eventuality. I also mean that as a compliment.
Well, I have some other things to do, so I will close with a word picture from an old book that was scratched together by thousands of people. You will love this. I know (or at least I suspect) that your heart sometimes aches and longs for those halcyon days of yesteryear, when moral absolutists reigned Supreme, and where any attempt at thought (of any kind) was the signal for the very individuals of the community to exact JUSTICE!! Justice administered by their VERY own hands! You may well imagine the delight they must have felt to do the right thing! And they never had to give any consideration to what the "transgressor" had been thinking! Fortunately, someone told them what was the moral, benevolent, and kindly thing to do. Otherwise--how could they have possibly known?! Their life simply would not have had ANY meaning :). But GREAT JOY! What wonderful meaning it had once they knew what the right, and the GOOD thing was to do! Almost as much fun as eating dung, or pissing against a wall!
Leviticus 24:13-
"Then the Lord said to Moses: "Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him. Say to the Israelites: `If anyone curses his God, he will be held responsible; anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord must be put to death. The entire assembly must stone him. Whether an alien or native-born, when he blasphemes the Name, he must be put to death. . . .'" Then Moses spoke to the Israelites, and they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him."
Have an excellent day, Greg. And don't forget to keep your eye on Jerusalem: MORAL ABSOLUTISM showing the world two of His million faces. Ain't it wonderful to be RIGHT. BOOOOOOM. Hush little baby don't you cry...
The modern day Thought Police:
smh.com.au
Insightful quote from ArchBishop Tutu:
When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said, "Let us pray." We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land. |
