When I responded earlier that "I feel your pain," the phrasing was meant as a joke, but the sentiment was sincere. I think that you and I are a lot alike in the way that we suffer fools. We may not always have the same criteria for what constitutes a fool, but I think that we treat them similarly. I know how frustrating and depressing that can be and how it can weigh on one. I frequently find myself troubled by what goes on hereabouts. Steven would say that I take it too seriously, too. In fact, I think he has said that.
Perhaps partly because I encouraged you to spit out what was bothering you and partly because I can relate to your discomfiture, I feel a need to support your having done so. I think that E and Steven were too harsh in their reaction. Perhaps because you were feeling ill and there were a number of things that came down at the same time, I think you were too harsh in your assessment of the scenario.
and partially because most of them are the Evil One without the anti- semitism: instead of Jews, they substitute the WASP establishment or Big Business or the nether world of spooks, but they are chockful of ill- founded conspiracy theories and half- baked leaping to conclusions about Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld that sound as stupid and mean to me as the Evil One's rants about Talmud Jews and Zionism. They are not based on evidence, they are the fleshing out of prejudices.
There is a lot of that sort of thing going on here. And in the world at large. The juxtaposition of demolib pinheads and EV on one thread may lead you to equate the two but they are not the only perpetrators. We tend to notice it most when our own ox is being gored, but that stuff goes on on both ends of the spectrum. I think it is faulty to attribute it to just one side. I also think it is faulty to put the inter-partisan prejudices in a class with anti-semitism.
they ridicule and slander those with belief as having imaginary friends and being too weak to stand on their own, or having a taste for authoritarianism, or some such.
Well, I recognize some of my favorite words in that so I guess you had me in mind, at least in part. I've noticed a certain chill coming from your direction since the imaginary-friend discussion. I've said this before and I'll say it again, I think that finding ridicule and slander in any of that is over the top.
It took me a while to figure out why you were annoyed at my complimenting TS, that you were looking at his word choice in comparison with JLA. I can appreciate that now that you point it out. I find TS's irreverence delightful. I find irreverence delightful, in general. I practice it myself. I think it is very healthy to prick our cultural bubbles every now and again when they get to full of themselves. It enables the retention of a sense of humor and facilitates change. I understand that irreverence is not appreciated in some religious and political quarters and I find that sad. If you think that anything I've ever said about either religion or politics demonstrates contempt for you, you are mistaken. I'm actually quite fond of you, although you can sometimes be a pill.
Part of what you're experiencing may be that you found yourself, for a brief period in in a small space, in the minority surrounded by atheists. That must have been disconcerting...
I didn't respond immediately with this. I was waiting for your mood to lift. Perhaps that has already happened. If not, then I've just been overtaken by events. In any case, here it is, FWIW.
Karen |
