Letters to the Editor
Emyth
Published Letters: 63 Editor's Choice: 9
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@Mona... My apologies for not ignoring your gaff...
[Read the article: A tragic legacy]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You must know that an undergraduate degree in religious studies does not make you a religious scholar... As is pointed out at the Harvard University Commencement each year that I've sat on the platform, a Bachelor's degree admits you only to the first stage of the ranks of educated persons. There is much, much more for you to learn beyond what you picked up in college. If you depend on dictionaries for the source of your wisdom and understanding, you will be merely a pedant (you can look that up in the freedictionary.com...)
Perhaps if you'd studied more of Philosophy than Wm. James' The Varieties of Religious Experience, say some Logic, you would understand that just because a definition of "Manichaeanism" includes the words "dualistic" and "Christian", it does not follow that "Dualistic Christians" are "Manichaeans"...and that just because a dictionary says that Manichaeanism is "A dualistic philosophy dividing the world between good and evil principles", it isn't the case that there aren't any other similar and yet different dualistic "philosophies". Dualistic Christianty and Manachaen Dualism are similar, yes...and related... But they are separate and different enough that it is a mistake to equate and confuse one with the other.
You know, by specifically using my name and quoting the dictionary at me you started this off personally... You continue to defend your mistaken criticism of my and others' criticisms of Mr. Greenwald's use of "Manichaean"... You pull up your academic credentials rather than making cogent arguments, when for all you know I have 4-times as many years of academic study of religion and theology, not to mention my professional work for the past thirty years.
My point to Mr. Greenwald was (and still is in spite of your dictionaring and academic posturing) that to call President Bush's powerful, yet repulsive "Good vs. Evil" rhetoric "Manichaean", is distracting and counter-productive. That's why I called it a "Red Herring"... It confuses the matter and sends folks of in odd directions thus allowing the prey, i.e. Bush & Co., to escape. By not speaking plainly, Mr. Greenwald allows his pointed criticisms to be dodged by those who should most be poked and pinned by them -- "What? I'm not a Manichaean, I'm a Christian! So I don't have to listen to anything he says..."
This brings us to your other, better laid-out point: Bush IS a Christian. He believes that his sort of Christianity worked for him - and that it should work for all of us. That's a real problem. We've got to go in and show the inadequacies of his immature teenage dualistic Christian world-view, not only for us and our own sakes, but for him and his as well. We can't do that if we use hifalutin' language that is too easy to dismiss.
You might take a look at Mr. Greenwald's subsequent blogpost about his piece and see if he is continuing with the use of "Manichaen" as a descriptive adjective in anything other than the quotes from his book. It may be that he understood and took our criticisms to heart, no? He seems to be that kind of intelligent, humane sort of guy. It makes me trust him and listen to what he has to say.
But back to you and our exchange: I'd much rather have hashed this out with you privately, one on one - but that's not an option here at Salon.com as far as I know. It could be a useful enhancement to the community, or not...I don't know. But please, in the future address the issue and not the person. You could have raised your questions regarding the dictionary definitions of "Manichaeanism" in a not-personally-pointed manner and I would not have felt the need to snap back. Yes, I could have swallowed my pride and just kept quiet. But no...Sorry, I'm just coming to terms with new levels of irritation and in response I'm actively cultivating an attitude of compassionate snarkiness. It's not a contradition, just a paradox...
Let's let this rest.
All the best,
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Polytheism
[Read the article: WayLay]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Ahhh...the complexities of maturity and adulthood. All of the seemingly irreconcilable values... Life's subtle ironies... Monotheism, and just one God (putatively male), is simply inadequate to do it all full justice, no?
It's nice to find an artist who appreciates the illogical dimensions of being a grown-up... Or should I say "trying to be a grown-up"? Yes, I expect so... Seems like whenever one gets one's life settled and everything in place, the Universe simply throws another curveball, or has a convulsion of some sort and we have to try to make sense of it all all over again.
Thank you Ms. Lay for your fine sensibilities and artistic gift. I believe I recognize a devotee of an emergent compassionate snarkiness. This one's for the theology files... It'll be of good use sometime; It's thought and rueful-chuckle provoking.
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Rove Cuts and Runs...
[Read the article: Remembering Karl Rove]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Rove's son is in college... Why not Iraq? No college deferments for sons (and daughters) of Chickenhawks.
If Rove cuts and runs for his own family's sake, can America "cut and run" for our families' sakes?
Rove isn't quitting, he's strategically withdrawing, regrouping, and preparing for a new "surge"... Lookout Democrats for Rove in '08. Start working on neutralizing him now. Get him behind bars if you can.
Look for the REAL reason he's cutting his losses and running for cover.