Letters to the Editor
sysprog
Published Letters: 1692 Editor's Choice: 2
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The Best Of All Possible Trolls
[Read the article: The right-wing brain in action]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]World famous metaphysico-theologico-cosmolo-gogologist Nabalzbbfr informs us that (as revealed by his theoidiocy) divine providence has provided to us the best of all possible wars, and the best of all possible leaders.
Then he accuses us of being Panglossian.
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The Fourth Gospel
[Read the article: The right-wing brain in action]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"In the beginning was the Word..." - - John 1:1
The Baptist minister Harry Emerson Fosdick wrote
. . . Out of the same manner of thinking comes the Johannine idea of eternal life. The hope which the Synoptic Gospels [Mark, Matthew, & Luke] had phrased in terms of the kingdom of God on earth is reinterpreted in terms of life eternal. Only three times in the Fourth Gospel is the kingdom even mentioned, (John 3:3; 3:5; 18:36) and in all three its spiritual, unworldly nature is emphasized. The great hope of this Gospel is not any kind of reign on earth but "eternal life," and even this, far from being a post-mortem goal, is a present, interior possession of the soul ... the Johannine Jesus represents the Hellenistic belief that both death and resurrection are spiritual states within the man.
. . . The profoundest note struck in the Old Testament in the development of a future hope came, as we have seen, from the experience of communion with God. Let the interior fellowship of a soul with God be once conceived in terms of mutual care, so that as the soul adores and trusts the Most High, the Most High values and supports the soul, and the corollary is bound to be drawn that such a relationship predicts its own continuance. Such divine friendship is, to use Johannine language, ‘eternal life,’ and unless the world is so topsy-turvy that its material structure abides and its spiritual meaning perishes, what is thus excellent is, as Emerson said, permanent. This has always been the implicit logic of faith in immortality when it has been most powerful and morally significant.
The deepest convictions of men in favor of future hope, therefore, have come not so much from those who have framed arguments for it as from those who have heightened life’s spiritual value, given it new meaning, made it wealthy with fresh significance and purpose until it has seemed as though it ought to go on. The influence of Jesus in this realm cannot be understood without the apprehension of this major fact. He never argued for immortality. He did, however, introduce his disciples into a quality of life that incalculably elevated for them the significance of living.
Hope springs eternal, even in a world so topsy-turvy that Harry Emerson Fosdick's daughter was an (apparently unsuccessful) mentor of some of today's neocons.
Happy Easter to all.
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Unilateral Moves
[Read the article: The right-wing brain in action]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]are just part of the dance, shooter.
Kissinger and Nixon understood that, else they'd never have gotten to China.
"Been there, done that" gets you nowhere. Go out and see the magnolia blossoms braving this morning's frost. Meditate on your bible, or Camus.
Peace.
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Insta-Update : a guide for the perplexed
[Read the article: The right-wing brain in action]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Quite lengthy guidance, too, by insta-standards, but perhaps some perplexed insta-fans were asking pesky insta-questions. The insta-professor gets testy.
Professor Reynolds :
http://instapundit.com/archives2/003965.php
UPDATE: Reader Ted Clayton emails: "Perhaps you could specify who "they" refers to. "As you can see [if you weren't such wankers] from reading [you morons are as lazy and stupid as my students] the linked item, it refers to those allegedly-progressive Westerners who refuse to hold non-Westerners to the same moral standards applied to, say, America and Britain. That should be obvious [Lord, sometimes I wonder why I even bother educating the rabble] to, well, anyone who's paying attention.
- - Glenn Reynolds
And one final coda by the master :
ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Drew Kelley writes: 'I am shocked, shocked, to find prejudice among our "best and brightest'." The descent of the "progressives" into racist double-standards is an old story, but it's still one that bears pointing out now and then.
- - Glenn Reynolds -
Bebop-o, re Mitleid und Mitfreude
[Read the article: The right-wing brain in action]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Schopenhauer valued mitleid but discounted mitfreude.
Nietzsche valued mitfreude but discounted mitleid.
Look elsewhere.
Buddhism rejects pity (grade B mitleid) and condescension but values true compassion (authentic mitleid, between equals). Those who believe that authentic mitleid comes from God may find it in Paul's "agap'e" and Joseph Smith's "charity" and many other places.
Spider Robinson values both mitleid and mitfreude, and wrote the motto of Callahan's and alt.callahans, "Shared pain is lessened, shared joy is increased. Thus do we refute entropy."
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If only ABC News would broadcast the work of investigative reporter Charlie Savage
[Read the article: The unresolved story of ABC News' false Saddam-anthrax reports]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]http://boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2007/04/08/scandal_puts_spotlight_on_christian_law_school
for instance.
Pardon my tin foil hat, but I wonder how many moles have been placed into career (non-Sched-C) positions not just at USDOJ but throughout the civil service, the intelligence agencies, the Pentagon, etc.
Most federal civil servants are still proudly and scrupulously following the letter and spirit of the Hatch act, but this madministration considers such notions quaint.
I also wonder, among the "higly placed" sources of Brian Ross, how many ascended to high places via the political path, and did any of them ascend to high rank solely by the path of technical expertise.
If you see mole holes in your lawn, you should suspect that your lawn just might possibly be infested with moles.
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Arms Control Wonk : how and why Ahmadinejad lied today
[Read the article: The unresolved story of ABC News' false Saddam-anthrax reports]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Jeffrey :
http://armscontrolwonk.com/1457/iran-enriching-on-industrial-scale
Last week the neocons correctly observed that Ahmadinejad wasn't a credible source, about the British prisoners.
This week: Presto! Change-o! Ahmadinejad is suddenly a credible source!
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History, the new revised version
[Read the article: The unresolved story of ABC News' false Saddam-anthrax reports]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]MSNBC on-line slide show of USA-Iranian relations. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16491417/displaymode/1107/s/2
No mention of the name, "Mossadegh" in slide 2.
No mention of U.S. support for Iraq, in slide 6.
I know it's just a short, simplified slide show, but this revision of history is disturbing in its implications.
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[ot] A conservative general who is pleased with DOJ's new direction
[Read the article: The unresolved story of ABC News' false Saddam-anthrax reports]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]http://patriotboy.blogspot.com
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More on Iran and Centrifuges
[Read the article: The unresolved story of ABC News' false Saddam-anthrax reports]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]There are reason to doubt that Iran has yet centrifuged *any* UF6 gas.
Paul Kerr :
http://totalwonkerr.com/1400/more-on-iran-and-centrifuges