Posted by
Doctor Demex on Wednesday, October 11, 2006 9:51:35 AM
Things are the way they are for a reason. When one investigates
the origins of a particular tradition or institution, like marriage,
for instance, the rules of etiquette, biblical prohibitions on eating
pork, or carpenter's warnings to measure twice and cut once, one
discovers rational logic behind it. When one argues with some
religious people—Please note that I said "some" and that I do know what
the word means—when they get into a logical bind they might pull out
their ultimate argument: "Because the Bible says so!" After all,
if the Bible is the word of God, then that's pretty much the last word,
isn't it? More thoughtful Christians can go beyond that argument
to the practical reasons the Bible says so. It is important even
for atheists to acknowledge that just because something is in the Bible
does not mean that it isn't supported by thousands of years of human experience before and since.
Jews have a more direct relationship with God; they question Him and
argue with Him in their ongoing effort to know His mind. Many of
them not only know what's in the Tanakh
or Written Torah but also, thanks to thousands of years of Talmudic
scholarship, have a sense of the practicality of the rules set forth
therein. [Please note that I said "many" and that I do know what the
word means.] Many Jews know why certain rules are in there and
why they would be good ideas even if they weren't in there. Some
of my Jewish friends might think I'm giving them too much credit, but I
don't think so.
Now in discussing serious business with a liberal (religious or not)
there is a whole other set of problems. First of all, where a
conservative will argue with you until the apocalypse, most liberals
try to end the discussion quickly. They do this either
dishonestly, by making ad hominem attacks (e.g.,
calling their opponents stupid), or honestly, by admitting that talking
about serious subjects makes their heads hurt. Thinking deeply,
particularly about the why of
anything or about cause and effect, more than five minutes into the
future, is not a distinguishing feature of liberal politics. If
no idea means anything, then the only thing a liberal can feel strongly
about is something he literally "feels" strongly about, from deep down
in his emotional center. His modus operandi
is, first, to adhere to whatever tradition makes instant, innate,
instinctive sense to him or seems to work to his immediate, material
advantage and, second, to ignore or reject any tradition that makes no
sense to him or that he does not understand after giving it five
seconds of thought. If a liberal can't think of a reason to do
something in five seconds, he won't do it. If he can't think of a
reason not to do something in two seconds, he will do it. In contrast, the conservative might think for more than a minute.
Thought is the enemy of emotion to a liberal, because if he thinks too much, he fears he might think of a reason not to
so something that would make him feel good. The liberal thinks
having no coherent logic to his thoughts is a virtue, giving him
license to think thoughts without the shackles of logical concepts like
supply and demand and cause and effect. He is therefore free not
only to think what he wants, but also to turn the thoughts into actions
and do what he wants.
He is not bound by the opinions of anyone else, no matter how wise
those opinions might be. After all, because everyone—even the
stupidest idiot—is entitled to an opinion, opinions have no value.
In other words, opinions are like college degrees: everybody has one.