Curtis Dahlgren
The Truth offends some people? What difference does THAT make?
By Curtis Dahlgren
"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear." – George Orwell
THIS MAY OFFEND LIBERALS, BUT – James Madison never wrote anything into the Constitution about a "right not to be offended." If they can hand it out, they can tolerate it too. This isn't tit-for-tat. This is the defense of liberties more precious than life itself. Liberalism is trying to drive religion underground (as "back in the old USSR").
Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule.
Any time I bow my head now
Becomes a Federal matter now.
Praying at all in a public hall
Upsets those who believe in nothing at all.
The preceding excerpt, which I've paraphrased, was on the Internet in the late-90s, signed by "a 12-year-old girl in Boston." I don't know how much history or Western Civ 12-year-olds get today in Boston public schools, but she reminds me of the words of James Russell Lowell (1819-1891):
". . I think I may call
Their belief a belief in nothing at all
Or something of that sort; I know they went
For a general union of total dissent."
A PARADOX: the less people believe in, in the sense of Truth, the quicker people are to be "offended," whereas "Great peace have those who love Thy Law, and nothing shall offend them" as the Psalmist said.
I even heard about a woman who was offended in church when the pastor asked all of the mothers to stand up on Mother's Day. The childless woman said she felt "gutted" as a woman by the pastor's insensitivity. Does this not sound like something out of the Onion?
Then I heard about a shooting at a Mother's Day parade in New Orleans. "If true," as Jay Carney says, does that not speak volumes about post-modern post-Christian American culture? It says a lot about the value of human life and "the belief in nothing at all"!
"nihilism, n; 1) a rejection of value statements or moral judgments. 2) absolute destructiveness toward the world at large and oneself." – Webster
An unabridged Webster's says:
nihilism, from Latin nihil and hilum (a little thing, a trifle):
[1] in philosophy (a) the denial of the existence of any basis for knowledge or truth.
(b) the general rejection of customary beliefs in morality, religion, etc.
[2] in politics (a) the doctrine that all social, political, and economic institutions must be completely destroyed in order to make way for new institutions.
(b) Nihilism in Russia (1860-1917), "reform" through terrorism and assassination.
[3] loosely, any violent revolutionary movement involving terrorism.
["NIL" is the contracted form of "nihil," which mean nothing obviously.]
We are approaching 2017. Will the American people pass the coming tests where the Russians, collectively, failed? If that sounds "too political," once again that may offend some people.
["Can't we all just get along? What is truth? What is IS? WHATEVER?"]
In the "popular culture" universe, the low-information voters are in denial. Although everything actually IS political in some way, they don't want to hear about it. But as George Orwell said, to repeat for emphasis:
"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they don't want to hear."
[And you thought Big Brother was a "right-winger"? NOT.]
P.S. I shouldn't have to restate the news-of-the-day, unless you haven't seen today's USA TODAY headline:
"IRS GAVE LIBERALS A PASS; TEA PARTY GROUPS PUT ON HOLD."
Some day when you're in line for an operation, and the IRS and HHS is running the nation's healthcare, you might want to ask yourself whether the burocrats who hold your life in their hands know which way you lean on politics (GOPers can go to the back of the line?).
And ask yourself where they might stand on those "social issues" such as the Right to Life and Nihilism – the belief in nothing at all!
© Curtis Dahlgren
May 15, 2013
"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear." – George Orwell
THIS MAY OFFEND LIBERALS, BUT – James Madison never wrote anything into the Constitution about a "right not to be offended." If they can hand it out, they can tolerate it too. This isn't tit-for-tat. This is the defense of liberties more precious than life itself. Liberalism is trying to drive religion underground (as "back in the old USSR").
Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule.
Any time I bow my head now
Becomes a Federal matter now.
Praying at all in a public hall
Upsets those who believe in nothing at all.
The preceding excerpt, which I've paraphrased, was on the Internet in the late-90s, signed by "a 12-year-old girl in Boston." I don't know how much history or Western Civ 12-year-olds get today in Boston public schools, but she reminds me of the words of James Russell Lowell (1819-1891):
". . I think I may call
Their belief a belief in nothing at all
Or something of that sort; I know they went
For a general union of total dissent."
A PARADOX: the less people believe in, in the sense of Truth, the quicker people are to be "offended," whereas "Great peace have those who love Thy Law, and nothing shall offend them" as the Psalmist said.
I even heard about a woman who was offended in church when the pastor asked all of the mothers to stand up on Mother's Day. The childless woman said she felt "gutted" as a woman by the pastor's insensitivity. Does this not sound like something out of the Onion?
Then I heard about a shooting at a Mother's Day parade in New Orleans. "If true," as Jay Carney says, does that not speak volumes about post-modern post-Christian American culture? It says a lot about the value of human life and "the belief in nothing at all"!
"nihilism, n; 1) a rejection of value statements or moral judgments. 2) absolute destructiveness toward the world at large and oneself." – Webster
An unabridged Webster's says:
nihilism, from Latin nihil and hilum (a little thing, a trifle):
[1] in philosophy (a) the denial of the existence of any basis for knowledge or truth.
(b) the general rejection of customary beliefs in morality, religion, etc.
[2] in politics (a) the doctrine that all social, political, and economic institutions must be completely destroyed in order to make way for new institutions.
(b) Nihilism in Russia (1860-1917), "reform" through terrorism and assassination.
[3] loosely, any violent revolutionary movement involving terrorism.
["NIL" is the contracted form of "nihil," which mean nothing obviously.]
We are approaching 2017. Will the American people pass the coming tests where the Russians, collectively, failed? If that sounds "too political," once again that may offend some people.
["Can't we all just get along? What is truth? What is IS? WHATEVER?"]
In the "popular culture" universe, the low-information voters are in denial. Although everything actually IS political in some way, they don't want to hear about it. But as George Orwell said, to repeat for emphasis:
"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they don't want to hear."
[And you thought Big Brother was a "right-winger"? NOT.]
P.S. I shouldn't have to restate the news-of-the-day, unless you haven't seen today's USA TODAY headline:
"IRS GAVE LIBERALS A PASS; TEA PARTY GROUPS PUT ON HOLD."
Some day when you're in line for an operation, and the IRS and HHS is running the nation's healthcare, you might want to ask yourself whether the burocrats who hold your life in their hands know which way you lean on politics (GOPers can go to the back of the line?).
And ask yourself where they might stand on those "social issues" such as the Right to Life and Nihilism – the belief in nothing at all!
© Curtis Dahlgren
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