Curtis Dahlgren
"The wicked man will always find an excuse for evil-doing" [500 BC]
By Curtis Dahlgren
"It is an heretic that makes the fire – not she which burns in it." – Shakespeare[1623]
HERE'S A GENERAL "CONSENSUS" FOR YOU:
'Tis strange,- but true; for truth is always strange;
Stranger than fiction: if it could be told,
How much would novels gain by the exchange!
How differently the world would men behold!
- Lord Byron [1823]
"Truth sits upon the lips of dying men." – Matthew Arnold [1853]
"Truth is stranger than fiction, but not so popular." – author unknown
"There is nothing so powerful as truth, and often nothing so strange." – Daniel Webster [1850?]
Truth, crushed to earth, shall rise again;
The eternal years of God are hers;
But error, wounded, writhes in pain,
And dies among his worshipers.
- William Cullen Bryant [1837]
"I believe that in the end the truth will conquer." – John Wycliffe [1381]
"Then said Jesus to those Jews who believed on Him . . 'the Truth shall make you free'!" – Jesus [1st cent. AD]
THE COMMON THREAD? These writers believed that there is such a thing as Truth; it does exist (despite all the modern and post-modern philosophies). Relativism is SO 20th century, in spite of Groupthink and Newspeak (if there is no truth, there can be no evil either – only "extremism," whose definition is controlled by the politically "correct").
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." – Ralph Waldo Emerson [1841]
There's a different hobgoblin in every era, but ours is "the world is so complex that it's difficult to define Truth and/or Evil" – which brings me back to "The wicked man will always find an excuse for evil-doing" in Aesop's Fables. That 2500-year-old story says a lot about 21st century Barbarism, hatred, and illogical scapegoating. From Magill's Quotations in Context:
"A Wolf and a Lamb chance to meet at a stream one day while drinking, the Wolf upstream from the Lamb. The Wolf, however, wants to pick a quarrel with the Lamb, so he accuses the Lamb of muddying the water that the Wolf must drink. The Lamb protests that this is impossible since he is downstream. Next the Wolf accuses the Lamb of having used [politically incorrect] language a year before. The Lamb says that's impossible because he wasn't even born yet . . [SO]:
"The Wolf, finding it to no purpose to argue any longer against the truth, fell into a great passion, snarling and foaming at the mouth, as if he had been mad; and drawing nearer to the Lamb, 'Sirrah,' says he, 'if it was not you, it was your father, and that is all one.'
"So he seized the poor innocent, helpless thing, tore it to pieces and made a meal of it. MORAL: THE WICKED MAN WILL ALWAYS FIND AN EXCUSE FOR EVIL-DOING."
"AND THAT'S THE WAY IT IS," Walter Cronkite would say. He would be spinning in his grave if he could be following the nightly news. We're not even supposed to call the wicked men wicked (only "extreme"). The jihadists aren't even "wicked"; they're just extremely "extreme"! And our State Department even says we need to find jobs for them. Seriously!
God must laugh, while the jihadists laugh a different laugh – as they go about systematically killing children of their own father Abraham (for being born into the wrong tribe). [Sigh] My mother used to say, "Well. Excuse me for living!!"
P.S. I have some skin in this game of cat-and-mouse and poker-in-high-places. I had a grandfather whose name was Greenberg. My mother and the rest of the family kept saying there was no Jewish blood though. My mother worked in a Jewish hospital once and tried to tell them she had no Jewish blood (they just laughed at that claim). I was probably the first one of the 50-some cousins who wondered what the truth was. It would be no more than 1/32 anyway, but tell that to the guy about to take your head off, eh? Before it gets too long, this column should be continued next week. I wish I could leave you this week all mellow and "be happy-like" – but if you'll pardon one more quotation:
"The greater cantle of the world is lost
With very ignorance, we have kissed away
Kingdoms and provinces."
- Shakespeare [1623]
PPS: Remember it's not only frigid in America, but it's winter in the refugee camps in Iraq and Syria and Turkey. Remember them too, please. And pray for the strength of persecuted Christians all over the place.
© Curtis Dahlgren
February 19, 2015
"It is an heretic that makes the fire – not she which burns in it." – Shakespeare[1623]
HERE'S A GENERAL "CONSENSUS" FOR YOU:
'Tis strange,- but true; for truth is always strange;
Stranger than fiction: if it could be told,
How much would novels gain by the exchange!
How differently the world would men behold!
- Lord Byron [1823]
"Truth sits upon the lips of dying men." – Matthew Arnold [1853]
"Truth is stranger than fiction, but not so popular." – author unknown
"There is nothing so powerful as truth, and often nothing so strange." – Daniel Webster [1850?]
Truth, crushed to earth, shall rise again;
The eternal years of God are hers;
But error, wounded, writhes in pain,
And dies among his worshipers.
- William Cullen Bryant [1837]
"I believe that in the end the truth will conquer." – John Wycliffe [1381]
"Then said Jesus to those Jews who believed on Him . . 'the Truth shall make you free'!" – Jesus [1st cent. AD]
THE COMMON THREAD? These writers believed that there is such a thing as Truth; it does exist (despite all the modern and post-modern philosophies). Relativism is SO 20th century, in spite of Groupthink and Newspeak (if there is no truth, there can be no evil either – only "extremism," whose definition is controlled by the politically "correct").
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." – Ralph Waldo Emerson [1841]
There's a different hobgoblin in every era, but ours is "the world is so complex that it's difficult to define Truth and/or Evil" – which brings me back to "The wicked man will always find an excuse for evil-doing" in Aesop's Fables. That 2500-year-old story says a lot about 21st century Barbarism, hatred, and illogical scapegoating. From Magill's Quotations in Context:
"A Wolf and a Lamb chance to meet at a stream one day while drinking, the Wolf upstream from the Lamb. The Wolf, however, wants to pick a quarrel with the Lamb, so he accuses the Lamb of muddying the water that the Wolf must drink. The Lamb protests that this is impossible since he is downstream. Next the Wolf accuses the Lamb of having used [politically incorrect] language a year before. The Lamb says that's impossible because he wasn't even born yet . . [SO]:
"The Wolf, finding it to no purpose to argue any longer against the truth, fell into a great passion, snarling and foaming at the mouth, as if he had been mad; and drawing nearer to the Lamb, 'Sirrah,' says he, 'if it was not you, it was your father, and that is all one.'
"So he seized the poor innocent, helpless thing, tore it to pieces and made a meal of it. MORAL: THE WICKED MAN WILL ALWAYS FIND AN EXCUSE FOR EVIL-DOING."
"AND THAT'S THE WAY IT IS," Walter Cronkite would say. He would be spinning in his grave if he could be following the nightly news. We're not even supposed to call the wicked men wicked (only "extreme"). The jihadists aren't even "wicked"; they're just extremely "extreme"! And our State Department even says we need to find jobs for them. Seriously!
God must laugh, while the jihadists laugh a different laugh – as they go about systematically killing children of their own father Abraham (for being born into the wrong tribe). [Sigh] My mother used to say, "Well. Excuse me for living!!"
P.S. I have some skin in this game of cat-and-mouse and poker-in-high-places. I had a grandfather whose name was Greenberg. My mother and the rest of the family kept saying there was no Jewish blood though. My mother worked in a Jewish hospital once and tried to tell them she had no Jewish blood (they just laughed at that claim). I was probably the first one of the 50-some cousins who wondered what the truth was. It would be no more than 1/32 anyway, but tell that to the guy about to take your head off, eh? Before it gets too long, this column should be continued next week. I wish I could leave you this week all mellow and "be happy-like" – but if you'll pardon one more quotation:
"The greater cantle of the world is lost
With very ignorance, we have kissed away
Kingdoms and provinces."
- Shakespeare [1623]
PPS: Remember it's not only frigid in America, but it's winter in the refugee camps in Iraq and Syria and Turkey. Remember them too, please. And pray for the strength of persecuted Christians all over the place.
© Curtis Dahlgren
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