tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4764506766343254616.post4783565897927049283..comments2024-03-26T14:20:38.103-04:00Comments on The Thought Criminal: What We Need Is More Eleanor Roosevelt Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4764506766343254616.post-57232212860139670312015-01-26T10:23:45.158-05:002015-01-26T10:23:45.158-05:00You're right about fundamentalists, though: t...You're right about fundamentalists, though: the "lesser evil" excuse is strong. My evil is bad, yours is worse, so mine wins. Thus do I not have to love my neighbor until he proves himself worthy. And "worthy" means: when he acts and thinks just like me.Rmjhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06811456254443706479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4764506766343254616.post-29839559384599880422015-01-26T09:44:27.983-05:002015-01-26T09:44:27.983-05:00I think it's pretty clear that, as with even t...I think it's pretty clear that, as with even the "reality community" blogs, that little reading of even the articles the comment threads are attached to is involved. <br /><br />I am realizing, more and more, that we're going to have to speak over the heads of the self-appointed "reality community" to real people, of whom there are ever so many more, to make any kind of liberalism come into being in reality. <br /><br />I'll read the article later today. Thanks for pointing it out. The Thought Criminalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01381376556757084468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4764506766343254616.post-62434195237350493262015-01-26T09:04:38.656-05:002015-01-26T09:04:38.656-05:00The article is an excerpt from a book and while it...The article is an excerpt from a book and while it's slightly problematic (Chaucer was commenting on the sales of indulgences long before Luther; it was a widely acknowledged problem), it focuses on Luther's reaction to indulgences as one of the prime movers of the Reformation (which, the article should also emphasize, was a move to reform the Catholic church, not abandon it. Anglican churches are "Catholic Lite", but no less so than Lutheran ones.).<br /><br />A worthy analysis of reactions to corruption in government, and how that connects with groups like Al Qaeda. I've pretty much ignored the comments over there; reading comprehension is not the strong suit of most readers of Salon.Rmjhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06811456254443706479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4764506766343254616.post-63743205435688717902015-01-26T08:40:57.358-05:002015-01-26T08:40:57.358-05:00I haven't read the article at Salon, I'm k...I haven't read the article at Salon, I'm kind of allergic to the webloids just now. Your description reminds me of Marilynne Robinsons great essays about the Calvinist tradition and their relationship with liberalism and how the Puritans were a reaction against the opulent corruption of the Tudor and Stuart era. Perhaps as much an expression of hatred of Catholicism. <br /><br />We are not angels, we mix the good and the bad and shouldn't ever think we're going to never have to take that into account if we're going to move towards the good. Fundamentalism, religious and atheist is a self-congratulating forgetting of that. The Thought Criminalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01381376556757084468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4764506766343254616.post-88188842321413067242015-01-26T08:08:38.605-05:002015-01-26T08:08:38.605-05:00Like conservatives, liberals are fine with charity...Like conservatives, liberals are fine with charity: to those who deserve it.<br /><br />Charity, however, has to be earned; the very attitude Mrs. Roosevelt was arguing against.<br /><br />Interestingly, Salon has probably the most intelligent article/excerpt I've read there, about Protestantism and corruption and religious fundamentalism being rooted in a reaction against corruption. The link is to radical Islam, which is arguably a reaction against corrupt government rule, governments propped up by the U.S. because we are still more interested in military aid than in economic aid.<br /><br />But, you know, it's religion that's the problem.....Rmjhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06811456254443706479noreply@blogger.com