Dear visionaries, I actually think we might be getting somewhere in our discussion. But let’s not hold our collective breath. Does this progressive meeting of the Moscow Civic Association (to which non-progressives need not come) have any agenda items with regard to the government school system? In other words, is it thought the government school …
The Liberal Tree Fort
Dear visionaries, Carl chides my two friends for pointing out the inconsistency of an inclusivist group excluding people. But his chiding misses the point. We certainly do not object to liberals, progressives, socialists, or whoever, all deciding to build their own tree fort, and establishing the rules for admittance. As was pointed out by Carl, this …
Naturally Inquisitive
Dear visionaries, Anthony writes that “restorative justice is a value driven approach.” This is correct, because everything is a value-driven approach. And we return to the question that folks in this pluralistic little town of ours do not want to face squarely. Whose values? Why? Societies cannot function unless certain values are imposed and others …
A Just War?
Dear visionaries, I was asked off line for the reasons I oppose the war in Iraq. But before summarizing those reasons, allow a brief response to John’s translation of my request. John said, “Translation: Do not comment about the war on terror or the war on Iraq. I might disagree with you.” Actually, I would …
Relativism and the Invasion of Iraq
Dear visionaries, The role of debate in a free society is often misunderstood — it is too readily assumed that people disagree simply because they are disagreeable. We also tend to misunderstand the corrosive effects of relativism. When objections are made to topless car washes — let us say — the whole thing is dismissed …
Impudence on Stilts
Fundamental assumptions are like the backs of our heads. We all have one, and none of us can see our own. One of the most exasperating features of working through literature on postmodernism is the fact that, for all the talk, the postmodernists can’t deconstruct their way out of a paper bag. One basic assumption …
American Gospel
Dear visionaries, I believe a fundamental flaw in analyzing America’s foreign policy in the Middle East (or anywhere else) is that we persist in speaking as though the “two sides” represented are limited to the Mutt and Jeff of our two party system. The real issue of substantive debate in foreign policy is between the …
After Darkness, Light
In a recent post on postmodernism, I commented on the timidity of many who will not handle their discontents in a scriptural manner. This ties in with postmodernism because of the primacy of feeling in postmodern subjectivism. Interestingly, after posting that I got an (anonymous) critique that acknowledged the truthfulness of part of what I …
A Surrogate Religion
Dear visionaries, I wanted to commend Tony for writing a fair article for this last weekend’s newspaper on the growing rift in Moscow between liberals and conservatives. However, something which I mentioned to him during the interview (and which he did include) needs to be emphasized yet again. A generation or two ago, the jibe …
Half Time
Dear visionaries, The reason we are all getting tired of the discussion surrounding Timothy’s use of the epithet slut is not because the discussion is over. Not at all. We are simply approaching half time when we all have to switch directions. Not many of you knew this, but Timothy is actually a performance artist …