Posted on 12/28/2006 7:09:09 AM PST by .cnI redruM
On most tours through the blogsphere, a stop by Ann Althouse’s Blog is well worth the mouse-click. She often thinks freely, unfreighted with dogmatic twaddle, and presents the events of the day in an interesting and enlightened perspective that dwarfs the mediocre and mendacious interpretations of them offered up by the likes of The Associated Press.
One of her recent posts, however, touched off a firestorm. She compared a group of strongly committed Conservatives and Libertarians to the 9-11 hijackers. I initially chalked the whole thing up as an over the top metaphor and took no real offense.
I myself, have compared Unfrozen Caveman Senator Jim Webb to Karl Marx in one post, and then to Enver Hoxha in a follow-up posting. The Enver Hoxha thing was just taking it to the bridge. I should have backed away from the keyboard.
As is often the case, the commentators on Althouse’s blog proved far more astute in their understanding of what Althouse had just planted as an axiom than I, the humble blog-reader. They rightfully took her out behind the woodshed and, upon further review; I should have flagged her fifteen yards for philosophical inaccuracy.
What frightens me about this whole Ann Althouse thing is her fear of belief. This is how existential malaise saps the virtue and, perhaps quite literally, the biotic potential out of a culture. People don't need to look any further than Althouse's fear of all passionate belief to understand why things are in the bucket headed in a downward trajectory while the air around us seems to get a little bit warmer with each passing year.
Western culture has bought unquestioned a profoundly ignorant philosophical fallacy that continues to lead us to a studied state of dormant decline. We have confused correlation with causation and will continue to pay for this oversight in blood, treasure and misery.
We have observed that people like Vladamir Lenin, Adolf Hitler and the Unabomber all held very passionate beliefs. We have observed that all three of them went screaming off the rails of basic decency and performed barbaric things as a result of those beliefs. Therefore Althouse, and many other modern intellectuals, seem to have concluded that anyone who gets too worked up about something is two steps away from morphing into Timothy McVeigh or Mullah Omar.
This fear of passion overlooks all the good done by those who were inspired. The Four Gospels would never have reached paper, had Matthew, Mark, Luke and John decided to go lay on the beach at Galilee instead. Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, Gregor Mendel and even Les Paul probably felt the burn every day to be better than what was currently the best in their chosen career. People who achieve something and make the world a better place to live aren’t just heaving it up there or mailing it in from the flophouse. Similar stories of passion that rose to the level of quiet heroism can be found in every laudable field of endeavor ever undertaken in human history.
There is nothing inherently wrong with spending a few spare hours in chill mode. Relaxing, rejoicing in my slackertude and recharging my batteries can help me gear back up for the next time life tries to kick my @$$ until it has a second hole. However, there comes a time, in each person’s life, where if they want to make a legitimate and positive difference, they have to put the bong down, turn off the Pearl Jam CD and decide they genuinely care about something.
One thing Charles Darwin got absolutely right was that survival requires success in competition. One thing I learned early playing rugby, if you want to survive competition, you go in jacked up. If you don’t, the prop lined up across from you will D--- sure jack you up himself. Passion is not just good, it’s a necessity if you like having good survival odds, as an individual, as a family as a nation.
You defend what you care about, what you revere. You achieve what you belief in. You acquire what you shamelessly lust for. To paraphrase Gordon Gecko, so that his true meaning comes shining through, “Passion is Good!” Ann Althouse is a profoundly intelligent woman who knows a lot of things. I hope this whole turd-tornado over her misguided blog entry taught her this as well.
"Everybody has to believe in something. I believe I'll have another drink!"
Attributed to W.C. Fields
It's very good.
What frightens me about this whole Ann Althouse thing is her fear of belief. This is how existential malaise saps the virtue and, perhaps quite literally, the biotic potential out of a culture. People don't need to look any further than Althouse's fear of all passionate belief to understand why things are in the bucket headed in a downward trajectory while the air around us seems to get a little bit warmer with each passing year.
Even if it has a sort of channelling Mark Steyn feel to it.
Anything done in moderation shows a lack of interest. - Tom
"Anything done in moderation shows a lack of interest. - Tom"
lol Good one.
So typical of emotional and shallow socialist thinking to lump Libertarians and Conservatives together, as if they share some major philosophy. I think we all know that it is not true.
Secularist's who view their lack of religion as a religion in and of it's self, tend to see this sort of false connection as if it is a brilliant diagnoses of everything wrong with society.
I don't particularly object to other stretched comparisons, but lumping Conservatives and Libertarians shows her total ignorance of politics, and she thinks she has it down pat and it a expert.
As most socialist Marxist indoctrinates do.
Thanks, I'm likely to go mushy if you keep it up.
I respect any man who is passionate about good beer or fine scotch whiskey.
>>>>Secularist's who view their lack of religion as a religion in and of it's self,
Logic, without revelation, has its limits.
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