Posted by
LadyLiberty on Thursday, April 30, 2009 2:57:58 AM
Episode 72: Moderately Cruel to the Kind
(Catching up on the news, Rock of Liberty Ranch site)
Olam: Some say moderation in all things. By leaving the Republicans, Senator Specter is judiciously avoiding extreme cruelty to those who uphold our constitutional Republic.
Lady Liberty: You mean the conservatives?
Olam: Well, that's what you call them. I might say libertarians or classical liberals. A
moderately cruel person calls them "right wing extremists". Some say "far right idealogues".
Lady Liberty: The extremely cruel say "far right wingers"?
Olam: No. Stateside, the extremely cruel say, "right wing nut jobs", or "religious fanatics" since the agnostic or disbeliever in Man as perfectable savior would qualify as fanatical to them.
Lady Liberty: Interesting take.
Olam: Thank you. And the extremely cruel worldwide would say, "Off with the infidel's head!"
Lady Liberty: Well now that sounds like the real religious fanaticism.
Olam: No, no, no. "Religious fanaticism" is an oxymoron. Religion is about the whole, not a fanatical sliver imposing its will on the whole. Such extreme cruelty is pure political fanaticism. But keep in mind that in a political formulation, if we were to be cruel to the cruel, that very likely might negate the entire problem. And to what purpose?
Lady Liberty: Uh huh. The algebra of human relations...with its busy work to the nth power?
Olam: By strong man rule. How well you deduce. I see how your son became the great tutor he is today.
Lady Liberty: A true community organizer, religiously speaking.
Lady Liberty: Now wait a minute. I thought that,
The decline and fall of the modern religious right's notion of a Christian America creates a calmer political environment and, for many believers, may help open the way for a more theologically serious religious life.
Olam: Raise your hand if you
if you notice a "calmer political environment" in America or, even more so, in the "post-Christian" West? How about the non-Christian Middle East?
Look, ma, no hands.
Go to the head of the class with your son. That'll make room in this Republican tent for the independent and libertarian patriots restaking their American claims.
Whoa now, head down there, Ms. Liberty.
Low flying plane on the horizon, and it doesn't appear to take kindly to little, old ladies and the citizens who love them.
Lady Liberty: Oh, don't worry about me. I can hold my own. (Exhibit A: Eternal Torch) Anyway, that photo op with the trailing military for effect, is headed farther South by Southwest for a
real show of kindness to all comers. But you might want to text the President. He appears to be operating ex post facto.
Olam: Appearances may deceive but Presidents should not.