Friday, August 07, 2020

07. August 2020 · Write a comment · Categories: Reflections

My Thoughts

In reviewing an upcoming book of essays, I found this from Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI: “In the name of tolerance, tolerance is being abolished; this is a real threat we face.” What immediately came to mind was an exercise in free association, exchanging “diversity” for “tolerance”: “In the name of diversity, diversity is being abolished.”  But then, other words seemed to fit just as well: truth, unity, morality, liberty, freedom, religion, faith, family, humanity, or whatever else it is that we hold most dear.

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Thursday, August 06, 2020

06. August 2020 · Write a comment · Categories: Reflections

My Thoughts

“Stupid is as stupid does” is a rather ingenious metaphor for the cupidity of those guilty of the foolish sin of absurdity. No one should be so rash as to presume they are stupid—it is a metaphor, not a measure of intelligence—though their actions often prove the point with unerring precision.

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Wednesday, August 05, 2020

05. August 2020 · Write a comment · Categories: Reflections

My Thoughts

Before my eyes there is a handsome window; outside that window stands a tree. It is a nice enough tree as most trees are generally well-behaved in the manner much becoming their kith and kin. It reminds me of Alfred Joyce Kilmer’s rhyme, “Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree.” How true but now so long forgotten, except perhaps by foolish gods who would reject such verse as nonsense. Only God can make a tree; only God made you and me.

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Tuesday, August 04, 2020

04. August 2020 · Write a comment · Categories: Reflections

My Thoughts

C. S. Lewis, most familiar perhaps to the newer vintage for the Chronicles of Narnia, wrote often on theology and ethics. In 1949 he published an essay in 20th Century: An Australian Philosophy Quarterly, entitled “The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment,” in which he argued for what he called a more “traditional” retributive theory over one that is solely directed to the rehabilitation of criminals and/or the deterrence of potential criminals. As Lewis argued, whereas many have dismissed the concept of retribution as nothing more than a veil for vengeance and barbarism, it turns out upon analysis that it is the removal of retribution from our notion of criminal justice that truly has a dehumanizing effect.

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Monday, August 03, 2020

03. August 2020 · Write a comment · Categories: Reflections

My Thoughts

There is much hue and cry these days over speech and freedom. In the right hand are those who speak of their right to speak freely without license while in the left are those who have nothing to say but the uncommon sense to wag their chattering tongues incessantly.

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Friday, July 31, 2020

31. July 2020 · Write a comment · Categories: Reflections

My Thoughts

First up for a final Friday, my confession: I am neither a zoologist, biologist, epidemiologist, pathologist, virologist, physiologist, psychologist, psychiatrist, scientist nor much of any other expertologist, for the little what matters. In point of fact, neither have I ever pretended to be one on television, radio, or anti-social media. But I know a pretender—or a politician pretending—when I see one; I can spot one a gazillion miles away and I warrant most with an ounce of common sense have the same quick eye for professional affectation and humbuggery.

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Thursday, July 30, 2020

30. July 2020 · Write a comment · Categories: Reflections

My Thoughts

Received a parcel on Tuesday; a much-anticipated care package, a delightful gift from myself to myself. Unwrapping the box felt like Christmas morning even though I knew perfectly well what was inside. Nine books; it should have been ten, but one was a late arrival; each by the inestimable “Prince of Paradox”, G.K. Chesterton. I must confess to having previously read four of ten in digital format, a poor experience to my analog mind.

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Wednesday, July 29, 2020

29. July 2020 · Write a comment · Categories: Reflections

My Thoughts

The necessity to distill all of what ails the world to five-second or fewer than five word snippets in order to garner the inattention of a guttersnipe would appear to be an utter waste of breath, and yet, there is an app for that. Call them what you will, “social” media apps, profligate in baloney and balderdash, are clearly frequented by every guttersnipe and Bandersnatch with a bankrupt brain. It is difficult, if nigh impossible, and certainly not at all practical to attempt to elevate the common guttersnipe from the gutter, but, those of us who know one when we see one still are wont to try.

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Tuesday, July 28, 2020

28. July 2020 · Write a comment · Categories: Reflections

My Thoughts

Someone reminded me of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, a wonderful wonderland, indeed. The particular point of interest was Alice’s odd encounter with Humpty Dumpty and one portion of her conversation in particular. When Humpty Dumpty proclaims that he received his cravat as an un-birthday present, Alice asks “what is an un-birthday present?” “A present given when it isn’t your birthday, of course.”

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Monday, July 27, 2020

27. July 2020 · Write a comment · Categories: Reflections

My Thoughts

Rational argument, honest debate, logic and reason have gone extinct! As gone as the dinosaur, the dodo, and some sightless bug you never knew nor cared existed. Irrational rant, mockery, and insult appear to be the only games in town, enjoyed by the tidal swamp of moral morons and intellectual cowards safely barricaded behind their thumbs on Facebook, Twitter, and whatever else falls under the category of anti-social media.

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