I actually dread this entry. When I looked back on the list of issues that I wanted to address the one that I had next to write about was ethics on issues such a stem cell research and cloning. I successfully rationalized my way out of that one based on lack of competence to even have an opinion. The next issue on the list was Role of Government. I have tried to rationalize my way out of this one as well.
For one thing, I knew that whatever I wrote would appear to be a political endorsement. I am not political. In fact, I don’t think my conscious is going to allow me to vote anymore. And I am definitely not particularly patriotic. Albert Einstein said, “Nationalism is an infantile disease. The measles of mankind.” I agree. Now I love living in America, but in the same way that I love living in Lubbock. It’s great (I guess). I am grateful for the opportunities and freedoms that I have, but there are plenty of other places that would be fine too. And regarding the foundation of America, I think the Constitution is an impressive document built on many noble values and accomplished through a rare feat of solidarity and compromise, but it was also constructed with an attitude of entitlement and ego-centrism.
I also rationalized that the scope of this issue is simply too big. To condense my thoughts into one argument would surely place me within an ideological camp and that is the exact opposite goal that I would have. Each sub-issue (poverty, gun control, health care, censorship, welfare, homelessness, national security, terrorism, immigration, gay marriage, separation of church and state) is nuanced and deserves its own reflection. The current ideological polarities are not new and have been one of the greatest motivations in democracy. Educated and enlightened people from both sides team up with the ignorant and unsophisticated from the particular ideology to push for a shared agenda. What emerges is often the best reflection of the true America. But with current technologies, expanding lobby interests, and the commercialization of ideology, the result is toxic.
From there I rationalized that I simply don’t want to open the door to further arguments. People are not interested in discourse and self discovery. So why would I want to be yet another match in the dry grassy fields of ideology?
And finally, I rationalized that while this blog is not a theology or philosophy blog alone, it is a blog to work through related issues, my views here are guided by my spiritual reality- one that is a strange blend of evangelicalism and atheism. I can only explain my views so much before you have to know who I am to understand my perspective. So while I believe that poverty, health care, welfare, and homelessness are the moral (and for that matter, constitutional) responsibility of the people, that I don’t care how one can justify their need for owning a gun- guns promote violence, that censorship is ultimately a discussion that weighs the rights of the individual with the protection of the whole, that national security is not a good argument for expanding democracy, that we can have safe AND open borders, that the argument against gay marriage is just dumb, and that the best thing for the church is to have a separation of church and state, I simply can’t defend these views in one independent document so I’m not going to.
Well, it looks like I got out of explaining my view on the Role of Government. I just had to spend the whole blog explaining why I wanted out of it.
For one thing, I knew that whatever I wrote would appear to be a political endorsement. I am not political. In fact, I don’t think my conscious is going to allow me to vote anymore. And I am definitely not particularly patriotic. Albert Einstein said, “Nationalism is an infantile disease. The measles of mankind.” I agree. Now I love living in America, but in the same way that I love living in Lubbock. It’s great (I guess). I am grateful for the opportunities and freedoms that I have, but there are plenty of other places that would be fine too. And regarding the foundation of America, I think the Constitution is an impressive document built on many noble values and accomplished through a rare feat of solidarity and compromise, but it was also constructed with an attitude of entitlement and ego-centrism.
I also rationalized that the scope of this issue is simply too big. To condense my thoughts into one argument would surely place me within an ideological camp and that is the exact opposite goal that I would have. Each sub-issue (poverty, gun control, health care, censorship, welfare, homelessness, national security, terrorism, immigration, gay marriage, separation of church and state) is nuanced and deserves its own reflection. The current ideological polarities are not new and have been one of the greatest motivations in democracy. Educated and enlightened people from both sides team up with the ignorant and unsophisticated from the particular ideology to push for a shared agenda. What emerges is often the best reflection of the true America. But with current technologies, expanding lobby interests, and the commercialization of ideology, the result is toxic.
From there I rationalized that I simply don’t want to open the door to further arguments. People are not interested in discourse and self discovery. So why would I want to be yet another match in the dry grassy fields of ideology?
And finally, I rationalized that while this blog is not a theology or philosophy blog alone, it is a blog to work through related issues, my views here are guided by my spiritual reality- one that is a strange blend of evangelicalism and atheism. I can only explain my views so much before you have to know who I am to understand my perspective. So while I believe that poverty, health care, welfare, and homelessness are the moral (and for that matter, constitutional) responsibility of the people, that I don’t care how one can justify their need for owning a gun- guns promote violence, that censorship is ultimately a discussion that weighs the rights of the individual with the protection of the whole, that national security is not a good argument for expanding democracy, that we can have safe AND open borders, that the argument against gay marriage is just dumb, and that the best thing for the church is to have a separation of church and state, I simply can’t defend these views in one independent document so I’m not going to.
Well, it looks like I got out of explaining my view on the Role of Government. I just had to spend the whole blog explaining why I wanted out of it.
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