Comments on: Intolerance for the Intolerable

By: John T. Kennedy

John T. Kennedy — Fri, 30 Jul 2004 18:07:00 +0000

“Yet people have no intellectual or moral right to think or express whatever they like.”

They do have a moral right to do so, which is merely saying it would be wrong to force them to do otherwise.

By: John Sabotta

John Sabotta — Fri, 30 Jul 2004 18:00:00 +0000

Boy, Wilkerson, although you are publicly slavering for the day when you can harass people on buses because of their reading material (and what business is it of yours, exactly?) I wonder how often you actually do it? Does the possibilty of someone (quite rightly) punching you in the face in response to your impertinence deter you? It should, you little twit.

Note to Gene Callahan: You are an idiot and you have no idea what Gnosticism is. Feel free to come over to no-treason.com so we can kick you around like a deflated basketball with a Gene Callahan face painted on it. Oh, yeah, and say hi to all your neo-fascist little Confederate-sucking pals over at Lew Rockwell for me.

PS. Kennedy says to say that I am not part of his “posse,” whatever that is. He seems appalled by my post.

By: John Sabotta

John Sabotta — Fri, 30 Jul 2004 17:49:00 +0000

PS. Kennedy says to say that I am not part of his “posse,” whatever that is. He seems appalled by my post.

By: Gene Calllahan

Gene Calllahan — Wed, 28 Jul 2004 17:53:00 +0000

Whoa, Chuck, one of these Gnostics just attacked a Mideastern country that had never attacked the US, killing thousands in the process. And he said he had “asked God” about this, and so felt fine about it. (A Gnostic characteristic, to have a direct pipeline to God and use it to justify whatever one does.)

By: Gene Calllahan

Gene Calllahan — Wed, 28 Jul 2004 17:50:00 +0000

As pointed out by Eric Voegelin, movements like the “left behinders” are Christian in name only. They are reallly Gnostic movements using the name Christian as a cover.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Wed, 21 Jul 2004 15:38:00 +0000

Point conceded.

By: Will Wilkinson

Will Wilkinson — Wed, 21 Jul 2004 12:36:00 +0000

Abortion clinic bombings?

By: Chuck

Chuck — Wed, 21 Jul 2004 10:18:00 +0000

As far as I can determine, the Left Behind series is bad literature and worse theology. Now it appears that it’s also a veritable orgy of sadistic violence done in the name of the messiah; e.g., it’s blasphemous. It seems to subvert Jesus’s central message of transcendent, universal love in favor of an Apocolyptic slasher flick.

All in all, the books sound shlocky, boring, and repellent.

But am I wrong to want to distinguish between speech-as-ideas and speech-as-action? Look, show me one–just one–example of terroristic violence on the part of an Evangelical and I will yell loudly in protest. But, as far as I can tell, this has not been a Christian tactic. Not the Pentecostals, Evangelicals, Southern Baptists, or even Branch Davidians have made it their m.o. to go out and attack in the name of JC. No, in recent times, violence in the name of religion (on this continent and in Europe and the Middle East) has been almost solely the province of another religion that I will decline to mention at this time.

By: Luka Yovetich

Luka Yovetich — Mon, 19 Jul 2004 13:05:00 +0000

Rob,

That’s right. I just thought of that today. I turned on KABC and realized that Elder’s on that one. I got confused for a second.

I guess that means that KRLA is worse than I was saying!

That’s cool that you met him.

By: Julian Sanchez

Julian Sanchez — Mon, 19 Jul 2004 12:20:00 +0000

The political/moral distinction seems pretty clean cut: You have a political right to say racist things, in that the government may not shut you up just becaue you’re publishing nasty things about minority groups, say. But it’s venal and immoral to do so.

By: Rob

Rob — Sun, 18 Jul 2004 17:41:00 +0000

Actually, Elder is on KABC AM790 out here. Met him at the John Stossel book-signing event hosted by Reason last January; he’s a terrific guy.

By: Luka Yovetich

Luka Yovetich — Sun, 18 Jul 2004 16:45:00 +0000

Rob,

KRLA does have Larry Elder on. That’s makes up for some of the other stuff. But not TOO much of it. Elder isn’t THAT good. But he’s okay.

By: Rob

Rob — Sun, 18 Jul 2004 02:48:00 +0000

_My_ understanding of the political is that it’s synonymous with the moral.

By: Rob

Rob — Sun, 18 Jul 2004 02:47:00 +0000

But just a quibble — do people really “have a political right to express anything they want”? I’m not sure how you mean “political” here. Do you mean in some abstract sense that people have this right? But then this seems to slide right in with the “intellectual/moral” right you speak of. Ain’t sayin’ you’re wrong; I’m just confused here. By understanding of “the political” is that it’s synonymous with “the moral.”

By: Rob

Rob — Sun, 18 Jul 2004 02:40:00 +0000

Will, of course — I agree with you. I didn’t mean to imply you were lumping all Christians together in that regard.

Excellent post all around.