-
HermesT commented on the diary post Unable to Get Simeone Fired, NPR Drops “World of Opera” by David Swanson.
I just got off the line with the NPR ombudsman, who said that the show would be continuing, with Ms. S. as part of it. Was he misinformed, incorrect or have they changed their minds? Maybe they were just being disingenuous, as I didn’t specifically ask ‘did you cancel this show’, but rather ‘is it [...]
-
HermesT commented on the blog post Rick Perry Dismisses Evolution as a “Theory That’s Out There,” Falsely Claims Creationism is Taught in Texas
Leaving Perry out of this for a minute, and accepting your key point that he’s a dangerous man who will stop at little to harm us all, I need to offer a correction:
it’s about as accurate as saying that atheism, Wiccan and astrology are taught in Texas.
Thing is, Wicca (a Wiccan is a person who practices Wicca) is a religion, astrology a way of relating the stars to behaviour, and atheism a sort-of-religion. And Wicca is a religion that fosters the kind of respect for the Earth, personal liberties and shared social responsibility that FDL is all about.
The quote sounds like you were trying to lump together things that are plainly nutty or beyond the pale. I’d like you to leave Wicca out of that … you’ll find that a number of our readers are Wiccan, myself included. And it’s not my mission in life to convince you that we’re not crazy, just to convince you that we’re not fair game for random comments like the one above, no doubt an accident.
Yes, we’re prickly about that. We have good historical reason.
Letting that go for now, astrology and creationism are actually peers, meaning-wise. Both are ways of looking at the world that do not come from the scientific method. And you’re absolutely right in pointing out that this means that neither has any place in science education, and probably not in a public funded school.
Nor does Wicca or Atheism (which, based on personal experience, does approach religious fervor). Although both have every place in the philosophy or history of religion, in the unlikely event that either are taught in public schools.
As to the real substance — I agree with you completely about Perry, am lamenting that Dominionists like him actually pose a credible stick in the hands of the Democrats who think we’ll accept limitless betrayal if only the alternative is worse, and think we need to be very careful about underestimating him. He’s playing to the crowd, not to the rational mind.
-
HermesT commented on the blog post Sunday Late Night: What Fierce Advocacy Looks Like
Perhaps you are correct. It may be that Obama’s assigned function in the overall scheme of things was to deflect popular anger over the Bush years and undermine the social compact, as only a Democrat could. Then move over and let the real wrecking crew in as the people sour in reaction or stay home in droves.
We’re likely to face a choice between being boiled slow and fast. Not very nice.
I’m reminded of the choices of a mugging or carjack victim. On the street you have a few choices, but not very good ones. So you go along and get in the car. In the car you have even less choices, but at least you’re still alive. So you sit still. Once they’ve got you in the lonely room, you pretty much have no choices at all except for your attitude. You’d have been better off taking your chances on the street.
So we have quite a challenge while we still have a few degrees of action. We need to think of something creative that shifts the country for the better, within the constraints of a very flawed electoral system and two parties captive to the ultra-rich. Good thing we’re creative.
