Mourning in America
This is re: mourning-by-cause, which I believe is a neutral proposition, but can be shameful in practice.
Sheehan is either a pathetic figure or a contemptible opportunist. She is either a grieving mother who has lost all perspective, or she is a despicable activist who is exploiting the death of her son to further her own narcissistic rage against the machine. I do not have enough data to claim one or the other.
But those who use her I do understand. They are the dangerous ones. They are the Destructors.
Sheehan is either a pathetic figure or a contemptible opportunist. She is either a grieving mother who has lost all perspective, or she is a despicable activist who is exploiting the death of her son to further her own narcissistic rage against the machine. I do not have enough data to claim one or the other.
But those who use her I do understand. They are the dangerous ones. They are the Destructors.
posted by John Aristides at 1:27 PM
5 Comments:
As long as she can blame someone else, she doesn't have to deal with her own guilt. "It's Bush's fault. It's not my fault for letting my son go to be killed." That is the starting point.
She then keeps hearing from her "friends", who "agree" with her. It is like the SLA, where they each reinforced each other's insanities. It is the danger of listening only to those you agree with.
The truth be told, we need to hear from those who we disagree with. They are the ones most likely to tell us what we don't know we don't know.
That seems the danger from the left and islam, so sure they are right, they are blind to the truth.
(the more certain i am of the truth, the harder it is for me to see it)
I will admit Christians are not without sin in this. I got blasted by a cousin for telling her the universe was more than 10,000 years old. Often the wisest course is when you get rocks thrown at you from both sides, also the most painful.
Both the Left and the Right have ideological ramparts, I've noticed. If one resides outside of the city, one is by definition an enemy. Bombs are lobbed from safety, and thoughful replies break against the impenetrable walls of belief.
Nowadays bombs are loosened for morale; hitting target is secondary.
Aristides,
The destructors, after the looting in NO, also seems appropriate to that setting. You should post that link to what is happening in NO.
It reminds me of Stephen King's Dark Tower books. The battle between the forces of light & dark. Have you read any of them?
Actually, I started reading The Gunslinger in a bookstore about two weeks ago, and after twenty minutes had to buy the book. So far I have not had time to read much further, but I have heard nothing but good things about the series.
It gets even better. It is King's best. The only problem was 20 years of waiting. All you have to do is read it. Only about 4,000 pages.
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