C is an open letter [unlike A and O]

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I want to make one thing perfectly clear, because my patience is exhausted. Specifically by an interminable interchange with one amongst us who [all too typically of PPR] is unable to move past media-induced stereotypes.

My opinions [sorry people were upset when I reported how I get them] come a la carte. I do not pick the Liberal Lunch or the Republican Repast or the Communist Collation and order the whole meal. Any position I have is selected on its individual merits.

If I approve of THIS statement from Bush and disapprove of THAT action by Clinton, I am not a Republican.

If I approve of THIS action by Carter and disapprove of THAT statement from Ron Paul, I am not thereby a Democrat.

If I reject Dispensationalism and believe the Real Presence I am not thereby a Catholic

If I see no obstacle to female preachers and am dubious about the Immaculate Conception I am not thereby an Evangelical.

If I see merit in ordered rule phonology, that does not make me a Transformationalist.

If I see value in Homeopathy, that does not mean I will not get a checkup at the clinic.

If I believe in God, that does not mean I am out to destroy science.

I have been called a homosexual and a homosexual hater.

I have been lumped with the evil Tea Partiers and with the evil Commies.

I have been called a pedant snob and an unprofessional who fraternizes with students.

Those of you who have bothered to read what I say, query what did not make sense, and whether you agree or not see what I am sayhing my stance is, I thank youm, I value you, this is not to you.

The rest of you - whether too blind or too bigoted to think I know not - will not have read this far anyway.

I sometimes have that problem, too.

Oh C can you say topic

You c'd it, Phil.

Hear, hear!

I am getting increasingly frustrated by regular posters who continue to, "play the man and not the ball," and who indulge in an endless litany of point scoring.

(And so nice to see another sartresue observation! )

Any absence of the voices of reason from these flinty beaches strewn with ragged corpses diminishes me, enveloped as I am in the stinging tentacles of the Lion's Mane. I appreciate Holmes though Doyle can lose his way.

Forgive the imagery.

It amounts to yes, good to hear from you.

First, I don't get the title of this post. Why are you talking about C, A, and O, and what do you mean by open letter in this context?

Also, I find it somewhat surprising that people would think all of those things. I admit that, in absence of all other information, those might be reasonable inferences (some of them) they would only be guesses and would be changed when presented with actual data about your views and habits. I take it for granted that people's views will not exactly match an ideology or political party (probably because I am acutely aware of that in myself).

I admit that upon reading your first post (or the first post I remember of yours--it was about discrimination of theists in academia) I grouped you in with the far-right. However, your subsequent posts made it clear that that was not the case. Just as people might immediately think that I'm a bleeding heart Marxist from my posts (to an extent I am a bleeding heart I suppose) when actually I tend to reject Marxism in favour of my own brand of socialism and I am extremely cynical.

O, I C U topic

The letter "U" is also open ended. Martin Buber might have titled his work I and U,. too much emphasis on the I and then you cannot C the U. O!! !

The thread-head - you will have to forgive. To my father's disgust, I am rather addicted to puns, a by product of my focus on words and languages.

I was starting a thread addressed to the generality -
which leads to the concept "open letter", a communication designed to be read by all and sundry.

Then the language / pun drive kicks in: Out of the alphabet, which letters are "open"? U, V, lower cazse n - I opted for C which is simpl;e and open in both upper and lower case forms. Then the pedant in me says, a contrasy will help to define it, find examples of CLOSED alphabetic symbols.

The whole title is more teaser than communication, more communicative of personality than content.

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I too think it is surprising they come up with that. I myself am a skeptic inching not jumping toward conclusions, and as a taxonomist I am a moderate splitter, I do not automatically divide people Liberal / Conservative, savant / fool, saint / devil.

But a to me incredible number of people are like teaching assistants set to grade an exam in a popular course. Skim the ansswer, spot the KEY WORD, assign the points. If I say I think Obama is a prima donna and a prig who is out of hid depth - which I do aver - then I must be a racist and a Tea Partier - which I am not - and a Christian [which I am] and by that token an insane and /or functionally illiterate Luddite and what is miscalled "homophobe". None of which I am.

It is too hard for many people to assemble data and draw conclusions. That is why the media have been so successful.

Drawing conclusions topic

Phil, why are you concerned about what others think? Just be yourself, state your opinions, and that is it.

This is what i do, though i have refrained from taking on the Religios here. If religious belief is what they want/need, then so be it. Not my cup of tea, as I find such beliefs limiting and strangling my thoughts. I am not interested in persuading others to adopt my views. If others would like to adopt them, then this is their choice. I think there is room in the world for different ideas, though for me religion is on the edge, and very narrow.

AS far as I know, I have never been anti-Gay, racist, antisemitic, sexist, and the other nasties that float around. And the ones who harbour such nasties would never admit to being as such anyway. I cannot persuade others NOT to be nasty. But if they are, such hatred will catch up to them. If you do not like Barack, Benjamin Netanyahu, Hillary, or Rick Mercer as individuals, so be it. But to despise the groups they belong to (women, African Americans, LGBT, Jews, Israelis, Democrats, etc) is to misunderstand how the world works, and will not change wrongdoings, but cuts off ways to address real change. Ideas espoused by Tea Partiers are self-limiting and by design exclude minority groups and individuals.

I suppose I have my own biases: I despise religion and the nasties I mentioned in the preceding paragraph, but for humanistic reasons: religion imposes limits, as does irrational hatred.

Yes; why do I care?

Honi soit qui mal y pense, let the galled jade wince, publish and be verdoemd, stick and stones [though why give them ideas?]

Well - I get a lot of enrichment and inspiration and a good bit of humbling from the Desert Fathers. There is the story of Abba Agathon:

"It was said concerning Abba Agathon that some monks came to find him having heard tell of his great discernment. Wanting to see if he would lose his temper they said to him 'Aren't you that Agathon who is said to be a fornicator and a proud man?' He answered 'Yes, it is very true,'. They resumed, 'Arn't you that Agothon who is always talking nonsense?' He said: "I am". Again they said 'Aren't you Agothon the heretic?' But at that he replied 'I am not a heretic.' So they asked him, 'Tell us why you accepted everything we cast you, but repudiated this last insult.' He replied 'The first accusations I take to myself for that is good for my soul. But heresy is separation from God. Now I have no with to be separated from God.' At this saying they were astonished at his discernment and returned, edified."

Call me a pedant, I grin. Call me annoying, I'm fine. Prove to me you know something I OUGHT to know but don't, I will learn from you. Tell me I type poorly and use unusual version from English, you got it.

But: there is Abba Moses, the ex-brigand who partied with the angels. A St Francis type in a lot of ways. A story on him:

"A brother at Scetis committed a fault. [by the way, that was very likely a homosexual act] A council was called to which Abba Moses was invited, but he refused to go to it. Then the priest sent someone to say to him, ‘Come, for everyone is waiting’ for you.’ So he got up and went. He took a leaking jug, filled it with water and carried it with him. The others came out to meet him and said to him, ‘What is this, Father?’ The old man said to them, ‘My sins run out behind me, and I do not see them, and today I am coming to judge the errors of another.’ When they heard that they said no more to the brother but forgave him."

When I am called - by whatever group - a judgmental bigot [and some have tried it on] it is like calling Agathon a heretic. I was not raised that way. The three top sins for an academic [which I am] are, as I see them: sexual shenanigans with a student; bias and injustice; falsifying research. In that order.