Steven P. Barrett"YOU'VE GOT TO KNOW WHEN TO HOLD 'EM, KNOW WHEN TO FOLD 'EM ..."
July 18th 2008 13:54
By Steven Barrett
It's not like I've been away, hunkered down, headed off on a retreat -- any of that stuff; though it's safe to say I'd much rather be walking along a beach up in Maine than writing this particular post.
The title to this post fits in very well with what I'm hoping to get across. Two of my posts have been deleted this morning due to their hyper controversial nature.
While it appears as if Catholics, Mormons, conservative Protestant Christians, Americans in general, even people with learning disabilities are fair game (one respondant wise guy suggested that people like myself with ADHD go to the gas chambers) -- God help any writer who has taken stands similar to mine about homosexuality, which though unpopular, were never in that ditch.
I'm conservative on this issue. Moral relativism has no appeal for me. That's me. Period. But I'm not hateful. If you doubt this, take a look at one of my final paragraphs in the post about the late Tony Snow, which I wrote a day or so after posting those two controversial posts about American Episcopal Bishops Katherine Schori and Gene Robinson earlier this week.
In addition to my piece about Snow, I also criticized the Canadian Human Rights Commission for its excessive zeal and heavy-handed Kafkesque proceedings, which unfortunately are giving people in my country some very strange notions about dealing with views they find objectionable. What I find particularly troubling and dismaying is that so many liberals, moral relativists (or plain outright moral anarchists) can be very reactionary when comes to making sure nobody touches upon their opinions as if they are sacrosanct, untouchable, etc.
This morning, hoping, (quite to my relief!) to find no more additional responses to the pieces I wrote about Schori and Robinson, I noticed a considerable high dudgeon and umbrage -- much of it very selective -- directed against Raven's use of that flashing "censored" icon.
Odd, he was only asking for people to clean up their acts and demonstrate more maturity. Was that too much? When I think of that kid who made the "gas chambers" wisecrack, not once, have I nor will I ever give consideration to putting him through the wringer of a HRC with powers matching some of the worst governmental bullies always out playing the role of the Inspector in Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. I'd rather see him read about the Holocaust, (though not from a denier.)
I'd "folded" two controversial posts instead of sacrificing the entire blog. Those posts weren't worth holding. Sure, one of them garnered many votes, but I wasn't looking for the votes. I was hoping to see if anybody would understand what I was trying to get at without thinking I was some kind of knuckledragging homophobic ogre. Admittedly, the way I started off that post and the temperament I betrayed didn't help my case. But I hope most readers understood that I was speaking about the difference between dealing on a daily basis with something that was given to them for which they have absolutely no decision-making say in the matter, save for whether or not to get or stay better by obtaining, and taking their meds consistently, not to mention therapy -- and those whose condition still allows them the freedom of whether or not to act upon the circumstances of those permanent conditions which they claim.
For the writers who disagreed in a thoughtful manner, thank you very much. For the others, well ... hope you can learn to swallow your pride some day.
What are two posts that now I regret writing because they distracted from better posts reflecting a wider range of issues? Pride? Ego? Stubbornness? That's all. I'm not interested in being the lightning rod or even seeing my name in print all the time. Having written for several newspapers, etc. I've already had my ego-fulfillment. The two posts are two big headaches I've decided to remove. They weren't worth the aggravation in the long run.
But, I'm not leaving. Disappointed. Of course. Bitter. Not at all. For a while I'll expect a boycott of sorts as I've gotten a hint from a couple of people -- but ultimately that'll rest on their consciences. The biggest loss would be if I, or others who share similar opinions -- or willing to share differing opinions in a civil manner -- completely fold all our cards and leave the table without staying to play our hands because others won't leave their guns behind the saloonkeep's bar.
Before his election to succeed Pope John Paul II, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger warned against a "dictatorship of moral relativism." He wasn't kidding. And dictatorships always come with censorships from the top down. Free people, however, can, and sometimes do, censor themselves and know when to hold and fold 'em.
It's not like I've been away, hunkered down, headed off on a retreat -- any of that stuff; though it's safe to say I'd much rather be walking along a beach up in Maine than writing this particular post.
The title to this post fits in very well with what I'm hoping to get across. Two of my posts have been deleted this morning due to their hyper controversial nature.
While it appears as if Catholics, Mormons, conservative Protestant Christians, Americans in general, even people with learning disabilities are fair game (one respondant wise guy suggested that people like myself with ADHD go to the gas chambers) -- God help any writer who has taken stands similar to mine about homosexuality, which though unpopular, were never in that ditch.
I'm conservative on this issue. Moral relativism has no appeal for me. That's me. Period. But I'm not hateful. If you doubt this, take a look at one of my final paragraphs in the post about the late Tony Snow, which I wrote a day or so after posting those two controversial posts about American Episcopal Bishops Katherine Schori and Gene Robinson earlier this week.
In addition to my piece about Snow, I also criticized the Canadian Human Rights Commission for its excessive zeal and heavy-handed Kafkesque proceedings, which unfortunately are giving people in my country some very strange notions about dealing with views they find objectionable. What I find particularly troubling and dismaying is that so many liberals, moral relativists (or plain outright moral anarchists) can be very reactionary when comes to making sure nobody touches upon their opinions as if they are sacrosanct, untouchable, etc.
This morning, hoping, (quite to my relief!) to find no more additional responses to the pieces I wrote about Schori and Robinson, I noticed a considerable high dudgeon and umbrage -- much of it very selective -- directed against Raven's use of that flashing "censored" icon.
I'd "folded" two controversial posts instead of sacrificing the entire blog. Those posts weren't worth holding. Sure, one of them garnered many votes, but I wasn't looking for the votes. I was hoping to see if anybody would understand what I was trying to get at without thinking I was some kind of knuckledragging homophobic ogre. Admittedly, the way I started off that post and the temperament I betrayed didn't help my case. But I hope most readers understood that I was speaking about the difference between dealing on a daily basis with something that was given to them for which they have absolutely no decision-making say in the matter, save for whether or not to get or stay better by obtaining, and taking their meds consistently, not to mention therapy -- and those whose condition still allows them the freedom of whether or not to act upon the circumstances of those permanent conditions which they claim.
For the writers who disagreed in a thoughtful manner, thank you very much. For the others, well ... hope you can learn to swallow your pride some day.
What are two posts that now I regret writing because they distracted from better posts reflecting a wider range of issues? Pride? Ego? Stubbornness? That's all. I'm not interested in being the lightning rod or even seeing my name in print all the time. Having written for several newspapers, etc. I've already had my ego-fulfillment. The two posts are two big headaches I've decided to remove. They weren't worth the aggravation in the long run.
But, I'm not leaving. Disappointed. Of course. Bitter. Not at all. For a while I'll expect a boycott of sorts as I've gotten a hint from a couple of people -- but ultimately that'll rest on their consciences. The biggest loss would be if I, or others who share similar opinions -- or willing to share differing opinions in a civil manner -- completely fold all our cards and leave the table without staying to play our hands because others won't leave their guns behind the saloonkeep's bar.
Before his election to succeed Pope John Paul II, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger warned against a "dictatorship of moral relativism." He wasn't kidding. And dictatorships always come with censorships from the top down. Free people, however, can, and sometimes do, censor themselves and know when to hold and fold 'em.
| 124 |
| Vote |
Comment by S.L.
The Political Brief
I'm so glad you didn't give up, Steven! I've seen some good people turned off blogging because of the reactions to what they have to say. Freedom of speech is supposed to apply to everyone!
Comment by tlcorbin
Coffee Quip
Hello Steve, the flashing icon isn't my creation, it is being used by alt_ed to try and make me uncomfortable. It's a waste of time and is in fact a violation of Orble rules, not to mention that he doesn't have permission to use my image. He is 21 years old and full of himself.
I haven't read your posts prior to this one, and it's my loss.
Whenever Orble's moral anarchists are unable to win a debate, they tend to estrange themselves from reality, go into a narcissistic rage and launch personal attacks.
Don't shut down a post to satisfy their capricious whims or to avoid fussing with them.
Raven
Comment by Anonymous
I didn't want to shut it down, not by a long shot. And I copied it -- just in case. I can always, always use some pieces of it to remind people of where "too far" is and when and where they've pushed the proverbial envelope. Rest assured, I didn't let it go at just pulling a few posts.
I hated like hell to pull the lady with the ten-gallon mitre off and her sidekick from that rockpile to the north of me. But in this day and age, and when people are joking about gassing people with disabilties, you just have to ask yourself if one or two posts are really worth that much aggravation when there are other things far more worthy of our time to write about.
There are some things we'll never be able to get across, no mater how elementary, how simple and no matter how eloquently we try to say it, the same honey that makes our morning donuts taste good also attracts bees, ants and flies. Don't worry for me. I've far from given up. Think of it like downshifting the first time you drove a stick shift, crruuunnccchh. Eventually you get the hang and before you and everbody knows what happened, you're purring happily along, leaving the rest of the hot rods stalling at the lights, or getting in accidents because they felt like the rules of the road weren't flexible enough for them so .... crash, boom and life happens.
Thank you EVER SO MUCH for your encouragement. It means so much.
Wow, I had no idea that Alt_ed was the one behind the censorship icon. See what happens when you don't get your coffee in before you get your rear behind a keyboard! He's in a class of his own, an avowed atheist and he's not going to budge an inch. Nor should we. I tried being as concilatory with him as I could, but the guy's sarcasm makes me look mild and I've rarely been accused of that.
Folks: What it comes down to is this: anything goes with some people and they'll do whatever they can to make sure it falls and stays down. It's all about deconstructionism. Post modernism, and the rest of the schmere. Homosexuality is only part of the picture.
If they read this, they'll know they didn't win anything big. Maybe they'll learn the little poker lesson I gave them in this post and how there's no shame in learning how to gracefully back off. As I see it, the burden's on the folks who trash us and our values.
At least some of them can learn how to criticize without slapping nuisance icons or in the case of that kid in Down Under calling for the gas chamber. If he was a Canadian, and they caught him writing that from home, he'd probably find himself facing a few winters up in Yellowknife. Brrrrrrrrrr.
I'm up, back and running. A little warier, but none the worse for the wear.
Besides, I've got something in the back of my head for some of my favorite folks, the Forgetfully Feminist Faithful. Stay tuned.
Again, thanks for your support and you've got mine!
Comment by tlcorbin
Coffee Quip
Comment by Anonymous
Man, I was DE-prived and had the shakes withough my fingers clicking ..
Hell, they needed some rest!
Again, thanks, and you've got a friend a few (thousand) miles to the east.
Comment by tlcorbin
Coffee Quip
Comment by Morgan Bell
Science News
Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
Artist Quirk
was your last post removed due to Orble admin reacting to a complaint, or did you remove it of your own accord?
i noticed you ammended it before it was removed which i thought was a nice act of acknowledgement and goodwill
what is the process when someone is made to remove an article?
Comment by Damo
Just read the article.
Certainly Alt_ed is a first class moron with the maturity to match. Obviously he does not have deal with the people in the real world. He cannot make a case so he attack the person in a cowardly manner that only demeans himself.
I think you may be onto something with the Dictatorship of Moral Relativism. You just happened to come into Orble at its biggest intellectual slump in its history.
Yet since I have been here when there were less than 400 bloggers I have seen it build to 5000 over a period 2 years. I have seen all the major power struggles that have gone on from time to from: Jingoists, egomaniacs, bigotry, Nazis and currently Hate Mongers
Thankfully you will find most people are not as mean and self deluded as the noisy few Hate Mongers who are high on the own warped political agenda.
I will also tell that I have had a lot of experience with political extremists and their tactics. From Entrism to Character Assassination; The Good Cop / Bad Cop routine where one person poses as an innocent as the other rips into you. Seen dozens of other tactics that they have not had time to learn and I refuse to use. Half these gooses lack the experience to know how ineffective their tactics are. For that they may always be ignorantly trapped to repeat the same mistakes.
So stick around Steven, you are not alone.
Damo
Truth Does Matter.
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
So gratifying to know I had you pegged from the start...
Comment by Damo
You must hate me terribly and to that end I love it.
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
Don't hate you. But I do enjoy laughing as your comments and posts get more desperate and more bereft of any of that intellectualism that you claim others are lacking.
Orble appears to have been taken over by progressives Damo. Too bad for you. Oh well, you could always skip Orble and just have a Bible study? Plenty of intellectual stimulation there I'm sure.
Comment by Damo
I love it.
I must really getting under your skin for you to follow behind me.
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
Comment by S.L.
The Political Brief
Buckle your seat belt, it's quite a ride!
Comment by Damo
No need as I have absolutely no interest in what you write.
In case you have not noticed, I do not visit your site, comment on your site, I do not even bother responding to your site, for one reason: you seek attention for bigotry and hate mongering and so I will starve you of that attention.
Now don't take my issue of a 'Persona Non Grata' personally as it was of great benefit to me. Without you around my site is performing much better. I guess that is what you call an irony.
So by all means ban me, I applaud your decision to ban me, I encourage you to ban me, I see your banning me as a a badge of honour.
Comment by Lilla
From The Home Front
Enviro Warrior
Dream Herald
Esoteric Bookshop
I've read a couple of your posts, and want to add to the chorus... what you have to say is quite interesting, poignant and informative... and whilst one persons opinion is only that ... it gets people thinking and in this day and age of "reality" TV, iPods and X-box mentality, fuelled by MuckDonalds?
That can only be considered a good thing...
Keep up the good work.
Lilla ...
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
Comment by S.L.
The Political Brief
Comment by Damo
Comment by alt_ed
Alted Opinion
ArtCombat
The Inner Saintdom
I'm sensing some hostility in the air... Can't we just kiss and make up? xox
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
Just as long as we're making irrelevant statements...