Even though faith is above reason, there can never be any real disagreement between faith and reason, since it is the same God who reveals the mysteries and infuses faith, and who has endowed the human mind with the light of reason.
God cannot deny himself, nor can truth ever be in opposition to truth. The appearance of this kind of specious contradiction is chiefly due to the fact that either the dogmas of faith are not understood and explained in accordance with the mind of the Church, or unsound views are mistaken for the conclusions of reason. Therefore we define that every assertion contrary to the truth of enlightened faith is totally false.
Not only can faith and reason never be at odds with one another but they mutually support each other, for on the one hand right reason established the foundations of the faith and, illuminated by its light, develops the science of divine things; on the other hand, faith delivers reason from errors and protects it and furnishes it with knowledge of many kinds.
--from the Catechism of the Catholic Church (Session III, Chapter IV, Canons 5, 6, and 10)
Friday, August 24, 2007
Monday, August 13, 2007
Fear the Post-Apocalyptic Dystopian Cyberpunk Future
Okay, here's my beef. Hillary Clinton was recently talking about how she's been standing up to "big business" (as she rides a yacht to the Hamptons, I'm sure) and it got me thinking about the strong emotional knee-jerk response you get from typical liberals when you invoke the scary satanic enchantment of the "corporation". What is it about the idea of a company that illicits such strong irrational responses?
I suppose first we have to discover who Hillary was really aiming that to. Part of me wants to write it off as a power grab to the WTO-protesting, hemp-wearing, laughably inconsequential radical wing of her party. Such a play by her is expected but pointless in the long run because it a) appeals to a segment that'll probably be too baked or can't afford gas to actually vote and thankfully b) represents a statistically insignificant portion of her party (American anti-capitalists are retarded for reasons I won't fully go into now but I'm sure nearly everyone understands). So who was she talking to? The main fund raisers for her campaign? Certainly not, because I'm sure that laundry list contains quite a few industry bigwigs. It must be to the working-class democrats, those who are most likely to feel victimized by the Great White Satan of the West, also know colloquially this side of the Euphrates as "The Man".
So who is The Man, and why do so many working-class democrats hate Him? I've often wondered if people who subscribe to this ideology really believe that Steve Jobs is out to oppress them and rape them for their money and labor. Do people really believe there's so Illuminati type organization keeping you from moving out from that studio apartment? Looks a little ego-centric to imply that anyone even cares. Sadly however, The Man is much more complex than this. Like Holden's red hunting-hat The Man is literary symbolism at it's best. To many, The Man and corporations and the UN and whatever authority figure they can dream up really represent the angry feelings they have about themselves; their own disappointment with their life manifests itself as this overshadowing entity from which all trouble comes from.
Corporations aren't evil. Some do bad things, but the entire way of life all of us enjoy is integrally interwoven with capitalism in all it's myriad faces.
I suppose first we have to discover who Hillary was really aiming that to. Part of me wants to write it off as a power grab to the WTO-protesting, hemp-wearing, laughably inconsequential radical wing of her party. Such a play by her is expected but pointless in the long run because it a) appeals to a segment that'll probably be too baked or can't afford gas to actually vote and thankfully b) represents a statistically insignificant portion of her party (American anti-capitalists are retarded for reasons I won't fully go into now but I'm sure nearly everyone understands). So who was she talking to? The main fund raisers for her campaign? Certainly not, because I'm sure that laundry list contains quite a few industry bigwigs. It must be to the working-class democrats, those who are most likely to feel victimized by the Great White Satan of the West, also know colloquially this side of the Euphrates as "The Man".
So who is The Man, and why do so many working-class democrats hate Him? I've often wondered if people who subscribe to this ideology really believe that Steve Jobs is out to oppress them and rape them for their money and labor. Do people really believe there's so Illuminati type organization keeping you from moving out from that studio apartment? Looks a little ego-centric to imply that anyone even cares. Sadly however, The Man is much more complex than this. Like Holden's red hunting-hat The Man is literary symbolism at it's best. To many, The Man and corporations and the UN and whatever authority figure they can dream up really represent the angry feelings they have about themselves; their own disappointment with their life manifests itself as this overshadowing entity from which all trouble comes from.
Corporations aren't evil. Some do bad things, but the entire way of life all of us enjoy is integrally interwoven with capitalism in all it's myriad faces.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)