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December 23, 2006
The Australian outdoes itself in its hatred that borders on the pathological. In its Xmas editorial it gestures to friendship amongst the Australian people but the text is primarily concerned to deny friendship. The editorial starts thus:
Christ's birth, with its universal promise of redemption, also planted the seeds of enlightened values and their universal promise. Here we refer to the power of reason tempered by the ultimate dignity of the individual, as well as a scepticism in its thoughtful form that smartly seeks out knowledge and questions received dogma, rather than its debased post-modern version that either substitutes a cynical universal disbelief for genuine thought or, worse, imposes a moral arrogance that shuts down debate.
Well, I'm a postmodernist. And I reckon this is wrong:
Geoff Pryor
That ethical judgement closes down the debate with moral arrogance. I'm then condemned because I'm a '68er and an environmentalist. The former impulse, which aims 'to remake the world in the name of secular religions into new arenas', results in the following:
Both science and traditional religion became the enemies as New Age religions promised all the answers. Pharmaceutical companies are derided as exploiters rather than life-savers. Much of the environmental movement survives on the back of a human impulse that sees the apocalypse as always just around the corner. Here "sustainability", as it is called, has become a post-modern form of grace and the mantra by which all projects are judged. ....For the end results of all these movements is darkness, not for an hour, but eternity.The common thread to all of these post-modern beliefs is their low horizons, constrained worldview and consistent lack of confidence in humanity's ability to use science and reason to better our condition.
Well, that gets rid of the ecological enlightenment or the 1968 impulse to expand and deepen democracy beyond its stunted liberal form.
The Australian editorial ends by wishing 'our fellow Australians a merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous 2007'. Well, that can't mean me, can it? According to them I'm unAustralian and an enemy. Just like David Hicks.
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I take back what I said on JFC about the pink and the pics in this format....It all blends together very nicely. A good job. Looks great!