[MD] Hippies in Sodom and Gomorrah

[Rebecca Temmer]

Hey Kids,

I just had a thought about something.  Perhaps these partisan alignments
have a little bit to do with peoples' inability to say "I don't know"... or
"I'm not sure".  The ideological spectrum gives you a 'camp' to play in -
you need not do any research or thinking of your own (there are a lot of
issues and we're busy people after all) just find out what your party seems
to believe, broadly, and voilà: instant convictions.  Because of the speed
of our information and communications technology, there are a lot of issues
that one has to be morally righteous about these days.  Where do you stand
on abortion?  There's a biggie.  What about the Zapatista rebels in Southern
Mexico; sweatshops in central China; coral reef bleaching in the
Carribean?    Do you think "what would my ideological camp say about this?"
or do you say "huh, I really have no idea."  It seems to get even more
complicated when you mix a political framework with a religious one - you're
not sure which way is up.  What exactly does the Bible say about child
labour?  Does the Koran forbid female genital mutilation?

I guess what I'm trying to say is that things are always more complicated
than ideology tries to make them.  MC Escher's marching men is a fantastic
metaphor for ideology - a two dimensional view of a multi-dimensional
world... something just doesn't translate properly.  Is the Good absolute or
relational?  In my world Good never stands alone - whatever has the most
Truth and the most Beauty is the highest Good.  I guess Quality is like a
synthesis of these things - that's why it's a bit hard to get your head
around.

Peace,
Rebecca