[MD] Hippies in Sodom and Gomorrah

[Platt Holden]

Quoting "Arlo J. Bensinger" <ajb102 at psu.edu>:

> [Arlo]
> This is simply redefinition to exclude meaning. If EVERTHING is ever 
> and always subservient to ideology, then you completely miss the
> point. But that's typical of those who wish to justify their position 
> by attempting to lower everything to them.
> 
> Ideology is the willful transference of agency to authority.

I don't know who is lowering what to whom, but perhaps part of the 
problem of our seeing eye to eye on many issues is a matter of word 
meanings. Ideology as defined by Merriam-Webster is "a systematic body 
of concepts especially about human life or culture." That's the meaning 
I had in mind when I said everyone has an ideology. As with value 
judgments, you can't get out of bed in the morning without having a set 
of hardened beliefs about how the world works. So you see, my meaning 
of the word "ideology" and yours differs widely. 

> The problem, as I  have always said, is in the creation of ONE
> external representant for ALL  belief. You demonstrate this quite
> well, as a matter of fact, in your absolute  adherence to party 
> ideology. On every issue, on every conceivable stance, on  every idea 
> and problem, the "conservative authority" ALWAYS defines what is
> "right".

You baffle me. Who or what is the ONE external representant (is that a 
word?) for all I believe? Who or what is the "conservative authority" 
that I check with in order to to know what to say? If you say "Rush 
Limbaugh" I will say yours is "Al Franken" and we'll get nowhere. But 
if you say a body of conservative thought going back to Adam Smith, 
then perhaps we can have a worthwhile conversation. 

This attempt on your part to demonize conservatives may work among your 
liberal friends in academe. But for a great many people, many just as 
intelligent as you consider yourself to be, the conservative view has 
much to offer, particularly the view that the values of free speech, 
freedom of religion, trial by jury and other intellectual "rights" 
guaranteed by our Constitution are worth defending from exterior 
threats by fighting for them. As a famous conservative once said, 
"Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice."  Or as one we both 
admire said, ". . . limit and destroy biological patterns with complete 
moral ruthlessness before those biological patterns destroy 
civilization itself."

Platt