[MD] a-theism and atheism

[ARLO J BENSINGER JR]

[DMB]
Am I being too harsh or are you being too nice?

[Arlo]
The fault is on my end, for sure. I get quite frustrated with the petty
carnival mirror tricks, and the endless distortions and hostility, and that was
my entire point, that 95% of this is noise. Noise wasted trying to "prove"
Pirsig "meant" this or that, the incessant need for interpretative legitimacy. 

[DMB]
Mark isn't the only poster who seems to be confused about the difference
between social level authority and intellectual authority.

[Arlo]
And I think the hostility you face, and the relentless distortions, are part
and parcel of the need to have everything everyone says be equally legitimate.
In the end, of course, our ideas stand on their merit, as it should be, and
every voice has an equally legitimate opportunity to make its ideas known and
understood.

As I've said, however, this continues to befuddle many, and like Bo they remain
trapped in the rhetorical morass of trying to prove why their ideas ARE
Pirsig's rather than why their ideas are BETTER than Pirsig's.

The hypocrisy of this, as I'm sure you see, is that the same people who demand
on one hand that all "interpretations" are equally valid, and see "authority"
as undermining this, on the other hand seek nothing more than to legitimize
their views via claiming alignment with Pirsig's authority. A real
anti-authoritarian would have no problem standing up and saying "Pirsig is
wrong, I am right, and here is why". Honestly, most days its like a bunch of
kids with daddy issues (and I think this explains the visible envy generated
when daddy says something praising someone else).

I mean, when the narrative starts to become "Pirsig is a weak interpreter of
Pirsig", we've really hit rock bottom. When Pirsig is consider a poor authority
on his own ideas, we've got nowhere to go. Its all carnival mirrors and
hostility and distortions.  I mean, how DARE I even suggest that Ron DiSanto
and Tom Steele have done more to enrich Pirsig's ideas that someone posting
youtube links on the forum! Shame on me!