tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-221547022510742794.post1190040043080288232..comments2023-06-24T01:15:34.627-07:00Comments on The Skeptic Zone: im-skepticalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08267710618719895303noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-221547022510742794.post-74495031686112563852015-10-24T11:39:02.415-07:002015-10-24T11:39:02.415-07:00Edgestow,
What we have here is an article by Bret...Edgestow,<br /><br />What we have here is an article by Bret Stephens, an American ultra-right-wing pundit who works for Rupert Murdoch, bemoaning the influx of outsiders in Europe, much the same as he bemoans the outsiders in this country, who he thinks are spoiling the party for the good guys. And of course, the good guys are his fellow white right-wing Christians, both in America and in Europe. They also complain that America is falling apart, for exactly the same reasons. But that's a matter of opinion.<br /><br />I'm not sure exactly how you make the logical bridge from the influx of foreigners to a loss of freedom and equality. It is obvious that conservatives are dismayed to see demographic change, because they feel that they are losing their dominion, where they were always the ones on the top, the ones with all the wealth and power. For them, freedom and equality is not something that should apply to those outsiders. It is strictly for their benefit alone. And as such, it is nothing more than a platitude.<br /><br />If Stephens cares anything about freedom and equality, he should be happy to see more people getting the opportunity to participate in a better political and economic system. His attitude reveals his Christian dominionism, not the "liberalism and the Enlightenment" that inspired the founding of the USA.im-skepticalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08267710618719895303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-221547022510742794.post-4562694211231491982015-10-24T09:38:54.480-07:002015-10-24T09:38:54.480-07:00How liberty and equality disappear
Pay particular...<a href="http://www.wsj.com/article_email/in-defense-of-christendom-1445296794-lMyQjAxMTA1OTIwMDAyODAwWj" rel="nofollow">How liberty and equality disappear</a><br /><br />Pay particular attention to this paragraph: <br /><br />"Europe is dying because it has become morally incompetent. It isn’t that Europe stands for nothing. It’s that it stands for shallow things, shallowly. Europeans believe in human rights, tolerance, openness, peace, progress, the environment, pleasure. These beliefs are all very nice, but they are also secondary. <b>What Europeans no longer believe in are the things from which their beliefs spring: Judaism and Christianity</b>; liberalism and the Enlightenment; martial pride and capability; capitalism and wealth. Still less do they believe in fighting or sacrificing or paying or even arguing for these things. Having ignored and undermined their own foundations, they wonder why their house is coming apart." (my emphasis)<br /><br />Also this:<br /><br />"[It] is the marriage of reason and revelation that produced a civilization of technological mastery tempered by human decency."Edgestowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08118257768979705393noreply@blogger.com