Lessons from Jonah and the Whale for our time. Jonah’s story can be seen to highlight the danger in which even a responsible and ostensibly good person can find himself.
I like your reading of Jonah very much. On the political reflections, I am open to listening but probably the wrong audience for it. I see this knot of problems from a different vantage point, and am becoming wary of invoking 'woke' as I fear it taking on a role much like 'unvaccinated' or, shall we say, 'Samaritan'. The wedge issues serve the powerful far too well in dividing us...
My political philosophy has always come from a position of 'liberals cannot construct a legitimate politics if it does not include conservative perspectives' and vice versa. Alas, I find the term 'centrist' doesn't mean much when the centre is precisely what is missing, so what do I call myself? And does it matter...? The old framework that gave left and right its meaning is breaking down, along with the political mythology that used to provide a common foundation.
This is why Stranger Worlds is a project based upon principles, but even this can only be a tentative step for we do not know where we are going yet. I hope to find out. If I am not afraid to go to Nineveh, I do fear what might follow if we somehow manage to tear it down without agreeing upon the foundations of what is to be built afterwards.
Thanks for enduring my random reflections. 🙂 I look forward to part two.
What you say here (and, I presume, in the second part yet to come) dove-tails very nicely with the philosophy of mass formation so well and clearly explained by Mattias Desmet in The Psychology of Totalitarianism. Desmet explains the underlying motivations and structure behind "cancellation," intolerance for opposing opinions, the ignoring of facts and the shouting down of people who bring them up, and the whole "loving of Big Brother." (Apologies to George Orwell.) The Psychology of Totalitarianism is a must-read for anyone who listens to (and accepts) your admonition to take action.
Hey Caroline,
I like your reading of Jonah very much. On the political reflections, I am open to listening but probably the wrong audience for it. I see this knot of problems from a different vantage point, and am becoming wary of invoking 'woke' as I fear it taking on a role much like 'unvaccinated' or, shall we say, 'Samaritan'. The wedge issues serve the powerful far too well in dividing us...
My political philosophy has always come from a position of 'liberals cannot construct a legitimate politics if it does not include conservative perspectives' and vice versa. Alas, I find the term 'centrist' doesn't mean much when the centre is precisely what is missing, so what do I call myself? And does it matter...? The old framework that gave left and right its meaning is breaking down, along with the political mythology that used to provide a common foundation.
This is why Stranger Worlds is a project based upon principles, but even this can only be a tentative step for we do not know where we are going yet. I hope to find out. If I am not afraid to go to Nineveh, I do fear what might follow if we somehow manage to tear it down without agreeing upon the foundations of what is to be built afterwards.
Thanks for enduring my random reflections. 🙂 I look forward to part two.
With unlimited love,
Chris.
What you say here (and, I presume, in the second part yet to come) dove-tails very nicely with the philosophy of mass formation so well and clearly explained by Mattias Desmet in The Psychology of Totalitarianism. Desmet explains the underlying motivations and structure behind "cancellation," intolerance for opposing opinions, the ignoring of facts and the shouting down of people who bring them up, and the whole "loving of Big Brother." (Apologies to George Orwell.) The Psychology of Totalitarianism is a must-read for anyone who listens to (and accepts) your admonition to take action.