Skip to main content

Secret Admirer's club

I've been memed again. This once was started by James Bow, and the tag that got me was from Greg at Sinister Thoughts. The way this works is that I name three people with whom I disagree a lot, and then I find something to admire about them. As I understand it, I'm not limited to other bloggers on my three disagreeables. I am planning to use bloggers, however, because the truth is that I have very little to say about, for example, the leaders of any Canadian party other than the CPC. Now, that hardly means I think Steven Harper and the CPC are the best thing that ever was - although I do like Harper, even with some some admitted faults. I don't have grand, overarching aims for my government. I'm a steady as she goes, kind of guy, and that I think is best represented by the CPC and by no one else, if I'm being honest. I don't try to achieve my personal ragnarok through Federalism. The Liberals, as much as I utterly loathe their current leader and this current administration, would be second. All political parties are Janus-faced and if a CPC party were as awful and long in the tooth as the Liberals today, I would look to them to lead because they are capable of doing this - to some degree, anyway, when they're not drunk on power and lead by a grasping fool. Oops. I'm supposed to be nice here. Thankfully, it's (much) easier to say nice things about real people. I might as well start with the man who tagged me. Now, I don't know Greg at all well. And in a debate about how something should be achieved, we have a tough time agreeing on much. He always conducts himself with class, however, and with composure about nine times out of ten - a record that is probably better than my own. Interestingly, we are both Catholic. I'm going through a long process of conversion that is very nearly over, and Greg went to a Catholic school and has never formally left the faith. We both seem to have a longing for a perfect justice, a kind of tender longing verging on brokenheartedness that I don't often sense in others. Where I'm a more traditional Catholic who sees the world as a hospital for sinners, Greg is not one to let history or the wisdom of many override his passion to see that the present is not overlooked. He's an interesting sparring partner because he's able to stay focused on the topic at hand without getting into personal attacks. In someone as passionate as he appears to be, this is a excellent quality and much to his credit. My only real wish for change here is that he consider becoming better informed about economics, in order to spare wasted effort on topics in which good studies and models have been done to show that the unintended consequences of a proposal very often outweigh the good that is being sought through intervention. So, for Greg I recommend Economics in One Lesson, by Henry Hazlitt. It's a quick read, and worthwhile. I pick on Andrew too much and on Pete not enough. Peter is Andrew's brother; a little younger, a little more left (maybe even more than a little). He's a regular reader and commenter here, which has me scratching my head from time to time. What's the attraction to this "so con" book blog? I don't really know but if I had to guess it would be that he's a good student and very curious, enough so that he's willing to check out a blog like this, rather than take for granted that someone like me is crazy and / or an incarnation of evil. He's a wonderful contrast to a commenter on Ben's blog who called me a "wiccan Nazi" for trying to articulate traditional Catholic teaching on the subject of abortion. That's hysterically funny, but a bit sad too. It reveals a mind that might be pretty tightly shut to hearing anything unfamiliar. Such wide reading in a young man is likely to pay off in wisdom and moderation, especially if combined with experiences of the same sort of variety (dare I say calibre?). The dawn does look promising. For Peter, I'll recommend Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis. My last pick is Peter (not to be confused with Pete). Peter is from the Fraser Valley, just like yours truly. At the moment he's a philosophy student in Waterloo, Ontario, which is a long, long way from here. Peter is thoughtful and interesting in his writing, tackling subjects that I would otherwise be less likely to read. That said, Peter's starting points are a bit hard for me to understand at times - he's a left leaning Christian, which is a position I have difficulty putting together mentally. That may very well be a shortcoming on my part. I don't think Canadian Christians are bound to vote a certain party; I do have trouble reconciling the faith with where most of the parties are today. I find Peter's choice, the socialist NDP, far too quick to claim the right to coerce those who disagree with it. I look forward to seeing what Peter has to say on these subjects in the future, and I respect that I might pick up something useful from his blog. Peter, like Pete and Greg, brings a cool head and an interesting perspective to the debate when he chooses to join in. For Peter, I'll recommend C.S. Lewis' analysis of left trends in education - The Abolition of Man. The victims I'll tag for this meme are all three of the above, and to make five I'll add The Tiger in Exile and Pete's brother at Bound by Gravity.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Reuters joins CNN on the bench

Makes room for CanWest to join the majors Kudos to CanWest for calling a terrorist a terrorist . Many, including The Last Amazon , will be happy to hear it. Reuters is among the worst of the major western news services, where I would also place the BBC and the CBC. Unsurprisingly, Reuters is not happy about the changes CanWest made to Reuters wire stories: Our editorial policy is that we don't use emotive words when labeling someone," said David A. Schlesinger, Reuters' global managing editor. "Any paper can change copy and do whatever they want. But if a paper wants to change our copy that way, we would be more comfortable if they remove the byline." Mr. Schlesinger said he was concerned that changes like those made at CanWest could lead to "confusion" about what Reuters is reporting and possibly endanger its reporters in volatile areas or situations. "My goal is to protect

Where credit is due

A good'un from Sawyer Brown . Thank God for You Well I've been called a self-made man Girl don't you believe it's true I know exactly how lucky I am When I'm gettin' this close to you It's high time I'm giving some praise To those that got me where I am today Chorus I got to thank momma for the cookin' Daddy for the whuppin' The devil for the trouble that I get into I got to give credit where credit is due I thank the bank for the money Thank God for you A strong heart and a willing hand That's the secret to my success A good woman - I try to be a good man A good job - Lord I know I've been blessed I'm just a part of a greater plan It doesn't matter which part I am Chorus I got to thank momma for the teachin' Daddy for the preachin' The devil for the trouble that I get into I got to give credit where credit is due I thank the bank for the money Thank God for you

A very limited form of inquiry

Real Clear Politics is carrying commentary on James Q. Wilson's WSJ article on ID (got that?). Wilson, the respected social scientist, gets it mostly right when he says that ID is not science because it can't be tested: So ID is not science. Does this mean that science, in any way, implies the non-existence of God? No. Does this mean that belief in God is irrational and that we should all be "free thinkers"? No. Does this mean that it is impossible to arbitrate between various theories of the existence/non-existence of God and come to some reasonable conclusions? No. Does this mean that we cannot say that humanity is meant to exist? No. In other words, rationality outside of science is quite possible, and has been around for a long time. How do you think humanity invented science in the first place? We surely did not do it scientifically. Science as we know it is the product of millennia of philosophical debate -- from Aristotle to Lakatos. Science depends upon phi