Reading and sustaining

Justin T. Sampson justin at krasama.com
Wed Jul 8 12:05:10 PDT 2009


On Fri, Jul 3, 2009 at 2:34 PM, Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net> wrote:

> Michael -- I love you! You miserable old iconoclast (MOI). You are
> miserable
> because you make me laugh, Old -- because you and I are almost of an age.
> And an iconoclast because you are a blood brother. The circle of MOI's is
> actually a large one, but the membership is strictly controlled, and access
> granted only to those with the proper thought forms and secret handshakes.
> And since all thought forms are suspect, this is a great difficulty for The
> Circle. How on earth do you determine somebody to be a heretic when
> everybody is?? But our tribe increases!


Reminds me of another good book... Heretics, by G.K. Chesterton.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Sw0XAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA11

Quoting:

"Nothing more strangely indicates an enormous and silent evil of modern
society than the extraordinary use which is made nowadays of the word
'orthodox.' In former days the heretic was proud of not being a heretic. It
was the kingdoms of the world and the police and the judges who were
heretics. He was orthodox. He had no pride in having rebelled against them;
they had rebelled against him. The armies with their cruel security, the
kings with their cold faces, the decorous processes of State, the reasonable
processes of law -- all these like sheep had gone astray. The man was proud
of being orthodox, was proud of being right. If he stood alone in a howling
wilderness he was more than a man; he was a church. He was the centre of the
universe; it was round him that the stars swung. All the tortures torn out
of forgotten hells could not make him admit that he was heretical. But a few
modern phrases have made him boast of it. He says, with a conscious laugh,
'I suppose I am very heretical,' and looks round for applause. The word
'heresy' not only means no longer being wrong; it practically means being
clear-headed and courageous. The word 'orthodoxy' not only no longer means
being right; it practically means being wrong. All this can mean one thing,
and one thing only. It means that people care less for whether they are
philosophically right. For obviously a man ought to confess himself crazy
before he confesses himself heretical. The Bohemian, with a red tie, ought
to pique himself on his orthodoxy. The dynamiter, laying a bomb, ought to
feel that, whatever else he is, at least he is orthodox."

Cheers,
Justin

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