David Bircumshaw
Leicester, England
A Chide's Alphabet
www.chidesplay.8m.com
Painting Without Numbers
www.paintstuff.20m.com/default.htm
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.bircumshaw/default.htm
----- Original Message -----
From: "Christina Milletti" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, October 05, 2001 11:02 PM
Subject: Fear of Thinking (article--link)
>
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> THE GLOBE AND MAIL, Friday, October 5, 2001 ? Page A17 COMMENT
>
> The fear of thinking
>
> By RICK SALUTIN
>
> If truth is the first casualty in war, I guess we can now say humour is
the
> second. Poor Bill Maher of Politically Incorrect continues to be pilloried
> in the U.S., from the White House down, for bravely raising questions on
> what cowardice and bravery are. Jay Leno, David Letterman and Saturday
Night
> Live agonize over how hard it is to be funny in times like these, and do
> they dare? Up here, Rick Mercer withdrew his Gemini nomination for his
> hilarious interviews with Americans -- at exactly the time when pointing
out
> general ignorance in the U.S. about the rest of the world would be a
public
> service. On the upside, Frank magazine has not shirked its duty to deal
with
> the grim realities, nor has the American humour mag The Onion ("Hugging up
> 76,000%"; "U.S urges bin Laden to form nation it can attack").
>
> Many of us tend to associate funny with smart and, on that basis, I
nominate
> as the third casualty thought itself, especially when it's sharp and
> critical. Listen to this call not to think from the National Post: "If we
> are to be a reliable partner . . . our ruling caste must disabuse itself
of
> the fallacy that to be a good Canadian, one must be skeptical or even
> hostile to America." Must not be skeptical -- when thinking about a
crucial
> national issue? Yet I'd say it's a widespread sentiment, judging by reader
> mail. Beyond the usual thoughtful disagreements, I'm hearing a new note
that
> says not You're dead wrong, but How dare you even raise these questions?
>
> It's as if a set of official propositions has been laid down: We are good.
> They are evil. It's a war. Only one side can survive. No other factors or
> analysis apply. Those who don't accept these propositions are fools or
> worse. Anyone skeptical about these articles of faith, better watch it.
I'm
> not saying the mood is universal -- happily it isn't -- but it's out
there.
>
> I asked a friend from a Catholic background why this mood has taken hold.
> She said it's obviously a religious response of a primitive or
> fundamentalist type. People who feel panic, fear or terror often seize on
> simple beliefs and cling to them. Beliefs are potent, yet they are
> precarious -- precisely because they are often held either without or
> despite any evidence. Those who hold them don't want to hear questions or
> doubts, because it will shake that tenuous security. This doesn't just
> happen with religion, nor is this the only form religion takes; rather,
it's
> about the role played by simplistic beliefs at harsh moments.
>
> Thought is the enemy of other forms of simplistic belief, too, such as
> racial or cultural generalizations. So it's not surprising that the latter
> tend to re-emerge in times like these. Robert Fulford wrote that "Muslims
> show a greater propensity for war than any of the other disputatious
> civilizations now competing." A propensity for war? Among 1.3 billion
> different people? Margaret Wente said, "Anti-Semitism is so entrenched
> throughout the Muslim world that no peace settlement will ever quench it."
> Ever? Aside from the past 50 years, the record of the Muslim world on Jews
> is probably far better than the Christian one. A National Post editorial
> found it "hard to get worked up about the occasional slur" at Muslims and
> "something offensive about the tear-drenched press releases issued by
North
> American Muslim organizations." Presumably, it's less hard if your daily
> routines, such as driving your cab or going shopping, have become easier
to
> abandon than to carry through.
>
> Thought is also the enemy of radical terror, like suicide bombings. Think
> about the five-page letter apparently found among hijacker Mohammed Atta's
> belongings, a dual checklist of practical measures ("check out your
weapon")
> and ways to ward off doubt ("remember: it is a raid for the sake of
Allah").
> Shakespeare dealt a lot with this function of thought. Macbeth and Hamlet
> have disabling doubts not before they decide to act violently but between
> then and the deed. T. S. Eliot wrote, "Between the idea/ And the reality/
> Between the motion/ And the act/ Falls the Shadow."
>
> Recently, journalist Andrea Curtiss spoke sadly about what she sees as the
> best -case scenario for the fix we're in. That's when the Bush government,
> despite mirroring the rhetoric of their foe (Good versus Evil etc.) acts
> coolly, as they're doing, and avoids the descent into devastation (massive
> retaliation followed by more terror followed by . . .). But the price we
pay
> is vast restriction of our freedoms and suppression of debate, in the name
> of the war against terror. The critique of globalization gets cut off, for
> instance, and so do Bill Maher's wry cracks. Neither has anything to do
with
> terror, but it's almost impossible for those in power to resist the chance
> to stifle protest and advance their agenda.
>
> It's the Cold War all over again, when "anti-communism" was used to shut
> down almost all opposition, at home and abroad. What can we do except:
Keep
> thinking, keep doubting, grit your teeth and laugh right through them.
>
>
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