It would seem that in our progress toward enlightenment, namely in securing the inherent rights of our populace and striving to prevent said rights from being infringed upon, we have cultivated a field in which ideas are both tended to maturity and harvested before they take root. Though we allow ourselves to think freely and explore new ideas while exploring new frontiers in science and reason, we still allow, because of inalienable rights, people to ruse up and stand in the way of our progression. Our freedom to explore and experiment is fostered by one side and poisoned by another, leading to a sort of waking death.
This miring of the vehicles of exploration in the bogs of prejudice and intolerance are of times brought about by those claiming to possess a moral authority and, even more destructively, by the rulers they may chance to persuade with their ancient dogmatic leashes. When even our leaders are made into sheep by the religiously and philosophically immature, to whom we have granted infatigable tolerance, the cogs of the scientific and philosophic machine receive no grease, no matter how loudly they may squeak, leading to the breakdown of the machina of enlightenment.
In a supposedly non-religious state we still allow these who wish to impose their beliefs upon others to do so because we fear to set the precedent of intolerance. Yet, at the same time, because of our inaction even worse injustices spring up and hinder our way to new and greater understanding. In a country of nearly boundless freedoms we fear their loss, and this fear is used by those who wish to become manipulators to do just that. Fear subordinates and subjugates our reason, making us into the perfect subservient lambs that are willing to be hounded by dogs so that the wolves may be kept at bay.
Until we conquer this fear, we shall be forever penned.
This miring of the vehicles of exploration in the bogs of prejudice and intolerance are of times brought about by those claiming to possess a moral authority and, even more destructively, by the rulers they may chance to persuade with their ancient dogmatic leashes. When even our leaders are made into sheep by the religiously and philosophically immature, to whom we have granted infatigable tolerance, the cogs of the scientific and philosophic machine receive no grease, no matter how loudly they may squeak, leading to the breakdown of the machina of enlightenment.
In a supposedly non-religious state we still allow these who wish to impose their beliefs upon others to do so because we fear to set the precedent of intolerance. Yet, at the same time, because of our inaction even worse injustices spring up and hinder our way to new and greater understanding. In a country of nearly boundless freedoms we fear their loss, and this fear is used by those who wish to become manipulators to do just that. Fear subordinates and subjugates our reason, making us into the perfect subservient lambs that are willing to be hounded by dogs so that the wolves may be kept at bay.
Until we conquer this fear, we shall be forever penned.
Do you have National Public Radio in your town? Garrison Keillor has, for many years, done sort of a storytelling program on NPR. It's very folksy, down home and very wholesome & mainstream. He's an elegant speaker, and in this latest he article really sums up how I feel about what's going on in our world right now.
It looks from your journal that you feel the same way. right on.