Sunday, August 10, 2008

Why we fight

"We, by the Grace of Progress, the Referees of Democracy, the Linespersons of Constitutional Rights, the Arbitrators of the Limits of Free Speech, the Omnipotent State, Greetings: Know by this Present that Chief Human Rights Commissioner Jennifer Lynch, Q.C., being able to Smell Odium from Two Miles Upwind, has been Admitted to the Order of Big Nurses and is Qualified and Authorized to Draw A Line for Writers, Dead or Alive, Including but Without Being Limited to, Homer, Aristophanes, Mark Steyn, Stephen Leacock, Alexander Solzhenityn …

"Sorry. Got carried away there. Attribute it to age and experience.

"Mr. Bristow writes: “The CHRC is experiencing growing pains — the world is changing, and the commission has to change with it. Growth isn’t always easy. Sometimes it’s messy. But to cut the CHRC off at the knees as it goes through the growth process would be a grave mistake.”

"Permit me to disagree. As an alumnus of interrupted or unfinished revolutions, I suggest the mistake isn’t cutting off institutions such as the CHRC at the knees, but letting them stand. Cut them off, I say, preferably with a submachine gun, followed by a stake through the heart."

**************

A repeat:

"I suggest the mistake isn’t cutting off institutions such as the CHRC at the knees, but letting them stand."

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The HRC's would probably be best suited if relegated to the corners of housing and job related "ism" problems.

Hate crimes are still investigated by the police, in any event.

And when it comes to hate speech, the free market and free response will deal with that. And if not? That's why we have friends, to beat up the punk who called us a racist or sexist name. That is, if we are not thick-skinned enough to handle such things as words ourselves.

And speaking of thick skin, thank you very much for sticking up for me over at Red Tory.

His ah..."arguments" actually brought back some memories for me...from my older "debating" days on a United Church of Canada forum.

Same techniques :)

Eowyn said...

Very glad to cover your six anytime, Walker :)

Red Tory's commenters run the gamut of mildly to rabidly socialist. He himself goes off on rants -- but if you read him closely, he does make valid points many times. That's why I like visiting the site. But now that they know I'm conservative, my comments always put a target on my back, no matter how banal ;)

Still, I think it's important for conservatives to engage liberals (left-wing) and not talk to each other all the time in an echo chamber. Hard to find those who try to civilly engage you back, though.

Anonymous said...

Yes, that's the problem.


Sometimes it seems like it's not simply differing ideologies, but entirely different worldviews.

It makes it difficult to have a conversation when there's no middle ground, you know?

Eowyn said...

Indeed, yes.

But important, nonetheless. And here, I'm guessing, your debating skills come into their own.

Debating used to be an art. One of my sisters participated in a club devoted to it (as well as "forensics") -- nothing more than rhetoric, and the defense of ideas.

Think we see that anymore, nowadays? *Cynical sigh*