Posted by Atticus on September 3, 2004, at 13:54:36
In reply to Re: Being Compassionate » Atticus, posted by AuntieMel on September 3, 2004, at 9:23:49
Not to be melodramatic, but allow me a moment to be melodramatic. ;)
Here some examples of the "rules is rules" concept.
White-skinned human beings were once allowed to own black-skinned human beings in this country. Rules were rules. And the bloodiest war in this nation's history was required to get rid of a bad rule.
Women once were not allowed to vote in this country. Rules were rules. It took a concerted suffragette movement years to change a bad rule.
And now we have the rules of the Patriot Act. How will history judge those?
To my way of thinking, all rules should be subject to relentless scrutiny, constant questioning, as should the people who make those rules. Critical thinking and evaluation should be applied to every decision, to every rule. Because those rules are created by human beings, and all human beings are fallible. All human beings make mistakes. Rules are simply the status quo, as I see it. And sometimes the status quo could be improved upon, as I think the above examples demonstrate.
I don't believe that all my rhetoric is ever going to change a thing around Psycho-Babble world. So for my own mental health -- which was, I seem to recall, why I began posting to PB in the first place -- I'm bowing out of all future discussions like this. I feel they're futile. I'm just gonna go write my poems, and if anyone wants to stop by Writing and chat, that's fine. Atticus
poster:Atticus
thread:385696
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20040902/msgs/386059.html