[Vision2020] Hope For Healing Pooh, Winnie The

[Douglas]

Visionaries,

Finally! Someone understands! Of course, it is my son who understands, one 
who knows my quirks, like believing in right and wrong, not in mostly right 
and kinda wrong, but nevertheless I am encouraged to persevere.

Cordially,

Douglas Wilson



At 10:58 PM 8/19/2003 -0700, you wrote:
>    In my years on this mortal coil, there is only one person whom I have 
> known to have the patience of Job. It's a handy trait in any walk of 
> life, but is especially helpful for such a locally loved pastor. For the 
> last year or so, or however long its been that my father has been 
> sticking his oar in this particular puddle of vision, I have continued to 
> be amazed, once again, at my father's patience. It's not as if he profits 
> from any of this, but for some reason he continues his interaction, 
> covering the same philosophical ground repeatedly, and somehow still 
> enjoying you all, and the interaction. I grow impatient much more 
> quickly, am surprised at the continual fog that passes for secular 
> orthodoxy, and leave despairing. He expects the fog, and does not 
> despair. He laughs and answers the same questions over again, only to 
> have his answers once again dismissed with such deadly repartees as 
> "Logic? I think not." or equivalent responses. Folks that he somehow 
> still finds amusing, and manages to enjoy, then poo-poo him because 
> that's what they're supposed to do. I wonder to myself "Are any of these 
> people thinking?" (Note to Mr. Courtney: Could you provide a graph with 
> projected cognitive ability among visionaries? Is there a correlation 
> with government education? A pie chart would be nice.) and yet he is patient.
>    I don't think anyone has taken more abuse in this little arena than my 
> father, and I don't think anyone could be less affected by it. And so we 
> come to the latest lap in the same old race: Philosophical foundations of 
> morality, specifically in regard to homosexuals. I happen to watch, 
> again, as my father wrote in a basic question about moral epistemology, 
> only using much smaller words, and received the same old responses that 
> pass for interaction is these circles. And I can't help it, I have to 
> try. "Maybe this time they will see it," I tell myself. My Eeyore heart 
> says otherwise, but I will try regardless. I will speak louder and 
> slower, like an American in Paris, in the hopes that something, be it 
> ever so small, might sink in. Of course I run a great risk attempting 
> this. I might be told that it is hot outside, and mommy doesn't have time 
> for me. That's always a dangerous rebuttal. Others will chose other ways 
> to attempt to dismiss me. They might try to pat me on my wee head, 
> compare me to a dog, and ask if I have other tricks. That one's used a 
> lot in Philosophy of Religion departments around the country, originally 
> credited to Plantinga of course. These are all dangers that I am willing 
> to risk, and I need to learn patience. This, simple, well ennunciated 
> foreign language explanation is about personal betterment, striving after 
> patience, etc. Not that it will help.
>
>    My father is against murder. Also racism, rape, torture, unlawful 
> wars, etc. The funny thing is. . . he knows why he's against them. He has 
> faith in an ultimate and absolute Goodness. To simplify: these things are 
> bad because God made the world, He is good, and He hates these things. 
> They are against His nature, contrary to His will, and thus, these things 
> will sicken any faithful Christian. Now anyone can feel free to get all 
> excited here, scoot to the front of their desk chair and twiddle their 
> fingers in the air in the hopes of asking a sticky question about the 
> Problem of Evil (PoE). Despite the fact that the discussion would be 
> awfully interesting and highly intelligent, that's not what this is 
> about. The point is this: When my father says something is evil, it means 
> more than personal dislike. The Christian believes that the murder of a 
> Wyoming homosexual is wicked, not as a matter of his own likes or 
> dislikes. It is wicked because an authoritative, all-good, Creator God 
> hates it. How primitive. Rape is bad because God said so. "Who's He think 
> He is?" you ask. Well, God. He did make the place.
>
>    But before those of you who want to giggle snicker too much, let's 
> move on to the relativist (secular orthodoxy) paradigm. This, if I say so 
> myself, is one dumb worldview. There can be no absolutes in this world. 
> Absolutes are against the rules. All of them. Absolutely all absolutes 
> are fallacious. But I digress already. People who are moral relativists 
> are in a bind. Murdering homosexuals is bad. Killing your English 
> teacher, shooting classmates, etc. These are all off limits. But here's 
> the kicker. . . why? Is it because anyone in authority said so? Or is 
> your morality based on nothing more than what you personally are 
> comfortable with? Ah, society has spoken has it? You want to go with Kant 
> and the old greatest good for the greatest number bit? That's the ethics 
> of gang rape, and all the picking on minorities that filled our 
> yesteryears. If you can't say why a thing is wrong, then you have no 
> right to say anything more than "I don't personally like it," and the 
> rapist can say "Who the hell are you?" Epistemological foundations are 
> necessary. As depressing as that might be.
>
>    Well, I'm off to paint the baseboards before my next my second 
> offshoot gets borned (due 9-11). No doubt the next forty-five minutes of 
> labor will reap greater fruit than the last. But remember, it was all 
> about me, and personal betterment. Perhaps now I'm a little more patient, 
> a little more like Pooh. Cheers.
>
>NDW
>
>P.S. And please accept my apologies for my Nieuwsma length.
>
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