Saturday, November 06, 2004
The liberal elite hasn't got a clue- Wolfe, Part II
The Guardian Unlimited Article
When I started writing about this article I had no idea how much it would bear on the election. But as I stated earlier, the article points to some ironic twists. It would seem that the span of Wolfe's career as an author mirrors our cultural experience here in the U. S.; from the "Electric Kool Aid Acid Test" to his current thesis that liberals don't understand the religious nature of the majority of Americans, it seems we get that George Carlin joke about going from messed up on drugs to being messed up on the Lord.
Now, don't get me wrong, I have a great love of traditional gospel music. I don't have anything against religion; well, maybe the organized part. Anything more organized than a choir, that's the part that always seems to get into all the trouble. It kinda seems to go against the personal nature of one's relationship with the sublime. Organizing religion also seems to have the unfortunate effect of giving a place for sermonists and demagogues to work their ugly magic. Let's take a quote from the article to use as an example.
That's Wolfe talking about the liberal elite. But what struck me about the passage was that all you have to do is tack on the Palestinian issue on the end of it and it is pure Saudi Wahabbe fundamentalist. And I don't think that's the fire we need to fight the other fire.
I was getting ready to digress there for a second but I'll fight the urge. The point here is that any individual's moral and spiritual life is more dependent on personal action than anything that anyone else does. Dominion is usually the concern of the demagogues and not the members of the flock.
Back to the article. To make it short, the article appears to have editing problems. There are unresolved conflicts between statements that Wolfe makes during the course of the interview. The writer, Vulliamy, seems to overreach in his attempt to add topical currency. I also get the sense that Wolfe was very aware of the Guardian's politics. Wolfe is a bit of a whore here, but he is still a hero. My advice; follow the link to the article and read it(it's not that long). But keep what I've said here in mind.
I'll be posting more on this "values" issue. And one last thing. There appears to be three whole religions in this world that have yet to learn that the road to Jerusalem has never been traveled well by an army.
¶ 11/06/2004 09:17:00 PM
The Guardian Unlimited Article
When I started writing about this article I had no idea how much it would bear on the election. But as I stated earlier, the article points to some ironic twists. It would seem that the span of Wolfe's career as an author mirrors our cultural experience here in the U. S.; from the "Electric Kool Aid Acid Test" to his current thesis that liberals don't understand the religious nature of the majority of Americans, it seems we get that George Carlin joke about going from messed up on drugs to being messed up on the Lord.
Now, don't get me wrong, I have a great love of traditional gospel music. I don't have anything against religion; well, maybe the organized part. Anything more organized than a choir, that's the part that always seems to get into all the trouble. It kinda seems to go against the personal nature of one's relationship with the sublime. Organizing religion also seems to have the unfortunate effect of giving a place for sermonists and demagogues to work their ugly magic. Let's take a quote from the article to use as an example.
"...is about not wanting to be led by... pretensions. It is about not wanting to be led by people who are forever trying to force their twisted sense of morality onto us, which is a non-morality. That is constantly done, and there is real resentment."
That's Wolfe talking about the liberal elite. But what struck me about the passage was that all you have to do is tack on the Palestinian issue on the end of it and it is pure Saudi Wahabbe fundamentalist. And I don't think that's the fire we need to fight the other fire.
I was getting ready to digress there for a second but I'll fight the urge. The point here is that any individual's moral and spiritual life is more dependent on personal action than anything that anyone else does. Dominion is usually the concern of the demagogues and not the members of the flock.
Back to the article. To make it short, the article appears to have editing problems. There are unresolved conflicts between statements that Wolfe makes during the course of the interview. The writer, Vulliamy, seems to overreach in his attempt to add topical currency. I also get the sense that Wolfe was very aware of the Guardian's politics. Wolfe is a bit of a whore here, but he is still a hero. My advice; follow the link to the article and read it(it's not that long). But keep what I've said here in mind.
I'll be posting more on this "values" issue. And one last thing. There appears to be three whole religions in this world that have yet to learn that the road to Jerusalem has never been traveled well by an army.
¶ 11/06/2004 09:17:00 PM
