Gene Expression: Pharisees of this age?

Word of warning: I do not buy into the "Peak Oil" scenarios.

That being said...many do, especially on the environmental-Left. A friend of mine forwarded me this link to an experience of a man who was talking to a U of Wisconsin audience about the topic of "Peak Oil." He used the word "bitch slap," for which he was reproved by an audience member. I myself wouldn't use the word "bitch slap," and I do think that sometimes one person's "PC" can be another person's "politeness" and "courtesy."¹ That being said...a lot of people are very scared and paranoid about the "Peak Oil" issue, and I really think that points of politeness should be modulated in proportion to the gravity of the substance that is being presented.

The above I simply present to suggest that the much of the modern Left, especially the elite upper-middle-class Left, the Left that really matters², seems to be muddling their message with extreme preoccupations with presentation, usually in the service of "sensitivity" toward an enormous number of groups. The constellation of sensitivities seems to to ballooning upward with every year, and it is spreading into the general culture as "People of Faith" and "NASCAR dads" have also started to present their brief-of-offense.³

I will end with a quote from the Bible:

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.

Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous....

Matthew 23:25-29, King James Version

1 - That being said, many on the Left and the Right feel free to vilify the Other Side in the most crude and bestial of terms, while also proclaiming their right to be "offended" when the Other Side engages in rhetorical excess.

2 - The Left that can live with free trade and even welfare reform, but will expend all possible political capital to block any erosion of abortion rights.

3 - This to me is the main difference between the manners of old and the sensitivites of this age, the latter shift and morph constantly, presenting a moving target which only poseurs and activists can capture and channel like elemental social magic.

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May 09, 2005 Pharisees of this age? Word of warning: I do not buy into the "Peak Oil" scenarios. That being said...many do, especially on the environmental-Left. A friend of mine forwarded me this link to an experience of a man who was talking to a U of Wisconsin audience about the topic of "Peak Oil." He used the word "bitch slap," for which he was reproved by an audience member. I myself wouldn't use the word "bitch slap," and I do think that sometimes one person's "PC" can be another person's "politeness" and "courtesy."¹ That being said...a lot of people are very scared and paranoid about the "Peak Oil" issue, and I really think that points of politeness should be modulated in proportion to the gravity of the substance that is being presented. The above I simply present to suggest that the much of the modern Left, especially the elite upper-middle-class Left, the Left that really matters², seems to be muddling their message with extreme preoccupations with presentation, usually in the service of "sensitivity" toward an enormous number of groups. The constellation of sensitivities seems to to ballooning upward with every year, and it is spreading into the general culture as "People of Faith" and "NASCAR dads" have also started to present their brief-of-offense.³ I will end with a quote from the Bible: Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous.... Matthew 23:25-29, King James Version 1 - That being said, many on the Left and the Right feel free to vilify the Other Side in the most crude and bestial of terms, while also proclaiming their right to be "offended" when the Other Side engages in rhetorical excess. 2 - The Left that can live with free trade and even welfare reform, but will expend all possible political capital to block any erosion of abortion rights. 3 - This to me is the main difference between the manners of old and the sensitivites of this age, the latter shift and morph constantly, presenting a moving target which only poseurs and activists can capture and channel like elemental social magic. Posted by razib at 09:31 AM	Razib also blogs at..... Recent Entries New URL! What's wrong among the elites? Why Iran Must Not Be Invaded Culture Contact/Conflict Second front: Rise of the GNGO:s New index page.... Blogger/w.bloggar question Interesting choice of words No more posting for a bit.... Killing democracy softly Search this site: Simple reading View all entries Who is linking to us?