Re: elegy
Monday, November 230, 2009
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REFLECTIONS OF A CYNIC
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To commemorate the massacre of 70,000 Protestants in 1572, Pope Gregory XIII had a medal struck. So much for religious tolerance, Christian charity, and Papal infallibility.
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When two men speak badly of each other, I am tempted to believe both . When they praise each other, I smell a conspiracy.
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Armenian anti-Semites say the Young Turks were Semites. Speaking for myself, I am less interested in knowing what others (be they Semites or goyim) did to us, and more interested in knowing what we, or rather our leadership, did for us. If they did something, what exactly? If nothing, what kind of leaders do nothing but pull their xxxx in time of crisis?
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Blaming our misfortunes on others is a dead end because it only reinforces our image as perennial losers and victims. Recognizing our blunders and learning from them however, may teach us not to behave like idiots in the future.
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Hugo Grotius was a 17th-century Dutch philosopher whose famous last words were: “By understanding many things, I have accomplished nothing.”
Speaking of understanding, my favorite famous last words are Hegel's: “No one understood me except one, and even he didn't understand me.”
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Karl Marx understood him, and those who read and understand Marx call themselves Marxists. But Marx himself said he was not a Marxist, probably because he knew where there is an -ism, or an ideology, or a belief system, there will also be swine like the above-mentioned pope, who not only did nothing to stop the massacres but celebrated the occasion as a victory.
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What does the papacy and our leadership share in common? The pope struck a medal, our leaders raise monuments and build museums.
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Monday, November 230, 2009
**********************************
REFLECTIONS OF A CYNIC
************************************************** ****
To commemorate the massacre of 70,000 Protestants in 1572, Pope Gregory XIII had a medal struck. So much for religious tolerance, Christian charity, and Papal infallibility.
*
When two men speak badly of each other, I am tempted to believe both . When they praise each other, I smell a conspiracy.
*
Armenian anti-Semites say the Young Turks were Semites. Speaking for myself, I am less interested in knowing what others (be they Semites or goyim) did to us, and more interested in knowing what we, or rather our leadership, did for us. If they did something, what exactly? If nothing, what kind of leaders do nothing but pull their xxxx in time of crisis?
*
Blaming our misfortunes on others is a dead end because it only reinforces our image as perennial losers and victims. Recognizing our blunders and learning from them however, may teach us not to behave like idiots in the future.
*
Hugo Grotius was a 17th-century Dutch philosopher whose famous last words were: “By understanding many things, I have accomplished nothing.”
Speaking of understanding, my favorite famous last words are Hegel's: “No one understood me except one, and even he didn't understand me.”
*
Karl Marx understood him, and those who read and understand Marx call themselves Marxists. But Marx himself said he was not a Marxist, probably because he knew where there is an -ism, or an ideology, or a belief system, there will also be swine like the above-mentioned pope, who not only did nothing to stop the massacres but celebrated the occasion as a victory.
*
What does the papacy and our leadership share in common? The pope struck a medal, our leaders raise monuments and build museums.
#
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