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Article on Chesterton

Plato to MacDonald to Chesterton, Tolkien and the Boys in the Pub.
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Postby Karen » July 12th, 2008, 1:03 pm

I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library. -- Jorge Luis Borges
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Postby rusmeister » July 12th, 2008, 4:24 pm

"Eh? Two views? There are a dozen views about everything until you know the answer. Then there's never more than one."
Bill "The Blizzard" Hingest - That Hideous Strength
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Postby Karen » July 12th, 2008, 5:25 pm

I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library. -- Jorge Luis Borges
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Postby rusmeister » July 12th, 2008, 6:51 pm

"Eh? Two views? There are a dozen views about everything until you know the answer. Then there's never more than one."
Bill "The Blizzard" Hingest - That Hideous Strength
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Postby repectabiggle » July 12th, 2008, 6:55 pm

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Postby Karen » July 12th, 2008, 7:09 pm

I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library. -- Jorge Luis Borges
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Postby Karen » July 12th, 2008, 7:23 pm

I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library. -- Jorge Luis Borges
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Postby repectabiggle » July 12th, 2008, 7:27 pm

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Postby Karen » July 12th, 2008, 7:54 pm

I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library. -- Jorge Luis Borges
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Postby rusmeister » July 12th, 2008, 8:09 pm

"Eh? Two views? There are a dozen views about everything until you know the answer. Then there's never more than one."
Bill "The Blizzard" Hingest - That Hideous Strength
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Postby Karen » July 12th, 2008, 8:37 pm

I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library. -- Jorge Luis Borges
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Postby JRosemary » July 12th, 2008, 8:51 pm

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Postby rusmeister » July 13th, 2008, 4:31 am

These comments illustrate the problem of pluralism colliding with orthodoxy.

'Orthodox' means right,/true faith/teaching. (So here I am talking small 'o' orthodoxy.)

Pluralism generally says that truth does not matter - it is ultimately materialist because beliefs are only personal opinions with no real consequences. Only what I can see in the body matters.

If something is true, then what you believe does matter and does have consequences.

What I said has been misconstrued.
I am saying that the beliefs are poison, not that the people are poison. JR's response is on the value of the people, which I of course agree with. So let's stick exclusively to their beliefs and whether or not they have practical consequences. For our purposes, that would be where Christianity and Judaism diverge, for example, because of course there is initially a lot in common. But if my neighbor is a satanist who sacrifices cats and would sacrifice children if he could get away with it (never mind that he worships my chief enemy), then at the core of our beings is a contradiction that makes us enemies - and we are commanded to love our enemies but not to not have any. The pluralist stance would have me live cheerfully side by side with my enemy and ignore these differences - because they are not perceived to be important. Orthodoxy would have me do what I can to prevent that enemy and his teaching from flourishing in society, and that love for him would include communicating orthodoxy (the Truth) to him. (Obviously, if I can't do anything, the point is moot.) We are to do what we can regarding this world, and turn everything else over to God.
A Christian pluralist is something of a contradiction in terms - that's why in modern Christianity we are seeing rapid changes in what, for pretty much all of Christian history, nearly all Christians were agreed upon - such as women priests and homosexual behavior. They must constantly minimize the import of dogma in faith, until ultimately there is no dogma left at all (Chesterton's turnips - Heretics, ch 20).

Hopefully, Karen, that provides a response to your questions, too.

I do have one counter comment on education. My experience is sufficiently broad that the odds that I just had 'bad luck' are practically nil. I have taught (and undergone certificate processing) in public and private schools on the east and west coasts and in Russia, so have a very broad perspective, and I have seen that teacher formation is pretty much identical. Ergo, this is pretty much what is going on all over the nation and has moved to Russia and is pushing out the old Soviet system here (and what was superior about it as well). The teacher preparation ensures that all must sing the praises of pluralism, multiculturalism, etc, and the existence of large schools and school systems prevent effective parental control of what their children are really being taught, much of which is not listed in the curriculum but is thoroughly embedded in it. The big textbook producers are all doing the same things so materials differ little in the public system. It's not a case of me having bad luck. I learned that John Taylor Gatto is right the hard way.

Allow me to offer an incomplete work in progress - I hope to turn it into my book, but don't mind sharing for personal use:
http://christianforums.com/showthread.php?t=6072877
"Eh? Two views? There are a dozen views about everything until you know the answer. Then there's never more than one."
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Postby Karen » July 13th, 2008, 1:46 pm

I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library. -- Jorge Luis Borges
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Postby JRosemary » July 13th, 2008, 3:07 pm

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