Thanks for the response Mr Rusmesiter, I mean Rusmeitser...darn it can I just call you Rus?!
Just a few comments. I wish I knew how to use the quote function properly, but anyway...
"The problem moderns have is that they have generally forgotten what our ancestors knew, and so congratulate themselves on what they know now, not realizing that so much knowledge has been lost. Our ancestors did more with less. We have so much information now that it is impossible to take it all in, yet we do so little with it."
Yes, and doesn't Lewis write well about this kind of modern arrogance? We have indeed discarded the old model and now think ourselves superior. Obviously our ancestors had less resources, but of course exactly how much they knew, and how much they thought, is often greatly underestimated. The idea is that the world emerged from the barbarian dark ages (a time, it seems, when men went around burning witches and believing the world was flat) into the light of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. We should know more, but as you rightly say we do so little with it.
"Just for one tiny example, we no longer know why we really do need families, that a family is not whatever you make it, why mother, father and child is the natural and proper family and that a broken family is something broken, and not an ideal, and so people go out, redefining marriage and the family and attempting to impose new ideas, that are actually tired old ideas that were tried before and always led to the collapse of the society that practiced them."
A-ha! Yes, one should not talk of a "normal" family anymore because to do so is hurtful and discriminates against single-parents, same-sex couples etc. Actually I have my toes in liberal waters here - I do think that we should show understanding towards families that are broken, that we should sympathise with their struggles and not make their children feel that there is something wrong with them. The problem is that the very idea of a norm has gone out the window altogether - one is not allowed to speak of a family with a mother and a father as being the proper one. The kind of levelling that exists now is another example of modern extremes. I think it is possible to make children from broken homes etc. feel that they are a valued part of society but still to promote the ideal of a mother and father. Or is it just wishful thinking?
"At some point, a conclusion must be reached, and while you may be 'open' to learning more, for practical purposes you must close your mind, as you must your mouth."
I feel awkward with the idea of closing one's mind, but take the point. But I can relate to the argument that a conclusion must be reached. One has to decide what one thinks at some point, or one just goes around foolishly seeing the value in everything but never really judging at all.
Reform a worthless word? Wouldn't argue with you there. When I used it, I simply meant that there were some things in the past that needed to be changed. We are unfortunately at the mercy of this stripping away of meaning that happens to words. Is it possible, for example, to talk about freedom anymore?
Walter Hooper? Never met the man. But Hooper is my real name, and the Mr is because I'm a teacher, and also because I would rather not reveal my first name.