There are quite a few people in this world whom I dislike intensely. A significant fraction of them are described as religious cult leaders, including the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, top man in the Unification Church. However, it is true that some time ago I accepted his invitation to attend some meetings of a conference he had organized as his guest, and have recently written about it in my blog.
This does not mean that I like Moon. What I like is the chance to see parts of our world and its people that I know little about, and sometimes my invitations come from human beings who represent causes or institutions I despise. (This has, for instance, been true of several recent administrations in this country.) I do try to make clear when I write about such things that I am not endorsing my host, and as a matter of fact I thought I had done so here. (I said early on in the piece that I thought Moon was an evil man, with his relentlessly right-wing Washington newspaper and his brainwashed young people confusing him with God.)
But, on the other hand, we only have one planet to share. I wish that the people I have to share it with did not include Moon, Rush Limbaugh, Dick Cheney and several hundred others, but they have as much right to be here as I do. Pity. But if they were whisked away to Mars or Ganymede, who would I have to loathe?
Jeff says:
John Yoo, David Addington, Ben Nelson, Bill O’Reilley, Glenn Beck, Pat Buchannon, Roger Ailes, Rupert Murdoch, Sarah Palin, just to name a few. The supply is endless.
January 28, 2010, 11:42 amJeff says:
Hey look, it’s Face on Mars! That Viking image really was grainy, wasn’t it? But they were right. In the new pictures, it really does look like a catbox.
January 28, 2010, 11:44 amKirk Snavely says:
There’s a new book out about Limbaugh and company titled ‘Echo Chamber: Rush Limbaugh and the Conservative Media Establishment’ by Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Joseph R. Cappella. I haven’t read it yet, but have read another book coauthored by Jamieson called ‘The Interplay of Influence’. This was required reading (many moons ago) for a college class in critical reasoning. If the current book is similar in quality to the earlier one, it may be well worth reading.
January 28, 2010, 2:32 pmcube says:
I’m disappointed by your anti-conservative bias, but I defend your right to deny whomever you wish to share your dining table. I would rather gnaw off my left arm than want to break bread with Obama, Pelosi, and Reid, for starters. I guess we’re even.
January 29, 2010, 4:52 pmleslie devries says:
Hatred for Cheney was bothering me a few years ago, so I started doing tonglen ( crazy buddhist technique for releasing attachment/avoidance ). It worked. O\’Reilly is just a clown embodying some reactionary Situationist roles for the cash. Now, i\’ll have to work on Palin–alas!
February 3, 2010, 6:16 amChookie says:
Hey Jeff — We Aussies happily waved goodbye to Rupert Murdoch when he decided he could make more money by being American (I am not sure which country was more insulted by his decision!). I rather like Rupert\\\’s Mum, Dame Elisabeth Murdoch — a great philanthropist, and custodian of a famous garden. Very feisty, and now almost 101!
February 3, 2010, 6:16 am