lead, kindly light...

Scottie Bowman (rbowman@indigo.ie)
Sat, 07 Aug 1999 12:22:03 +0100 

    There's really nothing - nothing at all - more infantile 
    than some petulant old man whiningly demanding one 
    more word.  But I *do* have some remaining difficulty 
    with the idea of attacking the idea & not the person.  
    It's the old Christian injunction about hating the sin, 
    not the sinner.  

    But is it realistic?

    Imagine that someone had written to the list:
        '... Where Salinger's really disgusting Jewishness comes out 
        is in his cloying obsession with family.  Family, family, 
        family, that's all we ever hear.  They're all the same, 
        you know.  I never met a Jew yet who wasn't overawed 
        by his Yiddisha Momma. ...'

    This could be read as a valid comment on Salinger's writing 
    & the writer might be expressing his honestly held opinion 
    of Jews.  Yet it surely demands - & would almost certainly 
    get - something a little more muscular AND PERSONAL 
    than a gentle expression of regret at the persistance in our society 
    of anti-semitism.  None of us has a problem when the 'personal' 
    attack is prompted by an 'acceptable' trigger.

    But if I'M exasperated by posts with remorselessly lower case 
    sentences & the practice strikes me as an affectation employed 
    only by unoriginal & self-congratulatory writers how do I express 
    this exasperation without being 'personal' about those who *do* 
    employ it?  Anti-semitism bad, sloppy writing all right, right?

    Anyway, why all this demand for kindness?   It's frightfully bad 
    for one.   The soul strengthens & flourishes in a chill climate.  
    I'm sure my own cheerful equanimity is largely thanks to all 
    the unkind treatment I've received over the years - not least 
    on this list.  I'm endlessly grateful.

    Scottie B.