In a previous e-mail posted to this list (a scholarly contribution to the dialogue rooted in the thought of post-modern secular philosopher Michel Foucault) I, like Foucault, questioned the will to power and abuses of due process by those who wield power in Western, Post-Enlightenment European/N. American societies.
For the most part, this essay went unacknowledged, or attacked with blanket condemnation without actually engaging the argument itself.
Neo-classical responded favorably and exhorted others to spend more time actually reading such scholarship. Thank you. With a BA from the #10 ranked liberal arts college in the USA (Davidson), two master's degrees from the #4 ranked university (Duke) and 3 years of PhD studies in ethics from the #18 ranked university (Notre Dame), it is refreshing to know that at least someone using the internet has not just sold his/her soul to marketing gurus, but actually tries to engage scholarship at its highest level.
While noting neo-classical's favorable response, sadly, however, the abuse of democratic process that I have noticed in this forum (i.e. trying to bar positions that one disagrees with), could also be seen in the recent elections. On 7 November 2006, I served as the Clerk of Elections for Precinct 285 in Pinellas County (Pinellas Park, FL, not too far from the Terri Shiavo state-enforced death by starvation of a handi-capped woman happened).
During the day's Electoral proceedings, Democrats and Republicans worked together, and were all duly committed to ensuring due process within the elections. All went smoothly, with the exception of one lady, a governmental employee who wanted the "rules to be bent" just because she worked for the government. Finally, after arguing publicly in front of the entire electoral staff, she stormed out of the building.
Therefore, similar to the 2000 Presidential Elections in which lawyers were seeking to overturn the duly appointed democratic results of the Election, so also was this a case of some people thinking that they are somehow "above the law" just because they work for the government.
This is not a liberal issue, nor is it a conservative issue. For example, one fellow Republican poll worker wanted to openly discuss the need for Christian Government, a position that I agree with, but one in which I remained silent so as to uphold the non-partisan nature of the proceedings (assuming of course that Republicans hold a larger demographic base among the Christians of America).
My hope and prayer is that the ones who have been "appointed" to this on-line (non-regulated) forum will at least strive to uphold the principles of democracy of the nation and nations that they claim fidelity to. My fear, however, is that this forum is quickly becoming nothing more than a pawn of the most liberal wing of the Democratic Party.
Sincerely,
Rob J King, citizen of the Republic of the United States of America
CH Rob J. King, M.Div., Th.M., Ph.D. (ABD*)
Chaplain, AR-MEDCOM
Professor of Bible and Christian Ministry Grand Canyon University-Online
Abiding Life Christian Ministries--Phoenix & Tampa Bay
Ministry Home Page: http://abidinglifephoenix.com/default.aspx
Ministry E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"I will bless those who bless you . . . and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." --Genesis 12:3
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