> From another old bit of parchment: "The thing that hath been, it is > that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be > done: and there is no new thing under the sun wait... that was in the bible? i always presented it as a logical argument- had reasoning and eveything. crap... anyways, i'm not saying he's wrong, i'm saying what good ol' mark twain did so long ago "history might not repeat, but it certainly rhymes". its not the constitution, per se that is causing the problems, it's the fact that we didn't go right ahead and do what was suggested those 236 years ago, and re-write it every twenty-five years. i just about guarantee my kids have little or no connection to the social/political environment of even my parents, let alone that of 1776. shit happens, rules get outmoded, people die, and so on, ad infinitum.
> Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2013 20:47:05 +0200 > To: sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org > From: ke...@journeytoforever.org > Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Let's Give Up on the Constitution > > Hi Jason > > >"giving up" on the constitution would just give the US a new > >constitution. tradition and respect? that's all well and good, but > >somebody's going to want to write it down sometime or another, and > >it'll be the same rusty old arguments with a different piece of > >parchment two hundred years from now... there's no such thing as > >"new". > > Paper shredders? :-) > > Sorry... He does have a point though, more than one, IMHO. > > From another old bit of parchment: "The thing that hath been, it is > that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be > done: and there is no new thing under the sun." > > Would that it were still so. Until not very long ago, people were > born, and not long after that they'd die, and between the two events > very little changed, if anything. Now, for many or most of us, change > is about the only thing you can rely on (seven billion humans ain't > new?). > > The Bible is a wonderful book to go cherry-picking in. I suspect it's > the same with the other great religions. And I think the US > Constitution is often just the same - I posted a recent article > explaining the crucial difference between what it actually says and > what most Americans think it says about gun rights, for instance. Too > often, it's just dogma. You don't need it. Other countries don't even > have a constitution, like the UK, for instance. > > Literal, or legalistic, interpretations of the past aren't always the > best guide to dealing with today's problems, let alone tomorrow's. > > Things do change: > > >> > And a genocide, and a civil war, over slavery. > >> > >>The interesting thing for me is that slavery was not a problem for > >>Jesus (I'm not sure about most other major religions but I think > >>this is true of them also), and nowhere does He mention democracy, > >>equal rights, or any of the current cornerstone concepts we take > >>for granted as truth. That is a surprise to me, and I wonder why, > >>and I wonder what deep and complex lessons that might have for us, > >>and what it tells us about our new thinking. And if democracy was > >>not mentioned as a system of government, then what was, and why? > > > >They had the Roman Empire on one hand and kings and priests on the > >other, there probably wasn't much left to discuss. > > > >But then they didn't argue about healthcare either, nor women's > >rights, or racism, the environment, libraries, education. We do make > >progress, we humans, we have a much better class of problems now. > > All best > > Keith > > > > > Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2013 23:54:37 +0200 > >> To: sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org > >> From: ke...@journeytoforever.org > >> Subject: [Biofuel] Let's Give Up on the Constitution > >> > > > http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33506.htm > >> > >> Let's Give Up on the Constitution > >> > > > By LOUIS MICHAEL SEIDMAN > > _______________________________________________ > Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list > Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org > http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel _______________________________________________ Sustainablelorgbiofuel mailing list Sustainablelorgbiofuel@lists.sustainablelists.org http://lists.eruditium.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel
