tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post7134257005038261399..comments2024-03-28T09:59:13.754-07:00Comments on bionic mosquito: Why Liberty Requires the Golden Rulebionic mosquitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-37422216246912673442020-06-09T09:29:58.656-07:002020-06-09T09:29:58.656-07:00Some context may help to clarify. In Islamic hist...Some context may help to clarify. In Islamic history, the empire has been healthiest when the Ulema (our scholar-clerics) were decentralised spiritual authorities based on their own Virtue and as seen by their local community, and more often than not were constant checks on centralised temporal power.<br /><br />The way day to day law was applied in much of classical Islam, before the Muslim world adopted the Westphalian state model, was very very Hoppean in many ways. The King is not really supposed to be making any laws, and judgements and sentencing power is in the hands of this localised scholar-practitioner "Virtue elite", albeit all guided by similar approaches to/interacting cultures of understanding Sharia. Often this broke down of course, and the Ulema at their best would encourage a rising up against the corrupted centre, but still the principle is clear.<br /><br />That's why the wisdom behind separation of Church and State wasn't really something to apply to classical Islam, even if it probably does for modern (Westphalian adopting) Islam.<br /><br />But if I may say also, it's vital to not see modern secular regimes as the equivalent of kings. The Principle animating each is very different, so this conflation makes understanding history and our own situation a very muddy endeavour. Properly speaking, kings are ALWAYS cleric supported, in the sense at least that the clerics allows a certain king to rule, doesn't get in their way. <br /><br />As is clear in these times, the rulers today do not care one whiff what the clerics in their area of rightful expertise think, beyond utilitarianism.australia-for-ron-paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10706579669059351144noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-12894511697879274242020-05-14T11:51:47.721-07:002020-05-14T11:51:47.721-07:00Yes. Perhaps start here:
http://bionicmosquito.b...Yes. Perhaps start here:<br /><br />http://bionicmosquito.blogspot.com/p/the-book.htmlbionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-82228763699743958782020-05-14T09:42:09.802-07:002020-05-14T09:42:09.802-07:00Even focusing on the golden rule is still missing ...Even focusing on the golden rule is still missing the most important commandment, as Jesus claimed the golden rule was the second most important.DeciBelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11741293653804384189noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-63565896800636655912020-05-14T03:46:08.326-07:002020-05-14T03:46:08.326-07:00Diderot's writings played a key role in foment...Diderot's writings played a key role in fomenting the French Revolution, which certainly killed a lot of royals and priests--to say nothing of thousands of Catholic peasants in the Vende'e. Eventually, the Revolutionaries turned on each other. Yes, I can see how one might invoke Diderot to advance the cause of human freedom and civilization.Tonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05242683448708605585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-72435148150564963072020-05-13T15:52:04.684-07:002020-05-13T15:52:04.684-07:00Yes, Diderot. He published 20 million words to se...Yes, Diderot. He published 20 million words to set us right. God needed only about 750,000 words, depending on which version of the Bible one chooses.<br /><br />So, I know some people disagree. Some people are also entitled to be wrong.<br /><br />As to your statement: "...a regime of clerics supporting kings looks like."<br /><br />Of course, as I have never written for any such regime (while having written precisely the opposite about 5,000 times), I am not sure of the relevance of this comment. bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-80122215252192393132020-05-13T15:36:49.485-07:002020-05-13T15:36:49.485-07:00"I have long argued that in the West the only..."I have long argued that in the West the only institution that both has played such a role and can play such a role is the church – broadly speaking, Christianity."<br /><br />Some might disagree...<br /><br />"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest." —Denis Diderot<br /><br />Here, again:<br /><br />"And his hands would plait the priest's entrails,<br />For want of a rope, to strangle kings." —Denis Diderot<br /><br />As for the "divine right of kings", I believer that the Catholics were less lenient than the Protestants in that regard.<br /><br />Also, if my understanding is correct, Thomas Paine was in a sense battling the Church of England when he called kings "crowned ruffians". Here is a quote:<br /><br />"In Common Sense, Paine turned his vitriol on King George III and the institution of the monarchy, calling the king a "royal brute" and a "crowned ruffian." Insisting that people did not have to live under such a regime, he declared "that in America the law is king."<br /><br />Incidentally, you don't have to go back in history to see what a regime of clerics supporting kings looks like. Just have a look at Saudi Arabia.<br /><br />Ahmed Fareshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07105255828394485657noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-17554689877573164382020-05-13T11:58:44.785-07:002020-05-13T11:58:44.785-07:00I do see the common elements as basic and broad: t...I do see the common elements as basic and broad: thou shalt not murder, that kind of thing. These are for the civil law that comes with formal, physical punishment. I find nothing totalitarian about formal physical punishment for transgressions against person and property.<br /><br />I suggest no force regarding "lifestyles." Here, it is the role of parents, churches, other voluntary institutions to teach and hold people accountable: advice and counsel.bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-67763301024229223752020-05-13T11:28:11.327-07:002020-05-13T11:28:11.327-07:00Based on your previous descriptions, I have though...Based on your previous descriptions, I have thought of the natural law for humans, not so much as a legal system but a mixture of natural physical law and human nature. Our legal systems should flow out of that, but aren't the same thing and don't require a totalitarian legal system to force all humans into one lifestyle. That itself is a legal system that doesn't conform to the natural law of humans.<br /><br />One of the most basic natural laws of humans is the division of labor. That shows how individualistic natural law has to be oriented. The common elements must be very basic and broad.RMBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13603112499567064214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-67172946952441764632020-05-13T09:49:07.466-07:002020-05-13T09:49:07.466-07:00In this day and place, it might be worth emphasizi...In this day and place, it might be worth emphasizing what man is NOT - specifically, capable of changing his own nature on a whim.cosmic dwarfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16562864681773374828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-6541938930221018032020-05-13T08:53:34.937-07:002020-05-13T08:53:34.937-07:00Since mankind is created their "sovereignty&q...Since mankind is created their "sovereignty" is delegated and not absolute, it is not inherent. Therefore, mankind can only delegate their own authority. It is usurpation to exceed delegated authority and such usurpation are to be opposed. Usurpation is not authority, or law, but exercises in power in order to maintain.<br /><br />If the above is useful, free to adampt to fit your writing style and heuristic.JaimeInTexashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08729407700850451849noreply@blogger.com