Reciprocating Bill
Posts: 4265
Joined: Oct. 2006
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| Quote (carlsonjok @ Jan. 17 2011,06:37) | While y'all are spending your time watching Vince Torley overestimate his standing in the world, something much more life affirming is going on in Barry Arrington's life over at First Things.
Long story short, Barry was out on New Year's Eve with his wife, imbibing in intoxicating beverages, close dancing, and what not. And, what should he see? Two same sex couples at the same event! And, even worse, they were acting completely normal! No Castro Street drag queen flamboyance or nuthin! And no passive-aggressive tut-tutting from the assembled personages neither!
Barry despaired! Has his side lost the culture war? Will he be forced to spend the rest of his days surrounded by gay couples acting like, well, everyone else? What will he do? But, as luck would have it, he read the article "Moral Awakening" and the clouds parted. He felt renewed. In the end, in the face of humanity, he was able to rise above it all and retain his prejudices!
What a heart-warming story! |
BarryA:
| Quote | | Then, about an hour before midnight as we were dancing to a slow number, I noticed two other couples dancing near us. One couple was two gay men and the other couple was two lesbians. And do you know what struck me the most about this scene? The complete banality of it all. The homosexual couples mixed seamlessly with the rest of us. No one stared. No one whispered. No one acted as anything was even remotely amiss. |
Take heart, Barry. You were staring, and you were whispering.
| Quote | Various thoughts ran through my head at that moment: The culture war is over, and we lost. Is there any sense in resisting anymore? Should I just make my peace with a fait accompli? What kind of world is it going to be for my children? Those two couples don't seem to be hurting anyone, so is the fact that we lost really such a bad thing?
These are the thoughts of a social conservative on the verge of despair. Dr. Reno writes that such as we are often afflicted by despair, a feeling that the tides of history are going out, and the power of moral truths are waning. In the twilight we wring our hands, and perhaps we decide to make our peace with the present age. Not just waning Dr. Reno. At that moment I felt as if there were no longer any power in moral truth at all. I was even tempted to believe that it was not even the truth at all. |
Barry, you're a psychological idiot if you think this profound self-doubt resulted from witnessing, well, essentially nothing.
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Myth: Something that never was true, and always will be.
"The truth will set you free. But not until it is finished with you."
- David Foster Wallace
"Here’s a clue. Snarky banalities are not a substitute for saying something intelligent. Write that down."
- Barry Arrington
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