My Reply To Christian Conservative Friend, Elaine K, Who Treats Logical Fallacies As If They Were "God's Truth." (What Else Is New?)

 

Dear Elaine,

Thanks for your email.

The purpose of higher education -- ideally starting with high school -- is to teach people to read broadly, to research deeply and to think in well-informed context.

Almost always, the fullness of Truth is found in rich contextualization. 

Only in rich contextualization.

"Here Is Where Contemporary 'Conservatism' Ran Off The Rails: America's Cultural Crisis Distills To The Ascertainment Of Social, Political And Historical Truth. The Linchpin Question Is This... Will Absolutism/Authoritarianism Rule Our Epistemological Mindscape? Or Will Intellectual Rigor And Multifaceted Contextualization Prevail?"

https://newsfrombarbaria.blogspot.com/2021/06/here-is-where-american-conservatives.html

No matter how dearly we might wish otherwise, Democracy cannot survive without a critical mass of properly educated citizens who read from a wide range of sources - people who have also learned how to think.

It is a fact that there are people who know a lot, and there are people who don't know much.

Intelligent, well-informed people exist.

And stupid, uninformed people exist.

It's just the way it is.

And it is the way it will always be.

Truth be told, there are people who are surpassingly eager to be told lies because lies confirm their erroneous world view, and these folks prefer not being unsettled.

It is the narrow - and narrowing - popular passion for "being lied to" that propels every fascist movement.

It is possible to learn one's way out of the jam they're in. (Notably, 59% of registered Republicans consider higher education bad for America. https://reason.com/2019/08/19/pew-survey-republicans-college-campus-safe-spaces/) 

However, to liberate yourself from Trump/QAnon's "Big Lie" requires hard work and considerable courage.

I hasten to add that "intellectual courage often distils to the ability to live with ambiguity."

Unless Truth Is Richly Contextualized, It Is Likely That Uneducated, Ideologically-Driven People (Who Never Learned How To Think In Context), Will Use Fragmented Shards Of Truths To Tell Colossal Lies

https://newsfrombarbaria.blogspot.com/2020/08/unless-truth-is-richly-contextualized.html

How Conservatives Use Decontextualized Shards Of Truth To Tell BIG Lies 

https://newsfrombarbaria.blogspot.com/2020/08/how-conservatives-use-decontextualized.html

Trump Lies Shamelessly, Compulsively, Continuously... And His Followers Suck The Sludge

https://newsfrombarbaria.blogspot.com/2020/10/trump-lies-beyond-any-bound-and-his.html

"It Has Come To This. How Do We Tell The Truth To 40% Of Americans?"

https://newsfrombarbaria.blogspot.com/2020/07/it-has-come-to-this-how-do-we-tell.html

"The Decisive Distinction Between People Who Can Think And Those Who Can't"

https://newsfrombarbaria.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-decisive-distinction-between-people.html

Compendium of "Pax-Barbaria" Stupidity Posts

https://newsfrombarbaria.blogspot.com/2020/11/compendium-of-pax-barbaria-stupidity.html 

"Nothing Makes Us Stupider Than Anger"

https://newsfrombarbaria.blogspot.com/2021/01/nothing-makes-us-stupider-than-anger.html

"Stupid People Are Too Stupid To Know They're Stupid"... And That's Just The Beginning

https://newsfrombarbaria.blogspot.com/2021/01/stupid-people-are-too-stupid-to-know.html

"When The Electorate Is THIS Stupid, Is ANY Delusional Thinking Out Of Bounds?"
https://newsfrombarbaria.blogspot.com/2020/11/when-electorate-is-this-stupid-is-any.html 

"Pardon Him, Theodotus; He Is A Barbarian And Thinks That The Customs Of His Tribe And Island Are The Laws Of Nature." George Bernard Shaw On The Nature Of Personal Stupidity And Social Stupefaction

https://newsfrombarbaria.blogspot.com/2020/11/pardon-him-theodotus-he-is-barbarian.html 

Can We Talk? "Most Stupid People Are Conservative"

https://newsfrombarbaria.blogspot.com/2020/07/can-we-talk-most-stupid-people-are.html

"A Confession: I'm Starting To Write Off Stupid People As Incorrigible"

https://newsfrombarbaria.blogspot.com/2020/12/a-confession-im-starting-to-write-off.html

It Has Come To This: How Do Intelligent Citizens Deal With The Irredeemably Stupid, Ignorant And Self-Pithed People Who Have Taken Over? 

The Invasion Of The Body Snatchers Is Now Reality
http://newsfrombarbaria.blogspot.com/2021/12/it-has-come-to-this-how-do-intelligent.html

"Why The Past Ten Years Of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid... And It’s Not Just A Phase." By Jonathan Haidt, Illustrations by Nicolás Ortega

https://newsfrombarbaria.blogspot.com/2022/04/why-past-ten-years-of-american-life.html

And never forget...

Almost all the trolls are on your side:

Trolls... And The End Of Civilization As We Knew It

https://newsfrombarbaria.blogspot.com/2020/08/trolls-and-end-of-civilization-as-we.html

And the trolls are "on your side" because Truth doesn't matter to them.

What matters to right wingers is power - that they have it... and that they not share it with any other band on the political spectrum.

Pat Buchanan, The Republican Presidential Candidate And Living American Who Has Served Longest As Senior White House Official, Says Republicans Are In It For "Power Only" And "To Hell With Principles"

https://newsfrombarbaria.blogspot.com/2020/09/pat-buchanan-republican-presidential.html

Why "Absolutists" Prefer To See "Relativists" Dead... Whereas "Relativists" Prefer That "Absolutists" Just Mind Their Own Business

https://newsfrombarbaria.blogspot.com/2020/08/why-absolutists-would-prefer-to-see.html

On Fri, Oct 14, 2022 at 7:10 AM Elaine K wrote:

"If the government can just print money, why am I paying taxes?" -- Kevin Sorbo

Pray for America! Pray for rain!!

Elaine K. (Ttab)

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