Journalism class was crowing, the faithful rooster, and I set off discouraged by my hair and empty coffee mug. Nevertheless, through our 9am brains, valuable conversation percolated.
The topic was our two-party system which some declared so polarizing that hating the other party was the only natural response. Preventing this would require an intentional amnesiac.
A classmate said "what we face today is passionate barbarianism." His example was the recent Town Hall meetings surrounding the proposed Healthcare plan.
I do not know if he was right or wrong in his diagnosis. What came to mind was the famous quote by Patrick Henry, "Give me Liberty or give me Death!" to which the response was "to arms, to arms!" and the labor pains commenced (William Wirt, Life and Character of Patrick Henry, 123). Would this too have seemed 'passionate barbarianism'? Maybe, maybe not.
We must be carful how we choose to offend. Politeness in place of Freedom is un-American at its core. Yet neglecting our intellectual duties will never produce Liberty.
Ps. 19
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