Hassagot השגות

"X for President," not "...for Messiah"

    Americans must ask themselves:  Will we be voting for the President of the United States this November, or will we be voting for the Messiah?  One of the candidates receives the adoration one hopes the Messiah will receive.  Can he do wrong?
    We are not voting for the Messiah.  Hence, it is a grievous mistake to confuse a candidate with the Messiah.   As president, he might be successful.  However, as messiah, he can only be false. 
    The messianic fervor surrounding his candidacy augurs ill for the country.

-- H. A. Massig

What does Free Speech mean to Europe?

    In today's Chicago Tribune, Frida Ghitis offers an opinion piece, "Free to Express, but not to Offend" (June 29, 2008).  She describes the dramatic arrest of Gregorius Nekschot, a cartoonist:

    An armed government team, including a half-dozen police officers and several prosecutors, raids the home of a mysterious artist who goes by a pseudonym, inspires zeal and tackles political themes. They arrest the man and confiscate his computer, telephone, various DVDs and other materials.   

             A terrorism suspect?   

 

   No, the man arrested May 13 in the Dutch city of Amsterdam was Gregorius Nekschot, a cartoonist. And his alleged crime was making drawings that some people found offensive.

    Ghitis' piece explores how the Netherlands, Europe, and the UN Human Rights Commission have been reacting to public express that offends the sentiments of some or many Muslims.

    It strikes me that Europe protects speech (to the extent that it does) not because it finds speech meaningful but because it finds it meaningless.  Once speech is perceived as meaningful (for example, as offensive) it is no longer protected. 

    Or, to put it more broadly--and as a challenge--has the idea of Europe come to mean the denial of meaning?  And can such an idea survive the challenge of those (including Muslims) who insist on the reality of meaning?

-- H. A. Massig

Inverted Pyramids

    In the many lands, people built pyramids.  They brought immense stones on rollers.  Many slaves toiled for a single pyramid.  Leaders such as Oz and Mand looked on with satisfaction while their peoples suffered.  Noble memorials were these and, with the passing of the storms of time, last remnants of great regimes.

    Some in these lands built inverted pyramids.  They strove to build an inverted pyramid that would always stand on one point.  All the architects scoffed at their work: "An inverted pyramid can never stand."  Indeed, the builders of inverted pyramids were required to support their structures with scaffolding. 

The builders of inverted pyramids were not content with their work.  Not knowing how to build, they continued to add to their pyramids.  The pyramids might grow to unwieldy size, yet on they built.  So it goes till this very day.

    A visitor to the many lands will see ancient pyramids, but few ancient inverted pyramids.  For as soon as an inverted pyramid falls to the ground--as it is wont to do--its material turns to dust.  Yet on the builders build, knowing that, at some point, the great architect will provide them with a plan for an inverted pyramid that will stand always on one point.

-- H. A. Massig המשיג

Thoughts on the 2008 Presidential Campaign

• The President's main role is Commander in Chief.  The President must uphold the Constitution and defend the United States of America.  We should select a President who will do so.
• We should not be voting for the Messiah, nor for someone who, we hope, will function in a legislative capacity.
• The United States of America is an exceptional country in the world today.  We should select a President who recognizes that and will lead on that basis.
• We should not vote for a candidate who believes that we ought to be living in a post-American world.
• Liberty is the operative value of the American experience.  We should select a President who shares that understanding.
• We should not vote for a candidate who values equality above liberty.
• Private enterprise--the efforts of individuals and of groups of private individuals--makes America great.  We should select a President who has more faith in the private than in the public sector.
• We should not vote for a candidate who prefers public to private initiative and who expresses mistrust of private enterprise.
• Private moneys are, all things being equal, the property of their owners.  We should select a President who respects the right to hold property. 
• We should not vote for a candidate who believes that we have rights to property only at the discretion of the State.

-- H. A. Massig המשיג

Rubashkins

Rubashkins Agriprocessors received an immigration raid. Jewish Telegraphic Agency (www.jta.org) has reported on it, see here for example.   We do not claim to have a strong opinion about Rubashkins. But we take issue with the self-righteousness of the social justice group Uri L'Tzedek, which jumped at the first opportunity to publicly condemn and preach to their fellow Jew.

-- H. A. Massig המשיג

Once very just people reigned

Once very just people reigned. They were people of great sensitivity and ethical perfection. These people wielded sharp pens and wore glasses that allowed them to see the failings in others. Whenever they saw a failing, they had their pens sharpened and wrote a missive. Those who sharpened their pens and read their missives made up their army. So long as the people in the realm of the just wrote and read missives, justice was the rule of the land.

In the reign of the just lived people who were not-just. Some of the not-just wielded spades, hoes, and hammers. These people tilled the earth and built houses and other buildings. They worked long hours but were not just. Others among the not-just were wealthy and used their wealth to purchase or build. These latter often made compromises that invited long missives from the just.

The not-just had dirty hands. Sometimes their hands were caked with dirt. Sometimes they were calloused. Sometimes they were streaked with the fat of chickens or blotched with traces of compromise and power.

-- H. A. Massig המשיג