Monday, May 10, 2021

'A fairy tale gone wrong': Acosta on right's railing against 'cancel culture'

8 comments :

  1. Torah thought parsha מדבר
    “The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year following the exodus from land of Egypt, saying: Take a census of the whole Israelite community by the clans of its ancestral houses [i.e., of its tribes] listing the names, every male, head by head. You and Aaron shall record them by their groups, from the age of twenty years up, all those in Israel who are able to bear arms. Associated with you shall be a man from each tribe, each one the head of his ancestral house.” (Numbers 1:1-4). “all who were enrolled came to 603550.” (Ib. 46)

    The census was came to 603,550 in both Numbers 1:46 and “The silver of those of the community who were recorded came to 100 talents, and 1,775 shekels by sanctuary weight a half-shekel a head בקע, half a shekel by the sanctuary weight, for each one who entered into the records, from the age of twenty years up, 603550 men” Exodus (38:25-26).

    רש"י במדבר פרשת במדבר פרק א פסוק א
    וידבר. במדבר סיני באחד לחדש - וגו' מתוך חיבתן לפניו מונה אותם כל שעה, כשיצאו ממצרים מנאן, וכשנפלו בעגל מנאן לידעב מנין הנותרים. כשבא להשרות שכינתו עליהן מנאן. באחד בניסן הוקם המשכן, ובאחדג באייר מנאם:
    רש"י שמות פרשת שמות פרק א פסוק א
    ואלה שמות בני ישראל - אף על פי שמנאן בחייהן בשמותן, חזר ומנאן במיתתן [אחר מיתתן], להודיע חבתן שנמשלו לכוכבים, שמוציאן ומכניסן במספר ובשמותם, שנאמר (ישעיהו מ כו) המוציא במספר צבאםד לכולם בשם יקרא:

    “Lift up your eyes and see: Who created these? He who sends out their host by count המוציא במספר צבאם, Who calls each by name: because of His great might and vast power, Not one fails to appear איש לא נעדר.” (Isaiah 40:26). Isaiah likens us to stars that come out at night, everyone by name and never one star dying.

    Really? Stars never die? We know that stars do die and stars do get born. Surely our souls never die. God counting stars is like a “Like a shepherd He pastures His flock: He gathers the lambs in His arms And carries them in His bosom; Gently He drives the mother sheep.” (Isaiah 40:11) My web today image says: “You’re looking at a spiral galaxy containing upwards of 400 billion stars and 100 billion planets.”

    My theory. Moses was at times outside אהל מועד and personally saw deaths and men celebrating their 20th birthday. The census at the building of the אוהל מועד had 603,550. God’s command to Moses in the אוהל מועד to do a census also had 603,550. Moses and Aaron did a careful census as God commanded. Our souls are immortal, more so than stars in the galaxies.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cancel Cuture is real, and not a laughing matter.

    The following definition and examples of Cancel Culture are culled from the following article in Forbes, written by Evan Gerstmann, Professor of Political Science and International Relations, Loyola Marymount University.
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/evangerstmann/2021/03/22/what-is-cancel-culture/?sh=6106dbbbd559

    So what is cancel culture? While no definition of this multifaceted phenomenon will be perfect, a good definition would be:
    “A highly punitive approach to disagreement or perceived transgressions, based on strict fidelity to ideology (usually progressive) that elevates performative outrage over dialogue, factual inquiry, or respect for values such as free speech or fair process. It rejects the value of ideological diversity. It is often exercised by powerful corporations, editors, academic administrators, or unaccountable attackers operating through anonymous social media platforms. It rejects the distinction between offense and harm, between disagreement and discrimination, and between words and actions. It often reduces complex issues to a binary view such as one can only be “anti-racist” or “racist.” It rejects the importance of a person’s intent in making a statement and refuses to take into account how long ago a statement was made, the person’s age at the time they made it, or whether the statement in any way reflects a person’s current thinking.”

    A USC professor was suspended merely for using (appropriately in the context of the class) a Chinese word that happened to sound like the N-word. MIT fired a chaplain for saying that we don’t actually know if George Floyd was killed because of his race. People have been fired or otherwise punished for saying “All Live Matter.” By contrast, a professor was promoted despite tweeting that “White Lives Don’t Matter (as White lives.)” While cancel culture isn’t solely a creature of the left, the left-wing brand of it is far more pervasive and extreme.

    Cancel culture is also a belief that you are no better than your worst moment no matter how young you were when you transgressed, even if it was an isolated incident. A major university withdrew an admissions offer from a student because she once used the n-word in a three-second video she sent to two white friends when she was 15 years old. Having just gotten her learner’s permit, she said “I can drive [n-word].” Another student got hold of it and held onto it for years until she got her college acceptances just so he could inflict maximum damage on her at the right time.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Is cancelling Cheney - because she says Trump is lying cancel culture?
    Is insisting on treaty the cofederates as heros cancel culture?

    In other words removing any figure or idea you disagree with is cancel culture - Republicans do this also!

    ReplyDelete
  4. As the article points out, Cancel Culture is ubiquitous, but ‘usually progressive’. Ironically, its roots in America stem from the Right; starting in the late 18th Century, Baptists practiced church discipline on a large scale. I am merely pointing out that Cancel Culture is real and not a laughing matter. Ernest Hemingway used the N word and Kike. Will this great writer be the next to be cancelled? The Left is obsessed with ‘White Privilege’; how does the idea that Jews are G-d’s Chosen People fit into their Weltanschauung? Is there an end to the matter?

    ReplyDelete
  5. So basically the Right has figured out that what's good for the goose is good for the gander. They railed against cancel culture, were told to stuff it and then developed their own to fight back. And that makes them hypocrites?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Nope! they claim that they are against cancel culture - but don't mention that they think it should be done to their opponents - that is hypocrisy!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Goose and gander. I'm against gun violence but if someone was attacking me and I had access to a pistol, I'd have no compunction about using it if I needed to. Doesn't make me a hypocrite, just practical.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Again try to portray the GOP as poor victims who are merely defending themselves against the evil Left.

    it is more like "I Hit him back first"

    ReplyDelete

ANONYMOUS COMMENTS WILL NOT BE POSTED!
please use either your real name or a pseudonym.