The Book of Roguish Virtues
Actually, I sort of like Phi Beta Rogue. Pretty sexy, sleek. "I am a Worm." Awesome. You would think that with my incredible love of symbolism I'd make a good English major.
I think I am thrown my more traditionalist conservative trainee for a bit of a loop. A lot of conservatives think that all Atheists are card-carrying members of the ACLU who constantly try to "oppress" religion at every turn. We did get into something of a row over evolution being taught in schools. He seems to believe that you can't be Christian and accept the Theory of Evolution. He threw a lot of the arguments I've only read about before at me, and I parried with perhaps less skill than I would have liked. One problem is that it is a relatively small issue for me. Personally I don't see how you can have modern biology without Old Man Darwin's Satanic Theory. But it is easy to reject the theory, as it is irrelevant whether it is true or not in most of our day to day lives.
What amuses me is that in some respects I am more economically and judicially conservative than he is, while definitely more socially liberal. I think what makes me seem strange to him is that I have a well-developed sense of honor that is similar to chivalry or bushido. A Christian who had the the same internal code of conduct would say that he derived it from the Bible, and so it is Good. I make no such claims, though I will not deny that part of it did come from my upbringing in the church. Personally though I think more of it just comes from my obsession with the archetypes found throughout fiction, and in history, which has solidified around the Noble Warrior as I have grown older.
I am a Conservative also in that I don't necessarily think it would be a good thing for us to "just all get along." Philosophical conflict is a good thing. I have not always believed it to be so, but I hope this insight has come with wisdom. I am an huge supporter of the Rule of Law in dictating the way we interact with each other. To me the Law is like the rules of a board game, we need those rules to lend structure so that a game is even possible. They also have to leave room for people to live their lives pursuing their own various goals.
I have that need to take care of my family, that conservative view of what a father and husband ought to be. I don't want to belittle my lovely (and pregnant) wife's contributions to our income, but in the end I still feel that the ultimate burden and responsibility. It isn't a burden I would want to give up, it is a large part of what defines who I am. I believe that your character is built by the problems you overcome, and in old age you impart the wisdom gained from that to the next generation. It is in pondering issues like that that makes the tasks before me seem surmountable. I love that calm, implacable strength that I see embodied in the heroes of American Western and Japanese Samurai movies. There is something about facing overwhelming odds as if the numbers are irrelevant to the fact that you will face them.
Something just occurred to me. Perhaps my love of rules stems from my lack of self-discipline. I feel like I need certain rules and pressures to be successful in what I am trying to accomplish. I failed the first time to college largely because I completely lack perspective, study skills, and self-discipline. I have traditionally been terrible about avoiding responsibility, especially in dealing with other people. As I said before, I realize this is my single biggest Achilles' Heel. At least I have some years to confront this issue. Every Samurai has to begin swinging his sword before he can cut off the heads of disrespectful peasantry, yo.
Word!
I think I am thrown my more traditionalist conservative trainee for a bit of a loop. A lot of conservatives think that all Atheists are card-carrying members of the ACLU who constantly try to "oppress" religion at every turn. We did get into something of a row over evolution being taught in schools. He seems to believe that you can't be Christian and accept the Theory of Evolution. He threw a lot of the arguments I've only read about before at me, and I parried with perhaps less skill than I would have liked. One problem is that it is a relatively small issue for me. Personally I don't see how you can have modern biology without Old Man Darwin's Satanic Theory. But it is easy to reject the theory, as it is irrelevant whether it is true or not in most of our day to day lives.
What amuses me is that in some respects I am more economically and judicially conservative than he is, while definitely more socially liberal. I think what makes me seem strange to him is that I have a well-developed sense of honor that is similar to chivalry or bushido. A Christian who had the the same internal code of conduct would say that he derived it from the Bible, and so it is Good. I make no such claims, though I will not deny that part of it did come from my upbringing in the church. Personally though I think more of it just comes from my obsession with the archetypes found throughout fiction, and in history, which has solidified around the Noble Warrior as I have grown older.
I am a Conservative also in that I don't necessarily think it would be a good thing for us to "just all get along." Philosophical conflict is a good thing. I have not always believed it to be so, but I hope this insight has come with wisdom. I am an huge supporter of the Rule of Law in dictating the way we interact with each other. To me the Law is like the rules of a board game, we need those rules to lend structure so that a game is even possible. They also have to leave room for people to live their lives pursuing their own various goals.
I have that need to take care of my family, that conservative view of what a father and husband ought to be. I don't want to belittle my lovely (and pregnant) wife's contributions to our income, but in the end I still feel that the ultimate burden and responsibility. It isn't a burden I would want to give up, it is a large part of what defines who I am. I believe that your character is built by the problems you overcome, and in old age you impart the wisdom gained from that to the next generation. It is in pondering issues like that that makes the tasks before me seem surmountable. I love that calm, implacable strength that I see embodied in the heroes of American Western and Japanese Samurai movies. There is something about facing overwhelming odds as if the numbers are irrelevant to the fact that you will face them.
Something just occurred to me. Perhaps my love of rules stems from my lack of self-discipline. I feel like I need certain rules and pressures to be successful in what I am trying to accomplish. I failed the first time to college largely because I completely lack perspective, study skills, and self-discipline. I have traditionally been terrible about avoiding responsibility, especially in dealing with other people. As I said before, I realize this is my single biggest Achilles' Heel. At least I have some years to confront this issue. Every Samurai has to begin swinging his sword before he can cut off the heads of disrespectful peasantry, yo.
Word!