Umberto Ecco versus Orson Scott Card
"Distrust of the intellectual world has always been a symptom of Ur-Fascism,
from Goering's alleged statement ("When I hear talk of culture I reach for my gun") to the
frequent use of such expressions as "degenerate intellectuals," "eggheads," "effete snobs,"
"universities are a nest of reds." The official Fascist intellectuals were mainly engaged in
attacking modern culture and the liberal intelligentsia for having betrayed traditional
values.
4. No syncretistic faith can withstand analytical criticism. The critical spirit makes
distinctions, and to distinguish is a sign of modernism. In modern culture the scientific
community praises disagreement as a way to improve knowledge. For Ur-Fascism,
disagreement is treason."
(excerpt from Umberto Ecco's 1995 essay on "Ur-Fascism"
http://www.justicescholars.org/pegc/archive/Articles/eco_ur-fascism.pdf
_________________________________________________________________________
"They're fanatical Smartland patriots. So fanatical they don't hesitate long enough to get their facts right before running a story that seriously weakens America's position in a deadly war that has already blown up the two tallest buildings in the capital city of Smartland. Because they haven't recognized yet that Smartland only exists as a parasite, sucking the blood out of the Heartland that they have such contempt for.
One thing for sure. At Newsweek, nobody better ever say again, "We don't make the news, we just print it."
(excerpt from Orson Scott Card's Riots of the Faithful, May 2005)
http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2005-05-15-1.html
According to Orson Scott Card, the American press elite and university intellectuals are traitors to the republic. In other writings he holds to the conviction that laws criminalizing homosexuality should stay on the books, because the condition is a threat to his cherished notion of what the family should be, of what marriage should be. He even lavishes praise on the very group of American evangelicals who have for years scorned his beloved cult of Mormonism. Belief in God and tradition really has become over-rated, as is the hope that one is in a chosen group of latter day saints. The real world continues to disappoint such people, but there is one last hope, isn't there? We can always make prophecies come true, can't we? Raise up Israel as the penultimate sign of the Kingdom Come...uber alles, right? Let the planet destroy itself in sectarian violence and cherish the words of your tribal prophet. Nobody's sacred word changes what we are as a species, born a little higher than the animals. Maybe rats or termites will do a better job of being sentient. Somehow, I doubt it. They will probably try to use the concept of God as a tool also. Make a bomb, design a super-plague, pray to God, there seems to be little difference in the destructive potential. You would think the real God might have done something about this by now, but the current circus pretty much precludes this possibility.
Q
from Goering's alleged statement ("When I hear talk of culture I reach for my gun") to the
frequent use of such expressions as "degenerate intellectuals," "eggheads," "effete snobs,"
"universities are a nest of reds." The official Fascist intellectuals were mainly engaged in
attacking modern culture and the liberal intelligentsia for having betrayed traditional
values.
4. No syncretistic faith can withstand analytical criticism. The critical spirit makes
distinctions, and to distinguish is a sign of modernism. In modern culture the scientific
community praises disagreement as a way to improve knowledge. For Ur-Fascism,
disagreement is treason."
(excerpt from Umberto Ecco's 1995 essay on "Ur-Fascism"
http://www.justicescholars.org/pegc/archive/Articles/eco_ur-fascism.pdf
_________________________________________________________________________
"They're fanatical Smartland patriots. So fanatical they don't hesitate long enough to get their facts right before running a story that seriously weakens America's position in a deadly war that has already blown up the two tallest buildings in the capital city of Smartland. Because they haven't recognized yet that Smartland only exists as a parasite, sucking the blood out of the Heartland that they have such contempt for.
One thing for sure. At Newsweek, nobody better ever say again, "We don't make the news, we just print it."
(excerpt from Orson Scott Card's Riots of the Faithful, May 2005)
http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2005-05-15-1.html
According to Orson Scott Card, the American press elite and university intellectuals are traitors to the republic. In other writings he holds to the conviction that laws criminalizing homosexuality should stay on the books, because the condition is a threat to his cherished notion of what the family should be, of what marriage should be. He even lavishes praise on the very group of American evangelicals who have for years scorned his beloved cult of Mormonism. Belief in God and tradition really has become over-rated, as is the hope that one is in a chosen group of latter day saints. The real world continues to disappoint such people, but there is one last hope, isn't there? We can always make prophecies come true, can't we? Raise up Israel as the penultimate sign of the Kingdom Come...uber alles, right? Let the planet destroy itself in sectarian violence and cherish the words of your tribal prophet. Nobody's sacred word changes what we are as a species, born a little higher than the animals. Maybe rats or termites will do a better job of being sentient. Somehow, I doubt it. They will probably try to use the concept of God as a tool also. Make a bomb, design a super-plague, pray to God, there seems to be little difference in the destructive potential. You would think the real God might have done something about this by now, but the current circus pretty much precludes this possibility.
Q