[Vision2020] Metaphor (was Logos school's all-male board)

[Joan Opyr]

Doug (Jones) carefully explains:

"There's the hitch. Metaphoric divisions are rarely binary oppositions. And 
not all apparent binary oppositions are negations. It's a trinitarian thing, 
though (e.g., The Son is not the Father, and yet the Son is not any less 
than the Father)."

Metaphor, Doug, is that figure by which two apparently unlike things are 
assimilated, with the intent of revealing a deeper correspondence between 
them than is immediately apparent.  It only works if there is some symbolic 
resonance: if I compare a monkey to a moon-pie, no-one is enlightened, and 
no relationship between disparate things is made clear.  Does Chesterton 
(and, by quoting him, you and that other Doug)compare Woman to the moon 
because she is mutable, lifeless, and reflects a light that is not her own?  
Do you compare Man to the sun because he is powerful and brings life and 
growth?  If so, you don't offer me any particular enlightenment about the 
essential nature of men and women.  What you open instead is a window onto 
your own pet prejudices.  Were I to respond in kind, I might suggest that 
women are rubber and men are glue--bounces off me and sticks to you.  
Amusing, but again, not enlightening.

You might be interested to know that the Trinity, according to Gregory of 
Nyssa, is itself a metaphor--an approximation of infinite Divinity suitable 
to weak and imperfect human understanding.  Any theological system which 
attempts to turn a metaphor into fact is likely to find itself committing 
absurdities.  I'm certainly surprised to find you of all people confusing 
mythos with logos.  That's a mistake the ancients would never have made.

If we're obliged to look to Chesterton for guidance, then please, let's skip 
his poetry--it's more trite than trinitarian.  I much prefer novels like 
"The Club of Queer Trades," but then, I would, wouldn't I?

Yours sincerely,

Auntie Establishment





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