[Vision2020] Twister, anyone?
Jeremy Downey
dunadhaigh@hotmail.com
Mon, 13 Oct 2003 18:25:51 -0700
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<P>"The point, Nate, is not that your father is a poor historian; the point is that he isn't a historian at all. Historians usually have academic training in their chosen subject area. Even when they don't have the PhD (as in the case of the great Barbara Tuchman), they've read widely, studied with experts, and subjected their ideas and theories to the scrutiny of juried publications and peer review. Your father is not a historian; he's a polemicist, a Bill O'Reilly or a Rush Limbaugh, albeit on a much smaller scale."</P>
<P>And I always thought an historian was someone who studies and writes about the past...</P>
<P>The funny thing is that by those standards Herodotus of Halicarnassus (the "Father of History") was not a historian. Neither were Thucydides, Plutarch, Julius Caesar, Sallust, or a scad of others. You see, you have narrowed the definition of an "historian" to a parochial academic institution of the modern era, and tossed out some of the greatest chroniclers of the past the world has ever known. What right do you have to so define the terms? Why does your institution hold authority and not ours? After all, the Christian church created those academic institutions whose credentials you so adore in the first place.</P>
<P>Oh, and in reference to a later portion of your letter, it never ceases to amaze me when the Christ Church/Trinity Reformed Church community is characterized as being "Fundamentalist." I guess that's a catch-all term anymore. Soon there will be Republican Fundamentalists and Democratic Fundamentalists, New Age Fundamentalists, Feminist Fundamentalists, Unitarian Fundamentalists, Nazi Fundamentalists, Baha'i Fundamentalists, Progressive Fundamentalists, and maybe even Absurdist Fundamentalists.<BR><BR>Jeremy Downey</P></DIV>
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<DIV></DIV>>From: "Joan Opyr" <AUNTIESTABLISHMENT@HOTMAIL.COM>
<DIV></DIV>>To: vision2020@moscow.com
<DIV></DIV>>Subject: [Vision2020] Twister, anyone?
<DIV></DIV>>Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2003 15:32:20 -0700
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>In defense of dear old Dad, Nate Wilson writes:
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>>There are two things to be pointed out here. The first is this: If
<DIV></DIV>>>Melynda is right, and Uncle Tom's Cabin and Roots are the
<DIV></DIV>>>authorities, then at worst my father is a poor historian.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>The point, Nate, is not that your father is a poor historian; the
<DIV></DIV>>point is that he isn't a historian at all. Historians usually have
<DIV></DIV>>academic training in their chosen subject area. Even when they
<DIV></DIV>>don't have the PhD (as in the case of the great Barbara Tuchman),
<DIV></DIV>>they've read widely, studied with experts, and subjected their ideas
<DIV></DIV>>and theories to the scrutiny of juried publications and peer review.
<DIV></DIV>> Your father is not a historian; he's a polemicist, a Bill O'Reilly
<DIV></DIV>>or a Rush Limbaugh, albeit on a much smaller scale.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>The argument that Doug is making in his writings on the old South is
<DIV></DIV>>that things weren't all that bad for black folks, and even on those
<DIV></DIV>>rare occasions when Massa fell short of the ideals of compassionate
<DIV></DIV>>ownership, there's still a Biblical case to be made in justifying
<DIV></DIV>>the institution of slavery. Like Melynda, many of us take issue
<DIV></DIV>>with Doug's methods, his conclusions, and his choice of topic. This
<DIV></DIV>>is comic book history, Son. It fits easily onto a quarter sheet
<DIV></DIV>>with plenty of margin and room for a Sea-Monkeys ad. Once again,
<DIV></DIV>>why slavery? Why the old South? What does the Confederacy have to
<DIV></DIV>>do with the ideal practice of Christianity? It puzzles me that I
<DIV></DIV>>never seem to come across a Fundamentalist musing on the Sermon on
<DIV></DIV>>the Mount, arguably the single most important speech Jesus ever made
<DIV></DIV>>regarding his ideals and philosophy. Instead, they always seem to
<DIV></DIV>>be getting bogged down in Leviticus. It's a shame -- kind of like
<DIV></DIV>>stopping in Kissemmee-St. Cloud when you were really hoping for
<DIV></DIV>>Disney World.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>PS: Entertaining as they are, I won't address your musings on
<DIV></DIV>>evolution here, Nate, except to say that if your father is no
<DIV></DIV>>historian, he's no scientist either. Don't talk to me about
<DIV></DIV>>groin-stretching to make one's points -- you're clearly limber
<DIV></DIV>>enough to play Twister with the Cirque du Soleil.
<DIV></DIV>>
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