Percy-L: Literary, Religious, Scientific, and Philosophical Discussion of Walker Percy

[J Rivas-Pita <juliorivas AT gmail.com>]

Re the T-shirt part: I didn't vote for Mr. Chávez either... :)

All best,

Julio

On 8/24/05, Karey <karey AT kareyperkins.com> wrote:
>  
> Yes, I saw the apology!  A wise political move of Robertson's part! It is
> telling that Robertson's comment was not condemned by the administration,
> since it is a political comment, but then, they might lose their
> fundamentalist voting base (Rove is practical).  Perhaps the apology had
> political encouragement and prompting.  I didn't (forgot to) overtly refer
> to Pat Robertson below, but clearly his actions were meant to be interpreted
> through Becker - any fundamentalist (Christian or Muslim (or other) - they
> actually have more in common with each other than they do with moderates of
> their own faiths) is devoting himself to a non-transcendent "causa-sui,"
> though clearly mistaking it for a transcendent one.  
>   
> Eric Rudolph was just convicted yesterday in Atlanta (the Olympic bomber,
> also abortion clinics and gay nightclub bombings) of life X several lives in
> prison - he showed no remorse, despite the loss of innocent lives due to his
> actions.  He felt he had a "cause" - and that history, if not the truth,
> will eventually exonerate him.  Percy's Lancelot operated under the same
> assumption - of all Percy's heroes, Lancelot was the one who was the most
> "off." 
>   
> There is a T-shirt for American travelers: 
> http://www.cafepress.com/americanapology.6120915?zoom=yes
>   
> KP 
>  
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: J Rivas-Pita 
> To: Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion 
>  
> Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 2005 6:39 PM 
> Subject: Re: [percy-l] U.S. : Terrorist SuperPower? 
> 
> Dear Karey,
> 
> Thank you very much for your most detailed and lucid analysis.
> Needless to say, I fully agree with you.
> (By the way, my grandfather on my mother's side lived most of his life
> in the U.S., was an American citizen and is buried in Irvington, N.J.,
> and I grew up in Spain believing, perhaps somewhat naïvely, that the
> U.S.A. was what he said it was, 'the greatest country in the world').
> 
> Also by the way this is "Reverend" Pat Robertson's last -but probably
> not final- word on Mr. Chávez's assassination proposal and AP's
> "misquote":
> 
> http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/08/24/robertson.chavez/index.html
> 
> With all best wishes,
> 
> Julio
> 
> On 8/24/05, Karey <karey AT kareyperkins.com> wrote:
> >  
> > As you all know, Percy, in his younger days, visited Germany - in the
> early
> > 1930's I believe?  Correct me on this if I'm wrong - (a simple check in
> > Tolson or Samway would tell me, but I'm much too comfortably ensconced at
> my
> > desk to get up right now!)  At any rate, as you also all know, while he
> was
> > there, Percy met and was much enamored of the "Hitler Youth" for their
> > loyalty, devotion, sense of purpose, sense of meaning and direction in
> life.
> >  And Percy was an intelligent, clear-thinking man - he must have had a
> real
> > reason to feel that way - real concrete evidence that these youth had
> > something that stood out.  Then WWII happened, and one can only imagine
> what
> > he felt inside about his earlier misguided admiration for the Hitler
> Youth. 
> >   
> > The Iraq war has been declared by the Pope to be an unjust war according
> to
> > Catholic Just War doctrine.  (A guideline used not just by the church, but
> > by the government and the military as well, by the way).  Jimmy Carter
> > declared it an unjust war - right up into the night before we attacked,
> when
> > he reneged in a front page article in the Atlanta Journal and
> Constitution,
> > I can only imagine due to political pressure.  What makes it unjust?  On
> > almost every point of the doctrine, including what Julio Rivas-Pita states
> > below:  The United States was an aggressor - and, worse, it was an
> > aggression built on lies.  Today, it is not only extreme leftists such as
> > Michael Moore who will question whether WMD were in Iraq.  Evidence
> > continues to be uncovered-  that the Karl Rove political genius-machine
> was
> > extremely effectively at manipulating public perception and spinning the
> > message to hide the real situation...  that in itself is a dissertation
> too
> > lengthy to document here, but articles such as "Follow the Uranium" in the
> > July 17, 2005, New York Times only begin to scratch the surface of it.  In
> > fact, most people acknowledge that a false link was made between 9/11 and
> > Iraq - the only question up for debate was how knowingly false (on the
> > administration's side) was it?  In fact, the Iraq war has sidetracked us
> > from the real 9/11 cause (the hunt for bin Laden in Afghanistan) and
> > increased terrorist activity, as well as further incited hard feelings
> > towards American - even our allies are starting to hate us!  Since when
> did
> > France become a country to despise?  Hence, I find Julio Rivas-Pita's
> e-mail
> > not at all unusual, rather, it is very much the norm overseas, and rather
> > than asking him to take a drink of Early Times, I think a far better
> course
> > of action is for Americans to put down their own bottles of Early Times
> and
> > take a close look at themselves and the actions of their government and
> > think very carefully before they cast their vote in the next election. 
> >   
> > Then we have the Abu Ghraib prison scandal - a gross and unapologetic
> > abandonment of the Geneva Convention - and while scapegoats are being used
> > (the MP reservists involved) to take the blame, in fact, it was not an
> > isolated incident, it was sanctioned from above (how far above?), and
> these
> > enlisted reservists were merely part-timers whose real career was
> something
> > far different - they learned such torture techniques because they were
> > trained (by the CIA and the military) in such techniques, and the higher
> ups
> > have said what to this and to similar practices in Guatanamo Bay (and who
> > knows where else)?  That the Geneva Convention is "antiquated."  This by
> the
> > way is just what we know - we were never shown the "worst" abuses; those
> > pictures were withheld from us, and do you think that just because playful
> > digital cameras have not caught other events, they do not exist?  
> >   
> > By contrast, I am incredibly impressed with Anthony Principi, Chairman of
> > the Military Base Realignment and Closing Commission (www.brac.gov).  He
> was
> > on C-SPAN last night.  The integrity shone - with Principi vowing (and
> > delivering) "honesty and transparency" in all the commission's
> deliberations
> > and decisions.  By the way, Rumsfeld's recommended base closings more than
> > doubled the recommended closings in 4 previous rounds of base closings -
> > combined. Why?  Financial reasons. The Iraq War has not strengthened the
> > United States from future attacks, it has weakened us - and our economic
> and
> > military strength - considerably. 
> >   
> > The American people accept this because of they are being "spun" - the
> > logical fallacy "appeal to fear" - which by the way, is a characteristics
> of
> > fascist states - the building up of nationalism and military fervor
> through
> > inciting fear in the people.  In fact, terrorism has gotten worse since
> and
> > because of the Iraqui war.  You get what you give.  But, as part of the
> > package and by necessity to accomplish the objective, a sense of loyalty
> and
> > group camaraderie (patriotism) is incited - but not one that is examined
> > carefully, logically or critically.  We are swept along with the emotions
> of
> > the moment, like a winning crowd at a college football game or the Hitler
> > Youth. (Ahh, Percy's "totemism" no less.)  We don't even WANT to think
> > critically about it, for it satisfies a deep need inside of us - but
> > insidiously so. 
> >   
> > The answer to Percy's Hitler Youth question can be found in Ernest
> Becker's
> > Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Denial of Death.  What compels us most,
> > what determines our actions and motivations and neuroses and desires most,
> > is our sublimated terror of death - our individual deaths - which we all
> > know is coming, yet rarely think about consciously (or most of us rarely
> > think about).  So one answer is to find a "causa-sui" - a cause larger
> than
> > ourselves for which to live.  To quote Becker:  "it is a world-view, some
> > kind of affirmative collective ideology in which the person can perform
> the
> > living drama of his acceptance as a creature.  Only in this way can the
> > neurotic come out of his isolation to become part of such a larger and
> > higher wholeness as religion has always represented" (Becker, 198-1999). 
> > Out of this, comes meaning, purpose, comfort, identity,
> self-actualization. 
> > The problem is this - if the purpose for which we live is not transcendent
> > (and not even religion is transcendent; religion, as in religious
> > denominations - Protestant, Catholic, Muslim, etc.,- is not, only God is),
> > then we must logically be on the other side of something else - we have
> > enemies.  (The defeat of our enemies gives us meaning and purpose.)     
> >   
> > But, more importantly, if we devote ourselves, find our meaning in life,
> to
> > a non-transcendent cause, our cause is false.  Just like the Hitler Youth.
> > Has anyone noticed the great purpose and conviction with which Bush and
> his
> > cronies proceed forward?  Little reflection, lots of purpose.  That has
> been
> > spun as positive - in fact, it's quite insidious.  Kerry's globalism (a
> > foreign wife no less) and thoughtful reflections were spun as a detriment,
> > when it was just what America needed.  
> >   
> > Today, even our friends (allies) are becoming enemies - (even our own
> > citizens are "enemies" to the administration - we are closely monitored
> and
> > have lost many of our rights to privacy). Nationalism, most obviously, is
> > never transcendent.  The patriotism in America today - at the expense of
> > others' (yes, even prisoners') rights and humanity - smacks of that. 
> Julio
> > Rivas-Pita is on the money, in my opinion.  We Americans can't see it.   
> >   
> > But whether anything I've said here is true or not, we would do well to
> act
> > with humility, to not pompously scoff - to pay careful attention to what
> > others - Europeans, Middle-Easterners, South Americans, Asians - feel and
> > think about our country.  In a global economy, to act as though we are
> > cowboys from Texas - claiming what we want through might and force - is to
> > act as though we are brutes and boors.  It is also to eventually fail
> > because the might and force we think we have is, quite simply, not there. 
> > Our days of global supremacy are coming to an end - the Euro is now higher
> > than the dollar, Japan is more economically successful than the U.S.,
> > China's economic growth and promise has been compared to America's in the
> > 19th century.   The Bush administration has done nothing to consider any
> of
> > that - it is not a forward thinking administration, it is a backward one. 
> >   
> > Gas prices are $3 a gallon in Atlanta - I've heard they're $5 in
> California
> > (any Californians care to comment?)   Has no one made the connection? 
> >   
> > Karey 
> >   
> >  
> > ----- Original Message ----- 
> > From: J Rivas-Pita 
> > To: Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion 
> >  
> > Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 2005 6:36 AM 
> > Subject: [percy-l] U.S. : Terrorist SuperPower? 
> > 
> > Dear friends,
> > 
> > In a quite Percy-vein, let me ask those of you (the majority, I
> > suppose) who live in the U.S.: Do you realize that you may be living
> > in a terrorist superpower, by now?
> > 
> > Not only in the sense that Mr. Bush, à la Hitler, invades countries
> > using fake arguments, but also in that people like this
> > "televangelist" Pat Robertson -who clearly belongs into some nuts
> > asylum- can get away with TV appeals to assassinate Venezuela's
> > President without even blushing, saying that Venezuelans supossedly
> > are within U.S.'s "sphere of influence"?
> > 
> > And all Mr. Rumsfeld and the State Department can say is that
> > Robertson is "a private citizen" entitled to his views... Owning a
> > large fundamentalist "Christian" TV network that reaches a vast
> > audience, by the way (which both Rumsfeld and the State Department
> > conveniently forgot).
> > 
> > What would you say, for instance, if someone here in Caracas ventured
> > a similar proposal to "take out" Mr. Bush -assuredly a far greater
> > risk for all of us than President Chávez, if only because he has
> > control over thousands of nuclear warheads?
> > 
> > With all best wishes,
> > 
> > Julio
> > 
> > PS. Not a Chávez fan, by the way...
> > 
> > -- 
> > Be Happy! (Fr. Benito Ballesteros, OSB, 1924-1996)
> > Sé feliz! (P. Benito Ballesteros, OSB, 1924-1996)
> > --
> > An archive of all list discussion is available at
> > https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/percy-l/
> > 
> > Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy
> >  
> > --
> > An archive of all list discussion is available at
> > https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/percy-l/
> > 
> > Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy
> > 
> > 
> > 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Be Happy! (Fr. Benito Ballesteros, OSB, 1924-1996)
> Sé feliz! (P. Benito Ballesteros, OSB, 1924-1996)
> --
> An archive of all list discussion is available at
> https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/percy-l/
> 
> Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy
>  
> --
> An archive of all list discussion is available at
> https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/percy-l/
> 
> Visit the Walker Percy Project at http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy
> 
> 
> 


-- 
Be Happy! (Fr. Benito Ballesteros, OSB, 1924-1996)
Sé feliz! (P. Benito Ballesteros, OSB, 1924-1996)