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

[dabeck AT iupui.edu]

Mr. Rivas-Pita, 
You wrote,
<if you have some intellectual and moral integrity, do respond to my 
arguments 
and do not resort to the fascist-style practice of calling me names (à la
Joe McCarthy, if you happen to know who he was -it depends on how old
you are or how much you know about XXth century American politics.>
 
I probably don't have the moral integrity of you, but I do know American 
history. But who called you names?? I'm guessing that this posting is 
directed 
toward mine, but when did I call you a "name"? (The answer is probably as 
elusive as the connection of your postings to Percy is, but I was just 
wondering, since you accused me of being guilty of the "fascist-style 
practice 
of calling [you] names", if you can give me one name that I called you in my 
posting.)
 Just wondering.
 
Quoting J Rivas-Pita <juliorivas AT gmail.com>:

> I also have an idea -about what you stand for, for instance.
> 
> To grossly misquote me like this:
> 
> " It started off with something like "through a
> percean view, how do you Americans feel about having a leader who is
> comparable to Hitler" (a remark that should be offensive to all Jews and
> thinking people who know history). What do those remarks REALLY have to do
> with Percy, other than the desire to spew out one's agenda under the mask of
> the remarks being "percean"?"
> 
> Those interested enough are quite welcomed to go back in the thread
> and read my post.
> 
> To misquote another list-member, and to misquote him OUT OF CONTEXT
> seems to me plainly dishonest, both morally and intelectually. Which
> confirms my suspicions about your own hidden agenda, masked as
> "fastidiousness".
> 
> As to the remark about "all Jews and thinking people who know
> history", I must say I'm COMPLETELY FED UP MYSELF with the
> manipulative portraying of Jews as -seemingly- the only victims of
> violence and hatred on this planet, to the total exclusion of the
> about 50 MILLION DEAD in WWII who WERE NOT JEWISH, not to mention the
> fact that later on it was Jews who violently persecuted, discriminated
> and robbed of their land Palestinians, sending them into refugee camps
> -something that the Jewish-controlled media in the U.S.A. do not much
> care to show.
> 
> And PLEASE do not come now saying that these remarks are offensive or
> that I must be a Communist or something to the effect -if you have
> some intellectual and moral integrity, do respond to my arguments and
> do not resort to the fascist-style practice of calling me names (à la
> Joe McCarthy, if you happen to know who he was -it depends on how old
> you are or how much you know about XXth century American politics).
> 
> 
> 
> On 8/25/05, dabeck AT iupui.edu <dabeck AT iupui.edu> wrote:
> > 
> > I have an idea. I see that some have attempted some marvelous contortions,
> in
> > order to relate this discussion to Percy. It's easy to say, I think Percy
> > would relate to XXX. But the fact is, he isn't here to throw in his
> opinions.
> > One thing that stands out about Percy is that a) he wrote much of his work
> > during some of the most volatile years of recent history; and b)he seemed
> to
> > shy away from making a dogmatic stand on political issues of the day. Some
> > have recommended Love in the Ruins. I agree. The book shows how divided
> our
> > country can and has become. But, at the same time, the book never shows us
> a
> > particular side we should support (in a Bakhtinian way), left or right.
> Percy
> > shows the weaknesses of both. In fact, he points out the myopic view that
> > dogmatic ideologies are prone to.
> >  I don't know. But anytime I hear someone arguing vehemently for one side
> or
> > the other, I cast a suspicious eye toward him/her. I really don't think
> that
> > either position is that black and white.
> >  For me, that's the big Percean point: He never sided with the far right
> or
> > the far left (or the middle, for that matter). Perhaps a better discussion
> for
> > this listserv is how to relate Percy's thought to the polarization that is
> > taking place in the U.S.
> >  If not, please do me a favor and carry on the discussion off-list. All
> I'm
> > reading is the same tired rhetoric that I (unfortunately) have to hear
> every
> > time I turn on the TV and listen to the talking heads of the left and the
> > right. Nothing new is being said, and all of us are to comfortable in our
> self-
> > righteous beliefs to really hear the other.
> >  I invite us all to drop our agenda and return to what this list does
> best:
> > analyze the works of Percy and how they relate to our everyday lives. The
> > original posting that started this discussion was inappropriate. It had
> > nothing to do with Percy. It started off with something like "through a
> > percean view, how do you Americans feel about having a leader who is
> > comparable to Hitler" (a remark that should be offensive to all Jews and
> > thinking people who know history). What do those remarks REALLY have to do
> > with Percy, other than the desire to spew out one's agenda under the mask
> of
> > the remarks being "percean"?
> >  I suggest (PLEASE) take the discussion off list. I'm tired of reading the
> > same old rhetoric that I hear everyday on the news. Let's get back to what
> > this list is for: discussing Percy's philosophy and how we relate it to
> our
> > everyday lives. Other listserves exist that welcome one's political
> agenda,
> > but I'm hoping this one won't turn out like the others.
> > -David
> > --
> > 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
>