Author: Chris Whittington
Date: 12:57:27 07/03/00
Go up one level in this thread
On July 03, 2000 at 15:26:23, pete wrote: >On July 03, 2000 at 15:16:54, Chris Whittington wrote: > >>On July 03, 2000 at 10:51:07, Dave Gomboc wrote: >> >>>On July 01, 2000 at 17:38:56, Chris Whittington wrote: >>> >>>>On July 01, 2000 at 07:59:54, Marcos Christensen wrote: >>>> >>>>>On June 29, 2000 at 23:13:52, Robert Hyatt wrote: >>>>> >>>>>>On June 29, 2000 at 20:11:57, ujecrh wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>>This is the first time in 7 years that I take part to a moderation thread >>>>>>>because I am very disapointed here. Not about this particular moderation but >>>>>>>about this rule in CCC (that I was not aware of) which forces people to identify >>>>>>>themselves. >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>>Sorry, but it is a _good_ policy. "Anonymous posters can get away with saying >>>>>>anything they want with no fear of reprisal of any kind."(snip) >>>>> >>>>> Sorry me, but isnt wonderful that people can say anything they want with no >>>>>fear? I think that free speech was one of the pillar of democracy. Who said >>>>>"Sir, I do not agree with your ideas but, will fight to death for your rights to >>>>>say them.", or something like that? >>>> >>>>Said by an Englishman. I forget who. The saying is the cornerstone of liberal >>>>democracy and the unwritten British Constitution. >>> >>>AFAIK Voltaire was French. >>> >>>If people have some concrete beefs with how CCC is being run -- and more >>>specifically, with particular moderator actions -- they are invited to send >>>moderator email about it. >>> >>>Dave >> >> >>Since this 'moderator' post is in reply to a post of mine, I would like to ask >>if the comments contained within are addressed on me. >> >> >>Chris Whittington > > >really none of my business but an obvious reply to your original post making >Voltaire's famous quote look like the cornerstone of the British constitution >:-) > >Ever heard of English sense of humour ? Indeed, it gets us into all kinds of trouble. But we use it to keep any authority from getting too sure of itself. A sort of freedom-maintainer by ridicule. That's the common theme running from Sheridan to Monty Python and onwards. We even laughed at Adolf. And correctly so. For he was a fool. As was proved. Did you ever watch his filmed speeches? What else was there to do but laugh? Shame the Germans didn't treat him the same way. I take the time to quote you from "Voltaire's Coconuts" by Ian Buruma. "Why can't the world be more like England? That is the question raised by Voltaire in the Philosophical Dictionary of 1756. It is a curious question to ask, especially for a Frenchman. But Voltaire first came to England in 1726, 38 years after the Glorious Revolution .... having suffered a stint in the Bastille for publishing a satirical poem and unable to publish another poem on religious persecution in France, Voltaire saw England as a model of freedom and tolerance .... Voltaire is the first, or at least the most famous, most eloquent, most outrageous and often the most perceptive modern Anglophile. So why can't the world be more like England? In fact Voltaire's query was a bit more specific: why can't the laws that guarantee British liberties be adopted elsewhere? Of course, being a rationalist and a universalist, Voltaire had to assume that they could be. But he anticipated the objections of less enlightened minds" I could go on, but won't. Off-topic? Probably. But a plus side is that Fernando will now buy the book. Speak to you about it later, Fernando. Weidenfield and Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-64312-6 Chris Whittington Chris Whittington
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