Dymitri Haraszewski
Blog # 1660
3-16-20

Comment Reply
Reply ID wku9

Well helloooo J.P.! =) Got your comment, and as happens a lot to me with you... I feel bad now! No, not that hearing from you makes me feel bad (exactly the opposite!), but so often you remind me that I've said something that could offend you a bit, even if I certainly don't mean to and you aren't saying that I did. It's... well, just, my attitude toward religion in general has been pretty negative for a long time now, and... hmm. And what? Not sure where I'm going w/ that. Anyway, you write of your gratitude that I "allow your supernatural beliefs into our relationship," and I cringe a little... I realize what I say sometimes comes off a bit harshly. Maybe more than just a bit now and then. =( I suppose I sound pretty intolerant, closed-minded, dogmatic, even, in much the same way I often criticize in others. I'm pretty sure you know me well enough by now that you know I'm not (much) those things, yet... I imagine it must sting a bit to read something from someone you like, someone you care about, that suggests or betrays a negative attitude or belief about something near and dear to you, or part of you. If my "black" friends talk bad about "white" people, and I hear it, don't I squirm a little? Don't I doubt a little what they really think of me, or what our relationship really is? Can a Jew hear a friend say something casually anti-semitic and now feel at least a little put-off, no matter how well they know and like each other? I assume I must make you feel a little like that sometimes, no? With my occasionally hardened expressions against religious belief? Yet you never say a thing to make me feel uncomfortable, unless maybe it's discomfort at having something reflected back that embarrasses me. I do learn from you, you know - our relationship helps make me a better person. This reminds me, just the other night I read an essay in an ethics textbook, the author was explaining how liberalism (in the traditional sense) does us a disservice in the dogmatic insistence on keeping religious motives or influence out of public policy discussion. He described how precisely his religious conviction causes him to believe the poor have rights as poor people, a belief not shared by plenty, probably most, other Americans. Without his religious basis for his belief, he has a hard time arguing for it, but ppl insist church & state separation requires secular reasons in public politics. All this made me think of your screenname - social justice is biblically-based. You may be right - that essay was very persuasive. Ironically, it was given to me as a mere foil for its companion essay that unhazes religion in politics. Someone assured I'd see it all one way only, but... things aren't always so simple!

P.S. - Ms. Tartt arrived a couple weeks ago with your note. Thanks!! The overwhelm of legal work will keep me from finishing very fast ... Sorry =( But so far, I've enjoyed the first 20 pgs or so! All my best... D.