Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Thought Experiment

Here's a mildly nasty thought experiment: What would happen if you exchanged Global Warming with Zionism?

The idea of the experiment is to take two issues which are dear to the same group of people, while switching the positioning of Good and Bad. It's an experiment, mind you, not a real comparison! For the purpose of following thought patterns. I'm not making a statement about global warming one way or the other. Not.

The rules of the game are that there's an accepted truth which any reasonable person can see and understand and accept and even defend were the need to arise. Global warming, say, or the right of the Jews to have a state in which to live their national lives. Each of these truths, however, does imply some practical positions: don't heat your home with the windows open, for example, or don't travel in airplanes; don't support Hamas, for example, or don't boycott computers. You get the idea.

Now, imagine there's a group of Bad People who've decided to disagree with the accepted wisdom. They'll go to any length to chip away at your beloved beliefs: they dig up old documents to prove your leaders have been conniving bastards all along. They cherry pick weaknesses in your generally impregnable defenses and use them to undermine the entire edifice. They're demagogues, populists, conniving sneaks, propagandists and generally Awful People. Oy oy oy oy.

Again, I'm not saying the comparison is in any way valid for anything - but do try to read any of the endless items at the Guardian, and especially the comments, using these experimental rules: Global Warming is like the Zionists; global warming skeptics are the enemies of Zionism. You may find it's fun. Here, start with this one, then go to this one for comments.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

hard to explain why in the field of Israel-slandering this from the Pope worries me so much - to date the "left" still seems to oppose his way of imposing "natural law" but what if he opens the door to proselytizing Jews even further - might they not discover that as another tool to delegitimize Israel, a country full of people who refuse to see the "light"? after all proselytizing for whatever is their preferred pastime anyway.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article7011095.ece
maybe it is just their unabashed joining the trend of going back to the roots religions and memories of my youth when they still had the powers to influence daily life quite unpleasantly (if you don't ... you will be sent to an institution) - no they were not the only ones doing that but in my perception they were the trend-setters
Silke

Anonymous said...

Much fun indeed... http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/5714211/another-ipcc-claim-evaporates.thtml

ModernityBlog said...

very good point.