I don’t enjoy writing this kind of essay. It is the intellectual equivalent of cleaning a greasy kitchen: necessary, unpleasant, and guaranteed to offend the people who insist the smell is “authentic tradition.” But if we’re going to talk honestly about political extremes, you don’t get to treat one side as a dangerous cult and the other as a quirky hobby. Extremes are not philosophies. They are stress reactions with … Read the rest
Tag: tradition
Keys In Need Of The Distant Doors
By Eric Le Roy
In the 21st century, people eager to don the mantel of idealism are inclined toward harsh judgments of the past. Often they are right, for who among us would shout, “Bring back slavery!!” Or “Cancel Human Rights!”? It’s even getting harder all the time to talk someone into advocating for the return of capital punishment.
As for me, I would be uncomfortable in a place … Read the rest
When Gods Retire and Others Apply for the Job
It’s amusing, really, how people insist their religion is eternal while living on a planet that can’t even keep a hairstyle for more than a decade. Civilizations come and go, continents drift, and yet we imagine our particular faith—born on one patch of soil in one historical moment—to be the final revelation. But if the gods of Egypt could overhear us from their long sleep, they’d probably chuckle. They had … Read the rest
The Sponge Stick of Morality
Why “Traditional Values” Never Existed
Let’s face it: every time someone says we must “return to traditional values,” I look around in confusion, wondering which exact century they are referring to. Is it the one with the public latrines and communal sponges, or the one with corsets so tight that women fainted during polite conversation? People love to imagine some golden age of virtue, but history—being its usual uncooperative self—refuses … Read the rest
Come To The Cabaret, Old Chum
By Eric Le Roy
Content 18+ The gray days turn now to early darkness – light-swallowing afternoons that have me leaving the apartment with my dogs when it is still daylight and returning 30 minutes later to sudden winds and the pitch black of precocious night. These afternoons end quicker than friendships when talking about places like Russia and Ukraine, Israel and Palestine. Believe me, I know.
In the morning, … Read the rest
