Pope Benedict and Equality

Check out this article on Pope Benedict and equality from Michael Miller of the Acton Institute.  In it he states "Radical equality now has become praiseworthy as something good in itself, separated from any question of truth, common sense, or even biological realities." 

Radical equality is based upon philosophical nominalism.  Nominalism posits that we can not "know" anything about reality.  Its best expression is Descarte's "I think, therefore I am."  The only thing that can be known is the self, and we can know precious little of that, only that we exist.  The outside world is unknowable.   All categories of "things" out in the world are artificial.  We really do not know what "rocks" are and all attempts to categorizes various similar phenomena (i.e. various types of rocks) as rocks are artifical constructs that we impose upon the world.  Thus we can not know "gender."  The concepts "male" and "female" are simply artifical constructs.  These social constructs are created by those in power.  Language is an instrument of power.  Critical Legal theory goes on to say that these constructs are used by the majority to subjugate and exploit the minority.  Further, since we ourselves have no knowable essence, we are simply the sum total of our experiences.  Since others are in charge of that experience, we are their victims; victims of social pressure and language.  Only by overthrowing the "male, female" constructs can the minority be free.  Fortunately, this is hogwash.

We can and do "know" things about the outside world.  Science has shown that there is a kind of dialog between the perceiving mind and the object being perceived.  Thus, before you thought, you were.  We are not simply the sum of our experiences.   We interact with our experiences, accept some, reject others.  If the nominalists were right, then all change would be impossible as everone would be bound by their experience.  Thus, another nominalist, Karl Marx, had to resort to the "vanguard" to lead his revolution.  The vanguard would be a group of people who had (magically) escaped the bonds of their social position.  When we deny reality, equality can only be enforced by state power.  All will be forced to hold the position of the minority, or, at least, act as though they held that belief.  Radical equality leads to oppression.  True equality requires an understanding of our nature and our standing equally before the state.

Rhetoric, argumentation, and propaganda

Ever wonder why the good guys always seem to be at the rhetorical disadvantage.  We mean well but find ourselves cast as oppressors.  That is because our opponents use rhetorical and advertizing techniques to change the subject and shade the meanings of words.  For example, pro-abortion groups have taken to calling for the right to fund "women's reproductive health."  Thus those who opposed them are against women and their health.  Pro-life activists are cast as attempting to deny women health coverage.

I saw an good exposition of the techniques used by progressive social activists on The Abundant Life with Johnnette Benkovic, a program seen on EWTN.  The guest, Paul Rondeau, a professor of marketing at Regent University, explained many of these techniques and how the progressive movement uses them to influence opinion and silence opposition.  Another example is the program of "desensitize, jam and convert" whereby we are exposed to certain ideas so often and so ubiquitously that we become desensitized to the idea.  Thus the media present to us many images of "normal" homosexual lifestyles including on such innocuous programs as HGTV's House Hunters.  After a while we see these couples as just another "lifestyle."  "Jamming" refers to linking legitimate points of view with the most extreme negative attitudes.  Thus if you are against hate speech codes you ar a homophobe and in the same class as those who assault and murder homosexuals.  This technique is used to quiet opposition.  No one wants to be cast as a racist or hatemonger.  Conversion comes when they portray people happily living with the ideas that they aimed to put across.

A copy of the program can be purchased at the Living His Life Abundantly web site. Some of these techniques are discussed here on the Christians Thinking site.

Knowing the techniques is the first step to countering and exposing them.  Having the courage to speak the truth unmasks these techniques and will ultimately defeat them.  In the end, reality will defeat them.  The progressive movement believes that words and language have no meaning; that is words do not refer to anything real.  This argument was made clear by Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault.  Words and language do not refer to anything in the real world they are simply exercises in power.  The world is fully malleable by the manipulation of language.  Thus they can take the position that gender is a "socially constructed" concept.  There is no male and female, only things we call male and female and these concepts have been imposed on us by the existing power structure.  We have the power to create whole different concepts of gender by changing the language.  In the end, though, language refers to actual characteristics of reality.  Those who deny reality are, in the end, going to smash into it.