tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321349.post6716487557815302509..comments2024-03-03T10:53:22.293-08:00Comments on The Debate Link: Friendly RemindersDavid Schraubhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04946653376744012423noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321349.post-32406496420102600222013-12-03T20:00:26.037-08:002013-12-03T20:00:26.037-08:00Why should he take offense in any event, unless an...Why should he take offense in any event, unless an implication was made that the current pontiff would have been pursuing the same wicked policy?<br /><br />Historical events in the past, particularly the distant past, either occurred or didn't occur; if they occurred, then (again, unless there is a continuity of policy) the behavior being described is the behavior of someone not present. It is irrational to the point of imbecility for me to be offended at your description of actions taken by someone who is not me, and who is at most a distant forebearer of the same polity. <br /><br />If the events did not occur, i.e., are myth, then taking offense is similarly impossible; I cannot be offended that you accuse me of being the man who assassinated the Secret Caliph of the Puppy Emirate, because there is no such place or person, and there was no assassination.<br /><br />You are Jewish (I think) and I am Italian; we should be able to have a discussion of who were bigger pricks, the 1st century Roman colonial bureaucracy of Jerusalem, or the contemporaneous Sanhedrin. Whether the conversation is civil or acrimonious, if one of us becomes *offended* by data, then one of us is a jackass. :)Roberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07160061641869302097noreply@blogger.com