tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065164884737080821.post7839430123149917097..comments2023-10-17T14:31:52.102-04:00Comments on Est Quod Est: The Unveiling of Wendell BerryPaulihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17506171638613025839noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065164884737080821.post-33575879072735687152013-07-01T18:07:20.333-04:002013-07-01T18:07:20.333-04:00You're absolutely right about his hypocrisy. I...You're absolutely right about his hypocrisy. It has always been sad to see so many people I know and respect singing the praises of a man who is so spiteful and prejudiced against the "lifestyle choices" of others, e.g., some people drive cars and use computers. Oh, the horror. He is the perfect example of an old-money wordsmith intellectual who can't abide the new money entrepreneurship that makes the world go around.Paulihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17506171638613025839noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065164884737080821.post-4474889681955331112013-06-24T21:18:27.672-04:002013-06-24T21:18:27.672-04:00Wendell Berry is a crotchety old hypocrite. I des...Wendell Berry is a crotchety old hypocrite. I despise his writings. He must have a God complex. And did it ever occur to him when he wrote this quote in a lecture---"We should, as our culture has warned us over and over again, give our affection to things that are true, just, and beautiful." that his family's farming, which he defends so dramatically was tobacco farming? I hardly see producing a product that causes cancer as "true, "just" or "beautiful." It merely prays on man's vices, not unlike casinos and alcohol.lisaryedesigns.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04921800475658789093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065164884737080821.post-51179883388560920032013-01-22T09:44:21.667-05:002013-01-22T09:44:21.667-05:00Yes, no one should not be surprised by this, not t...Yes, no one should not be surprised by this, not the substance nor the rhetoric. Berry's religion is basically Radical Environmentalist Fundamentalism with an aggressive missionary effort on his part including fire and brimstone preaching. He has confessed to having had problems with Christianity in the past, especially the writings of St. Paul. His method has always been that of the reactionary attack dog, and his idea of a better world is where people are more like him, not more like Jesus Christ. He doesn't see how homosexual acts hurt the environment, and since they don't, he can't fathom how they might hurt someone's soul, or hurt a community.<br /><br />Dreher has gone on at length different places about how Berry sees the world "sacramentally" (i.e., Dreher's way), but I think he's mistaken. It's more like he sees the earth's creatures in an entirely egalitarian way, and he cherry-picks Bible verses to back this up. It's wrong to cut down (i.e., murder) the old tree that everyone in the community appreciates even if it's on "your" land. Why? Because "the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof". In Berry's world, the community is the Lord, and not just any old community, but a rural community whose traditions he himself approves of.<br /><br />Even so, I'm not backing off from my praise of Dreher's criticism. Yes, I think that in a way this is more of the same from Berry. <i>But that is only my opinion</i> (albeit I believe a well reasoned one.) I also believe there is something nastier going on here. I've seen before how defense of homosexuality calls upon forces of absolute chaos which have no sensibility, no logic and no sympathy for competing views. You really open up one of Hell's gates when you begin to defend it. As you well know, Bubba, the last phrase of Romans chapter 1 is "...they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." You call upon the demons and you begin to become like them. Dreher thinks it sounds like Berry is not in his right mind when he is speaking on this topic, and he very well may be correct. Other forces may have hijacked his vocal chords.Paulihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17506171638613025839noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2065164884737080821.post-2948653369713300282013-01-21T23:41:14.654-05:002013-01-21T23:41:14.654-05:00Dreher seems genuinely surprised that Berry's ...Dreher seems genuinely surprised that Berry's lecturing is full of "liberal clichés, ugly insults, and shallow, indignant moralizing."<br /><br />He shouldn't be surprised, it's Berry's m.o.<br /><br />(And Dreher's.)<br /><br />The difference isn't in the unearned sanctimony, but which ox is getting gored. Dreher was more than happy to revel in the moral preening when Berry was targeting the free market, and he was happy to follow suit with that Crunchy Cons book and blog.Bubbanoreply@blogger.com