Philosophy
I always become suspicious when someone, conservative or liberal, tries to make a point by appealing back to the Founding Fathers. Part of it just has to do with consistency: since they were fallible humans, they were right about some things and wrong about others, so appealing back to them doesn't help us one iota in figuring out whether the particular belief appealed to belonged to one category or the other.
Also, and I can't believe how much this point is always overlooked, the Founding Fathers did NOT agree on everything, so while it might be easy to find one founding father who agrees with your particular position, it's equally easy to find another who disagrees, so we're still not a step closer to solving the dispute. And even if a majority of them did agree on something, that only tells us they agreed, not whether they were right, which ought to be the real point of discussion.
Ultimately, appealing to our forefathers is an easy way to abdicate personal responsibility for our own choices by placing that burden on a bunch of dead white males who can no longer defend their position. It is also a sentimental appeal meant to go straight for the emotional patriotic jugular instead of focusing on the merits of the idea discussed. It is also a lazy strategy deployed in order to save oneself the burden of having to think for oneself...
And finally, it is also a dishonest strategy, since most people tend to project unto the Founding Fathers their own beliefs (just like the religious do with the Bible when it comes to their moral beliefs), while conveniently ignoring all evidence to the contrary (see Confirmation Bias).
Of course, while I agree with the spirit, the point could have been better made if Maher had gotten all of his facts straight:
- The Sinking Ship
The allegory in Book IX of the tyrannical man being a direct descendant of his democratic father is an example that can be seen in many present-day and historical figures of government. An important and pertinent story to fill this analogy is the current...
- Atheism Is A Religion Like Abstinence Is A Sex Position
When it comes to debates between religious folks and non-believers, it's not uncommon to hear the former claim that atheism is itself a religion ultimately based on faith. And it's not just your ordinary bible-thumping redneck either. If you've...
- John Adams - Declaration Of Independence
As I've argued before, the Founding Fathers were not this monolithic and unified myth of unanimous agreement we often fantasize or 'remember'. A lot of what they managed to accomplish (even the approval of the Declaration of Independence)...
- The Founding Fathers Rap
I don?t know whether you enjoyed celebrating our day of independence this past weekend to the sound of Thomas Jefferson on vocals and violin while Benjamin Franklin rocked out the electric guitar, but if that poppish sound doesn?t quite do it for you...
- Thomas Jefferson Pwns Sarah Palin
I don't get how people can just willfully make up their own facts, believe their own inventions, and subsequently completely forget/ignore the fact that they fabricated the whole thing, but that's probably why I'm not a preacher or a politician......
Philosophy
Bill Maher - New Rule: Tea Baggers & Founding Fathers
I always become suspicious when someone, conservative or liberal, tries to make a point by appealing back to the Founding Fathers. Part of it just has to do with consistency: since they were fallible humans, they were right about some things and wrong about others, so appealing back to them doesn't help us one iota in figuring out whether the particular belief appealed to belonged to one category or the other.Also, and I can't believe how much this point is always overlooked, the Founding Fathers did NOT agree on everything, so while it might be easy to find one founding father who agrees with your particular position, it's equally easy to find another who disagrees, so we're still not a step closer to solving the dispute. And even if a majority of them did agree on something, that only tells us they agreed, not whether they were right, which ought to be the real point of discussion.
Ultimately, appealing to our forefathers is an easy way to abdicate personal responsibility for our own choices by placing that burden on a bunch of dead white males who can no longer defend their position. It is also a sentimental appeal meant to go straight for the emotional patriotic jugular instead of focusing on the merits of the idea discussed. It is also a lazy strategy deployed in order to save oneself the burden of having to think for oneself...
And finally, it is also a dishonest strategy, since most people tend to project unto the Founding Fathers their own beliefs (just like the religious do with the Bible when it comes to their moral beliefs), while conveniently ignoring all evidence to the contrary (see Confirmation Bias).
Of course, while I agree with the spirit, the point could have been better made if Maher had gotten all of his facts straight:
- Paine was a deist, not an atheist (his problem was with religion, not with god)
- While some of the Founding Fathers espoused some elitism (Hamilton, for instance), other did not (Jefferson)
- John Adams was a Unitarian, and believed Christianity to be the wisest of all religions
- Jefferson did edit the Bible to get rid of all it superstitious nonsense, but he did consider Jesus to be an excellent moral teacher, so even he didn't consider the book to be complete bullshit
But you get the point...
.- The Sinking Ship
The allegory in Book IX of the tyrannical man being a direct descendant of his democratic father is an example that can be seen in many present-day and historical figures of government. An important and pertinent story to fill this analogy is the current...
- Atheism Is A Religion Like Abstinence Is A Sex Position
When it comes to debates between religious folks and non-believers, it's not uncommon to hear the former claim that atheism is itself a religion ultimately based on faith. And it's not just your ordinary bible-thumping redneck either. If you've...
- John Adams - Declaration Of Independence
As I've argued before, the Founding Fathers were not this monolithic and unified myth of unanimous agreement we often fantasize or 'remember'. A lot of what they managed to accomplish (even the approval of the Declaration of Independence)...
- The Founding Fathers Rap
I don?t know whether you enjoyed celebrating our day of independence this past weekend to the sound of Thomas Jefferson on vocals and violin while Benjamin Franklin rocked out the electric guitar, but if that poppish sound doesn?t quite do it for you...
- Thomas Jefferson Pwns Sarah Palin
I don't get how people can just willfully make up their own facts, believe their own inventions, and subsequently completely forget/ignore the fact that they fabricated the whole thing, but that's probably why I'm not a preacher or a politician......