Freedom of speech . . . is useless if it is only selectively enjoyed, and if it is not combined with appropriate responsibility. If "freedom of speech" is to be rehabilitiated as a useful concept, it needs to be set within a larger context of social and cultural wisdom. We have to find a way through the postmodern morass, not in order to go back to Enlightenment modernism, but in order to go through and out the other side into the construction of a new world of civility and mature public life. For this, freedom of speech has to be reciprocal; it needs the disciplines of interaction, of patient listening and attention.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Today's Challenge: Use "Morass" in a Sentence
Check out what N. T. Wright, bishop of Durham and genuine genius, had to say to the House of Lords last week:
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9 comments:
The Ho-Ho is a cantankerous morass for those who are trying to jettison their superfluous heftiness.
Nice! Yo, Ding Dong! Ding Dong, yo!
I can relate to that. If I don't watch out for King Ding Dong and his crew of miscreants I'm going to find myself having to buy larger pants because of the morass I'll have.
That's Mr. Steve, upping the ante. The bid is to you, O grandiloquent babbler!
Incidentally, King Ding Dong would have been more satisfying without all the gooey stuff in the middle.
If you dip the King DD in a nice batter and fry it up (a la Iowa State Fair - everything on a stick) the gooey stuff in the middle melts and is absorbed by the spongey outer shell... mmmmm... fried Twinkies.
As for Mr. Steve, I too have the same fear. So instead of continuing to worry about buying larger pants because of your morass, just buy one or two pair with a malleable waistband.
Mr. Webster - I once briefly pondered the propspect of outfitting myself with maternity pants. This clever concept was then appropriated by the frequently clever and witty situation comedy televions show "Friends". Thereafter I felt that I would be mocked, ridiculed and lableld a "Joey".
On another note: How could so many experts have been wrong. The future wasn't about putting meals into a little pill. It's all about food on a stick! It's portable and you end up with a usefull poking device when you are done. Now that's progress! I haven't researched this but I would suspect that the first "food on a stick" may have been sold in Tomorrowland at Disneyland or Disney World.
N.T. Wright rocks my world. I became a fan after seeing him speak at 'Following Christ/Shaping our world' in '98.
My head literally hurt after the workout it got processing his talk...
I gotta give it to Pete for trying to bring some gravitas to this conversation, which is otherwise bogged down in gravy. I'd buy gravy on a stick, incidentally, just to say I tried it.
For me, there's a certain joy and almost todller like facination with food that doesn't require forks or spoons to consume such as Chicken McNuggets, French fries, ding dongs (there I did it...), and the like. Now cover any of those in gravy and the story changes...
There's a question: do you prefer your food on a stick or covered in gravy (or both)?
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