Justus For All

I am a long time fan of The Hitch-Hikers Guide To The Galaxy.  I am the only person I know who can actually recite Vogon Poetry from memory.  Part of what makes HHGTG so funny is that behind the silliness is a lot of truth.

The Cartoon Mohammad controversy reminds me of the Babel Fish.

the poor Babel fish, by effectively removing all barriers to communication between different races and cultures, has caused more and bloodier wars than anything else in the history of creation.

Our Babel fish of course is the internet and other global communications.  It certainly seems sometimes that greater communication has increased hatred and misunderstanding rather than lessening it.

This isn’t just between western nations and Muslims.  A similar dynamic seems to take place between liberals and conservatives here in the United States where Conservatives can find the worst of Daily Kos or Democratic Underground to enhance their disgust with opossing views and Liberals do the same with Little Green Footballs.  Add in that the angriest and least rational are also the loudest and most active and it is easy for disagreement to quickly become hatred.

Vast areas of agreement and common ground are obscured in such a process and specific disagreements become grounds for a holy war.

Douglas Adams was a prophet.

While it is obvious that this sort of behavior is easy to fall into I don’t think it inevitable or that we can’t use communication technologies to actually communicate.  Part of that is looking for the best in the oppossite side rather than just the worst.  A good deal of it is being willing to disagree with decorum and good manners.

I hope that I am able to do that for the most part on this site and that those who come here are able to feel respected whatever they believe.