Saturday, April 03, 2010
Overgeneralization about overgeneralization
In the little tempest over comments by the Pope's advisor Cantalemesse (doesn't the name mean "he sings the Mass"?) both sides are, as usual, missing the basic logic.
Big Chief Sings-The-Mass said that the Stalinists who use the scandal of perverted priests to destroy the whole Church are overgeneralizing in the same way that people have used the annoying qualities of many Jews to destroy all Jews.
Not strictly false; both situations do involve overgeneralizations.
The problem is that the Roman situation involves a hierarchy with direct control, while the Jewish situation didn't.
The pervert priests were encouraged and coddled for many years by all levels of the hierarchy, which after all consisted of the same type of people, who got into the hierarchy for the same reasons.
Annoying Jews are just annoying. There are times (like right now) when Jews do in fact control significant parts of our economy and culture (like Wall Street and Hollywood) and do in fact use those parts to serve their own annoying ends. And you can even see a certain amount of enabling, as when the Jewish SEC protected the Jewish Bernie Madoff for many years, refusing to listen to the Greek Harry Markopolos.
But there isn't a Jewish Pope or a Jewish hierarchy; these particular Jews reached positions of power because they're smart and aggressive, not because they're Jewish.
The Wall Street Mafia was previously owned by Presbyterians, who used it in the same corrupt way because they were also smart and aggressive, not because they were Presbyterians.
In short, Catholic corruption is specifically owned by the institution of the Church, while Jewish corruption is owned by people who could be replaced by other types of people and still be corrupt in the same way.
= = = = =
We can, however, draw a correct and valid generalization here. The Wall Street Mafia is corrupt as an institution, just as the Catholic priesthood is corrupt as an institution. Our economy won't be free to grow until we kill the corrupt economic institution, and the Catholic form of belief won't be free to grow until it kills the corrupt religious institution. ¶ 8:05 AM
Big Chief Sings-The-Mass said that the Stalinists who use the scandal of perverted priests to destroy the whole Church are overgeneralizing in the same way that people have used the annoying qualities of many Jews to destroy all Jews.
Not strictly false; both situations do involve overgeneralizations.
The problem is that the Roman situation involves a hierarchy with direct control, while the Jewish situation didn't.
The pervert priests were encouraged and coddled for many years by all levels of the hierarchy, which after all consisted of the same type of people, who got into the hierarchy for the same reasons.
Annoying Jews are just annoying. There are times (like right now) when Jews do in fact control significant parts of our economy and culture (like Wall Street and Hollywood) and do in fact use those parts to serve their own annoying ends. And you can even see a certain amount of enabling, as when the Jewish SEC protected the Jewish Bernie Madoff for many years, refusing to listen to the Greek Harry Markopolos.
But there isn't a Jewish Pope or a Jewish hierarchy; these particular Jews reached positions of power because they're smart and aggressive, not because they're Jewish.
The Wall Street Mafia was previously owned by Presbyterians, who used it in the same corrupt way because they were also smart and aggressive, not because they were Presbyterians.
In short, Catholic corruption is specifically owned by the institution of the Church, while Jewish corruption is owned by people who could be replaced by other types of people and still be corrupt in the same way.
= = = = =
We can, however, draw a correct and valid generalization here. The Wall Street Mafia is corrupt as an institution, just as the Catholic priesthood is corrupt as an institution. Our economy won't be free to grow until we kill the corrupt economic institution, and the Catholic form of belief won't be free to grow until it kills the corrupt religious institution. ¶ 8:05 AM
