A Capite Ad Calcem Manifesto

The title of this blog translates literally: “from head to foot.” Idiomatically: “from top to bottom” or “from head to toe.” I chose this title because it captures the breath and depth of my blogging topics (at least sometimes). I chose Latin because many English blogger titles have already been taken, and because I think Latin is important.

Like most manifestos, I will state some sweeping generalizations, give my worldview, and state my opinions. I figure it is better to lay them on the line now, so you wont be wondering later.

Generalization 1) Most blogs are really not worthwhile unless you know the person writing it personally

Generalization 2) Most people (like myself) have failed to get blogs up and running

Generalization 3) People read blogs that are self-affirmative. People love echo-chambers. This much is evident from my own links. As you will see, most of the links I have contain ideas similar to or at least from the same cloth as my own.

Generalization 4) Nobody likes to read online diaries of average looking 22-year-old men.

Generalization 5) People like to read things that are provocative and distinctive. People gravitate towards novelty, but too much novelty is distracting. Also, people understand things through their own methods of understanding, which are formed by their culture, education, etc. Completely random and unusual things cannot be understood well, and I will avoid such things.

Worldview: a combination of my religious, political, and social beliefs. It all starts with my religious beliefs, which provide the rational basis to my political and social beliefs as well as a metaphysical and logic system.

Religious:

Credo in unum Deum,
Patrem omnipoténtem,
factórem cæli et terræ,
visibílium ómnium et invisibílium.
Et in unum Dóminum Iesum Christum,
Fílium Dei Unigénitum,
et ex Patre natum ante ómnia sæcula.
Deum de Deo, lumen de lúmine, Deum verum de Deo vero,
génitum, non factum, consubstantiálem Patri:
per quem ómnia facta sunt.
Qui propter nos hómines et propter nostram salútem
descéndit de cælis.
Et incarnátus est de Spíritu Sancto
ex María Vírgine, et homo factus est.
Crucifíxus étiam pro nobis sub Póntio Piláto;
passus, et sepúltus est,
et resurréxit tértia die, secúndum Scriptúras,
et ascéndit in cælum, sedet ad déxteram Patris.
Et íterum ventúrus est cum glória,

iudicáre vivos et mórtuos,

cuius regni non erit finis.
Et in Spíritum Sanctum, Dóminum et vivificántem:
qui ex Patre Filióque procédit.
Qui cum Patre et Fílio simul adorátur et conglorifícatur:
qui locútus est per prophétas.
Et unam, sanctam, cathólicam et apostólicam Ecclésiam.
Confíteor unum baptísma in remissiónem peccatorum.
Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum,
et vitam ventúri sæculi. Amen.

Politically: I believe that society should be organized in a deliberately traditional manner that recognizes the value of reason. I believe that society should function in a manner that gives priority to the exercise of individual virtue rather than encouraging “individual freedom” or “collective good.” This does not mean that individual freedom or collective good are unimportant, just less important.

Socially: People are responsible for doing good. Good for themselves and for others. This is a major bone of contention for many of those that call themselves “conservative.” Many come from a Hebrew/Roman understanding of good, which boils down the golden rule. In the Hebrew system, it’s because God says so; in Roman, it’s so you can get along. The outcomes are the same. I am much less traditional in that I see Jesus Christ as offering the most perfect ethical system—we are to love our neighbors. Because of this, “just letting people be” is intolerable. If they are harming themselves, good people should take action to stop it. If there are patterns of self-destruction that people often fall into, laws should be made that prevent this self-destruction. The paradox is that by forcing (law) people to be good, you rob them of the fullness of virtue. Therefore, there is a balance, and each issue needs to be approached particularly and locally and traditionally to find that balance.

Particular, local, and traditional are loaded words. Particular constitutes features of the issue that are special and unique. For example, real estate is unlike most property in that it is impossible to move it about, it is subject to weather, it is absolutely necessary for survival, it only exists in physical connection with other pieces of real estate. Each of these features makes analyzing an issue concerning property unique. To ignore them is foolishness.

Local constitutes features of the issue that are related to the location of the issue. The culture, the time, the people. These are just as important as particular features when analyzing a problem, especially if the problem involves humans.

Finally, traditional constitutes looking at a problem using methods and understandings of those who have already analyzed the problem. Humans are naturally traditional. People often say we are “creatures of habit” or “don’t like change.” These are obviously rather crude ways of understanding tradition; tradition is more than habit or preference for the status quo. It involves depth of understanding and it has limits. Reason is the usual limiting factor to tradition.

A final note: I believe in the supernatural and the mysterious. Since there is no way to determine that supernatural phenomena does exist or doesn’t exist due to the limits of our natural world, I choose to believe that the supernatural exists because it explains the unexplainable (though my choice really has nothing to do with the matter). It is clear that over time more and more unexplainable thing are explained using purely natural arguments (such as the development of biological diversity). It is just as clear that as we learn more about the natural world, more unexplainable things are discovered, such as anthropic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropic_principle) co-incidences. I still have never heard a convincing argument explaining the existence and origin of the mind, consciousness, or ideas.

Mystery is not superstition. Mystery is acknowledging that some things cannot be explained, but can still be accepted. Mystery is healthy and mature. Adolescence is typified by assuming omniscience and seeking answers to questions that cannot be answered; maturity is typified by awareness of imperfection and knowing how to go about answering questions. I can fully accept that things like the Trinity and Love exist and operate in knowable ways, but that explanations of how they work may never be grasped.

My objectives: to provide blog readers with an interesting, lively, and thoughtful blog with the aforementioned themes woven throughout. Also, expect the occasional ethanol induced post.