A Response to David Stolinsky
DON'T SWALLOW SNAKE OIL
Dr. Stolinsky’s “house calls” are always welcome. But it’s a mixed bag he’s carrying.
Make no mistake, he’s right about the patient being sick. There’s a moral silliness in the land about the use of force, and it’s compounded with a “double-standarditis.” Some folks have an acute case of it, and the bug’s contagious.
Take a closer look, though, at the medicines our friend’s toting in that bag of his. The best of them are generic. The worst are snake oil. Swallowed together, they might cure some problems, but they’ll exacerbate others. The truth is, well, we
need stronger medicine.
What’s behind my caveat? OK, cards on the table. First, I’m an aspiring pacifist, so I don’t like pacifist-bashing. Second, Stolinsky’s stingy in citing Exodus. (Besides, St. Thomas does a better job getting at what’s at issue there.) Maybe that’s why the good doctor goes wrong with many of his domestic and foreign prescriptions.
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Apathy and passivity are not the characteristics of civilized people. They are marks of submissive people who invite an authoritarian regime to control their lives.