Hobgoblins

Ayn Rand once quoted Emerson's line, "Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds", referring to someone who she considered to have "a very little mind". I don't remember exactly who it was, offhand, but I think it was Emerson, himself.

I referred to the quote in the title of my previous post to show that Richard Land was a very little mind to whom consistency must be a hobgoblin, indeed. In referring to a reporter's expectation of consistency as "asinine", Land betrays his true feelings about the supposed moral absolutism of a literal interpretation of the Bible.

But then, to a Christian, moral absolutism is a value subject to sacrifice, just like every other value. Also, Christians are, first and foremost, sinners, and as such are expected to violate absolutes, moral and otherwise.

Land's smugness in announcing his rejection of integrity seems dangerously close to pride - though pride is certainly much too clean a response to a situation this twisted.

And do I detect a note of viciousness in that smugness?

Of course, I would expect viciousness from someone who believes that values are to be upheld only so that they can be sacrificed.

Thus begins the road to nihilism.

(But is the end of that road the place where religion meets modern philosophy and declares its own impotence, and thus commits suicide? Or is there another possibility?)