Feed a Man a Fish...
Now, I'm no stranger to defending myself and my ideologies from the continued incursions of the faithful staging their little—and not so little—Crusades against us Infidels, but even I often make the mistake of giving the marching-ever-onward Christian Soldiers too much credit.
I give them credit for at least being true to their own sacredly-held Apothegms, even as I see these people.
But remember, while I was raised Catholic and I begrudge no one for that experience, I discovered a whole cosmos outside the Papal Walls of Truth at some point and life outside the VatiCan't suits me just fine. I know the truths held tight there, and I assume that most Christians hold those same values.
When you see Catholic boys, girls, men, women masquerading as calvinists, spouting things like “Feed a man a fish and he eats for a day; teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime”, I get palpably upset.
Is this what's become of the parable of Jesus with the Loaves and the Fishes? Do these people really believe that if Jesus came back today, he'd be a neocon?
Sure, it's great to teach a man to fish, but he won't hear the lesson over the rumblings of an empty stomach.
Teaching is a terrific thing; but learning is even better. But now I'm veering dangerously close to being one of those intellectual-elite snobs, huh? I can understand how people can feel threatened by those who can speak better, who can think more comprehensively...but there are also plenty of us who are eager to be around people who can speak better and especially think more comprehensively, because those are the learning moments.
There's nothing better to an old intellectual snob like me than to be around smart people who are open to change. Improvement doesn't come from stasis. Only decay does.
Too bad there seems to be so many more people out there content to rot in the stink of their own self-satisfied dogma.