Mueller Lake Park Outdoor Amphitheater
Now Is the Time to Be Reasonable
RECEIVED Wed., Aug. 23, 2006
Dear Editor,
Re: “Page Two,” Light and Darkness [Aug. 18]: I myself tangled with Austin Bay almost three years ago, in the editorial pages of the San Antonio Express-News.
Taking him to task for a column about the "flypaper strategy" of ambushing terrorists in Iraq, I debunked and refuted his boastful surrealistic assertions in a point-for-point analysis.
But in the face of unyielding unwavering "faith,” what is reason? "Force shites upon reason's back,” so said Ben Franklin in Poor Richard's Almanack.
Too bad, then, for all of us. When we turn our backs upon reason, when we opt for the unassailable, we narrow the paths that lay before us, until only one remains, one lined with tragic and bitter memories: Manassas, Bull Run, Gettysburg, Little Rock, Selma, Chicago, Kent State, Seattle, and New Orleans.
As awful as it sounds, it may indeed be necessary some day to defend reason literally at the point of a gun. If those who hold power destroy the country all the while ignoring, or worse, cracking down on the "unbelievers,” what recourse will there be, except that which fits into the magazine chamber of a rifle, shotgun, or semiautomatic?
The crucible of history isn't limited to the grand stage of world events. It also burns in the moments of decision faced by ordinary people. And if the "faithful" (of any stripe) come bustin' down doors someday, new leaders may emerge, not necessarily in the mold of a Cindy Sheehan. They just might be ordinary folks aiming for center of mass in the midst of throat-clutching fear and lots of screaming.
It's not too late to switch the track, folks. And that means reckoning with reality, and with each other – respectfully, decently, and most of all, honestly.
I don't know about anybody else out there, but I'd rather try to work out differences with someone over morning coffee as opposed to sighting them over the bore of a rifle.
Re: “Page Two,” Light and Darkness [Aug. 18]: I myself tangled with Austin Bay almost three years ago, in the editorial pages of the San Antonio Express-News.
Taking him to task for a column about the "flypaper strategy" of ambushing terrorists in Iraq, I debunked and refuted his boastful surrealistic assertions in a point-for-point analysis.
But in the face of unyielding unwavering "faith,” what is reason? "Force shites upon reason's back,” so said Ben Franklin in Poor Richard's Almanack.
Too bad, then, for all of us. When we turn our backs upon reason, when we opt for the unassailable, we narrow the paths that lay before us, until only one remains, one lined with tragic and bitter memories: Manassas, Bull Run, Gettysburg, Little Rock, Selma, Chicago, Kent State, Seattle, and New Orleans.
As awful as it sounds, it may indeed be necessary some day to defend reason literally at the point of a gun. If those who hold power destroy the country all the while ignoring, or worse, cracking down on the "unbelievers,” what recourse will there be, except that which fits into the magazine chamber of a rifle, shotgun, or semiautomatic?
The crucible of history isn't limited to the grand stage of world events. It also burns in the moments of decision faced by ordinary people. And if the "faithful" (of any stripe) come bustin' down doors someday, new leaders may emerge, not necessarily in the mold of a Cindy Sheehan. They just might be ordinary folks aiming for center of mass in the midst of throat-clutching fear and lots of screaming.
It's not too late to switch the track, folks. And that means reckoning with reality, and with each other – respectfully, decently, and most of all, honestly.
I don't know about anybody else out there, but I'd rather try to work out differences with someone over morning coffee as opposed to sighting them over the bore of a rifle.
Gus Gonzales III
