left biblioblography: AND NEVER THE TWAIN SHALL MEET

Thursday, March 16, 2006

AND NEVER THE TWAIN SHALL MEET


"The Ballad of East and West" by: Rudyard Kipling
“Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat;But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,When two strong men stand face to face,tho' they come from the ends of the earth!”

This is ever so applicable in the case of theist arguing with atheist.

This is because, in my opinion, the vast gulf between the right and left hemispheres. And those triggers which almost all religious literature seems to be able to fire off in the neural nets of our minds.

The atheist relies on facts, statistics, Aristotelian logic, nice and neat round pegs in round holes. Primarily a ‘leftie’, southpaw brain.

The theist is as different from his/her counterpart as night is from day. Why? Obviously, I’m inferring that they use the right hemisphere far more frequently. There are also other events that impact the synapses.

I am speaking of course, of the use of allegory.

Allegory is the method by which one extracts hidden meanings from specific text. While we have much to thank the Greeks for, this is by far a hotly contested method in today’s culture wars.

It is the wellspring of logical fallacies. This, and parables, and metaphors.

Now, I love a good turn of phrase, the sweep of a simile, the magic of metaphor, the allure of allegory (I love alliteration, cantcha tell?). But to imbue every…single…word (insert my best William Shatner impression here) with fraught meanings is a stumbling block to communication.

And sure, sometimes one must needs to read between the lines, and there is occasionally the hidden meaning.

But to paraphrase Sigmund Freud:

“Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.”




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29 comments:

Anonymous said...

What are you telling us here?

There must be a hidden message!!!

Is it that Hairless and I will never get together?

Is it that these pants make me look fat?

What...WHAT are you saying, you devious alliterative devil, you?

Karen ;)

Krystalline Apostate said...

HZ:
Unless it doesn't fit with the holy text depiction of a cigar in which case it is symbolic for an airship, or a submarine, or a throng of angels, or what ever fits a preconceived notion.
Or what Marge Simpson thought the Washington Monument was.

Krystalline Apostate said...

karen:
What...WHAT are you saying, you devious alliterative devil, you?
Hee-hee-hee.
YOU figure it out. It's hidden deep w/in the post, here's the crypto-quote formula - X = G, in which case, you'll spend hundreds of hours looking for something that isn't there.
If you're a theist, that is.
Is it that these pants make me look fat?
Crap. I've just figured out why I'm still a bachelor.
Too bloody honest for me own good.

Krystalline Apostate said...

udonman:
a cigar is just a cigar unless it doesnt fit in monica then its evidence
ROFLMAO!
Nice! Real nice.

HairlessMonkeyDK said...

Missus K. said:

"Is it that Hairless and I will never get together?
Is it that these pants make me look fat?".

Hey!
Karen, I'll receive ya as you are.
Besides, pants are "optional".

Krystalline Apostate said...

HMDK:
Besides, pants are "optional".
Ah-ha! Evolution once again manifests itself.

Anonymous said...

Hairless

pant...pant...pant...panT...paNT...paNT...pANT..PANT..PANT.PANTPANTPANTPABTPANTPANT!!!!!!!!!


*phew*
;)

HairlessMonkeyDK said...

Relucty and Karen:
Yep n' hee! yep.

Relucty sez:
"Ah-ha! Evolution once again manifests itself.".

Indeed!
Manifest destiny, my ass.
Manifest rampant horniness, more like! Ah..................

Anonymous said...

RA
Very cool picture! Tres sexy!

I've been decoding your post.
So far, I've got:
I pledge my undying love to the goddess, Karen. She is the one flicker of light and hope in an otherwise dismal universe. I will pay homage to her at any and all cost. Skippy peanut butter, tofu, lettuce, paper towels, soap.

Were you heading to the market?

HairlessMonkeyDK said...

GRRRR!!!!
I've already told you, relucty!
Stop seducing my gal!


Heehe...
Still, is that a -silver suit- you're wearing in that picture?!?!
If it is, were you under duress?

Krystalline Apostate said...

HMDK:
pant...pant...pant...panT...paNT...paNT...pANT..PANT..PANT.PANTPANTPANTPABTPANTPANT!!!!!!!!!

Du-UDE! You just made a mess on my blog! Now clean that up! Pronto! The health inspectors'll be here any..oh, hello! Can you give me 5 minutes?
Hehehehe.

Krystalline Apostate said...

karen:
Very cool picture! Tres sexy!
Why, you always manage to make me blush, dear.
I pledge my undying love to the goddess, Karen. She is the one flicker of light and hope in an otherwise dismal universe. I will pay homage to her at any and all cost. Skippy peanut butter, tofu, lettuce, paper towels, soap.
Sorry, X=G, not X=L. Pretty close. You're making me hungry. For food, among other things.

HMDK:
Stop seducing my gal!
Maybe you should play hard to get more often.
Still, is that a -silver suit- you're wearing in that picture?!?!
No, that's beige silk. Gift from my student.
Silk has such a...decadent feeling against one's skin.
If it is, were you under duress?
Nope. That move is called Rhino Points to the Moon. Photo shoot for my Tai Chi website.
Didn't cost me a penny, either.
'My mama told me...you gotta shop around!'

HairlessMonkeyDK said...

I rest my case.

Anonymous said...

RA
Actually, that was me, panting.
But that's OK.
We'll make Hairless clean up anyway.

X=G. You sure? Cos THAT decoding didn't make sense at all! Some rubbish about the world being created in 7 days, and a big flood, a man living inside a whale, murder, mayhem, ravage and ruin!
I much prefer my X=L decoding.
Hey, do I look fat in THESE pants?

How 'bout now, OUT of them?
♥K

Krystalline Apostate said...

HMDK:
I rest my case.
Ummm...which case would that be? I have no memory of having been in court.

karen:
Actually, that was me, panting.
Oh, oops.
We'll make Hairless clean up anyway.
Oh my.
Some rubbish about the world being created in 7 days, and a big flood, a man living inside a whale, murder, mayhem, ravage and ruin!
The 1st interpretation was closer by far.
How 'bout now, OUT of them?
♥K

Oh, my stars & garters.
Sshhh. You're gonna make your boyfriend jealous.
Ummm...what was this thread about?

Anonymous said...

RA
"Ummm...what was this thread about?"
UH...Ohhhh...kkkaaaayyy. Sorry.
*properly chastised*

But sometimes a cigar isn't just a cigar--it's a trigger.
And sometimes atheists are more right-brained than you'd expect.

(Although, with me, I should think you'd be used to it.)

K.

Krystalline Apostate said...

karen:
And sometimes atheists are more right-brained than you'd expect.
I think you, I, & SNTC are very good proof of that. Not to mention Natasha. Or Uberkuh.
*properly chastised*
Hey, not w/your virtual boyfriend about, at least. Let's be discreet, ey? ;)
Oops.

Anonymous said...

Discreet it is, O silk-suited One!

Ehhh, not very good at it though, am I?

Who is Uberkuh?

k.

Krystalline Apostate said...

karen:
Who is Uberkuh?
The Artistic Atheist.
If I don't have him on my blogroll, I shall henceforth correct that.
http://uberkuh.com/

HairlessMonkeyDK said...

"Discreet it is, O silk-suited One!
Ehhh, not very good at it though, am I?".

No.
I can feel my jealousy bubbling!


I warned you Relucty...
Now I might have to kill you in an extremely embarassing way, involving pliers, blowtorches, asparagus, ballpoint pens and rancid eggs.
I'm still working out the details...
But know that it will be gruesome beyond belief!

Krystalline Apostate said...

HMDK:
I can feel my jealousy bubbling!
Probably just your hormones.
Now I might have to kill you in an extremely embarassing way, involving pliers, blowtorches, asparagus, ballpoint pens and rancid eggs.
Bring all your friends & a bag lunch too. It's gonna take a while just to catch me. What did Duke Nuke'em say?
Oh yeah.
'It's time to kick ass and chew bubblegum. And I'm all outta gum.'
Asparagus?

HairlessMonkeyDK said...

Relucty... Yes, asparagus.
And it will hurt!

Mesoforte said...

RA

WOW, I can see gray hair! How come you can practice in the open, but I can't. T_T

Apology for the old comment, o Silk-suited one.

Mesoforte said...

Wait a second... you practice a Chinese form of swordsmanship, don't you. (It took me a minite to make out the sword.) The sword and pose definitely don't look Japanese.

Krystalline Apostate said...

MF:
Apology for the old comment, o Silk-suited one.
Don't let it happen again - hehehehe.
Yeah, I do Chinese MA.
How come you can practice in the open, but I can't.
Says who? I've had maintenance men hassle me, I just ignore 'em. Cops have seen me as they drive by, etc. I hear nothing from them.
Unless a police officer tells you you can't, & can prove it, you can practice any damn place you like (w/in reason: don't be swinging swords around in malls, ;)).
I live in CA, though. You see a lot of folk practice outside (large Asian populace out here).
It has to be IN WRITING. Otherwise, you can pretty much tell folks to piss off. Or, just smile & keep going.

Krystalline Apostate said...

udonman:
and ra i am going to just teach my self tai chi from videos and books any help you can give me to get started would be a plus
Well, short of having an actual teacher (which is a real necessity), I think there may be correspondence courses you can take over the internet. You learn the hand form, tape yourself doing it, & send it in, if I recall properly.

Mesoforte said...

RA

I think that the University Police might consider a large guy carrying aroung two bokens as suspicious, or the wooden swords might be considered weapons, o silver suited one.

Udonman

You guys are careful while practicing, right? When me and a friend do it, we have to be really careful.

Krystalline Apostate said...

MF:
I think that the University Police might consider a large guy carrying aroung two bokens as suspicious, or the wooden swords might be considered weapons
Perhaps, then, you should go & ask them, or better yet, go talk to the head of security. See if you can work around it.
Or perhaps find a local park. Go practice there.
1 never knows until 1 tries, you know.

Krystalline Apostate said...

udonman:
well maybe i will actually get a teacher its to bad i dont live in californa im sure to find an all knowing master to teach me
All knowing? Yeesh. I've heard my sifu introduce himself, & say 'I'm just a student.'
Watch how they move, watch how they interact w/students, see how much they laugh.
Where you at, anyways?