>>> Brett Knowlton <brettk at unica-usa.com> 03/23/00 04:41PM >>>
Charles,
>If it were possible to detect directly a "pure' fascistic racist thought,
I >would not be adverse to trying to discourage that fascistic racist
thought. >Thought is not sacred because it is thought.
Thought IS sacred because it is thought. Your thoughts define you, they are an integral part of you. Thoughts can not be separated from the person. If you mess with someone's thoughts, you destroy their individuality and begin to mold them into something else.
A literal thought police would be truly horrifying.
My opinions belong to me, and even if they could be detected, nobody has any right to censor or modify them, or to punish me for them.
________
CB: How about the thought that thought is not sacred ? Is that thought sacred ?
Just kidding.
Thanks for being candid and straightforward , Brett. There is no "argument" in my reply. Only an assertion that in my opinion , being , the reality outside of my thought , is in the picture. And is equally important in defining me, or you. So, thought is not an absolute highest value, but must be judged in relation to being, the part of people that is not their thoughts. Actions are as important as thoughts in this definition of people.
The human is not thought alone, but the relation of thought and being.
CB