Theos-Talk Archives (December 2002 Message tt00195)

--- In theos-talk@y..., "Bill Meredith" <bill_meredith@e...> wrote:
> 
> He knows everything! You don't even have to ask him. He'll tell 
you. He is the one who is "qualified or capable of helping others or 
of deciding who is or is not capable of doing so."
> 
Not to pick on Wry particularly, I find a certain kind of ideological 
self-confidence fascinating. It abounds on this list. Dallas has 
it, Leon has it, Daniel has it, Brigitte has it, but other people 
here I find much more sympatico like Steve and Bart have some too. 
Can't honestly say it's enviable, other than with a big, 
counterfactual if. That is, I only wish I had such self-confidence 
if it might be picked up and put down at will, as needed. But people 
who have such confidence in whatever they believe -- and therefore in 
themselves as arbiters of truth-- generally seem more burdened by it 
than liberated. Which makes me wonder if the bluster and 
intimidation of "I've got the answers and you better be prepared to 
defend yourself if you try to contradict them" masks an insecurity 
deeper than my own. Maybe it takes a certain existential security to 
be willing to adopt the stance "how much does anyone really know 
about anything anyhow?" That is, if you're secure in other 
dimensions, maybe you don't need as much the security of having all 
the answers.

Paul, doubting the wisdom of posting this