I posted a definition of an ideologue here a short time ago. Here it is again from Oxford's:
1. a system of ideas or way of thinking, usu. relating to politics or society, or to the conduct of a class or group, and REGARDED AS JUSTIFYING ACTIONS, EXP. ONE THAT IS HELD IMPLICITLY OR ADOPTED AS A WHOLE AND MAINTAINED REGARDLESS OF THE COURSE OF EVENTS. [emphasis added] That one has strong opinions does not necessarily make him an ideologue. Only if he proceeds from the basis of pre-conceived notions which are not open to change is he an ideologue. A search of the list's archives will show occasions when I have admitted that another person was right and I was wrong. I do not believe I'm an ideologue. An ideologue is someone with biases who operates solely on the basis of those biases and when he encounters something that contradicts the bias, will insist on sticking with the bias rather than changing it to enlarge the new knowledge. And in any case, if I am an ideologue, what exactly do you think is my ideology? My voting record, wrt political parties, is almost all across the spectrum, from the far right to the centre-left (I've never voted for the NDP, which used to be far left but is now close to extinction on the national scene). I ran once for federal parliament and for the Ontario provincial parliament, both times as a Libertarian. As a non-USAmerican, it is only natural that I am going to see things with a different bias. It goes with the territory (literally). But knowing that (having lived 8 years in foreign countries and having visited some 40-odd countries on business has helped) I'm always open to change my views, so I don't consider myself an ideologue. And by cultist I mean someone who tends to concentrate on certain issues and/or a subset of writings and teachings of the brethren to the exclusion of others. None of us is perfectly balanced in this area, so the boundaries are by nature subjective, I'll admit. Gary Smith wrote: > I'm glad you are not an unnatural human. > > I've never considered you a cultist, but not an idealogue??????? What's > one definition of an idealogue? Maybe someone who spends obsessive > amounts of electrons defending his personal point of view on an email > list full of conservatives? ;-) > > You aren't a cultist, but you definitely do defend your ideological > viewpoints very aggressively. And I'm glad you do. It forces us cultists > to review our own belief systems. ;-) > > K'aya K'ama, > Gerald/gary Smith gszion1 @juno.com http://www > .geocities.com/rameumptom/index.html > "No one is as hopelessly enslaved as the person who thinks he's free." - > Johann Wolfgang von Goethe > > Marc: Naturally I'm human and *do* have my biases, but I'm not a cultist > or an > ideologue. Stay tuned for more on this. > > > ________________________________________________________________ > > Sign Up for Juno Platinum Internet Access Today > > Only $9.95 per month! > > Visit www.juno.com > > ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// > /// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at /// > /// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html /// > ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// > -- Marc A. Schindler Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada -- Gateway to the Boreal Parkland “We do not think that there is an incompatibility between words and deeds; the worst thing is to rush into action before the consequences have been properly debated…To think of the future and wait was merely another way of saying one was a coward; any idea of moderation was just an attempt to disguise one’s unmanly character; ability to understand a question from all sides meant that one was totally unfitted for action.” – Pericles about his fellow-Athenians, as quoted by Thucydides in “The Peloponessian Wars” Note: This communication represents the informal personal views of the author solely; its contents do not necessarily reflect those of the author’s employer, nor those of any organization with which the author may be associated. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// /// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at /// /// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html /// ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ==^^=============================================================== This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aaP9AU.bWix1n.YXJjaGl2 Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^^===============================================================
