Weekend

Just got an iPhone. Trying out all the toys. Don't mind me.


-Thompson

Logos, Pathos, Ethos

Preview this blog post by Kate Harding, and think about the following questions:

Where and when was it published?

Who wrote it? Do you know anything about this writer? How can you find out more?

Take a moment to open up a new tab (file>new tab) and do a quick internet search on the author. Share your findings in the comments section at the end of this post, then come back to the next question.

What is the subtitle of the post? What kind of clues does it give you about the content and tone of what you are about to read?

This post appears on salon.com, an online magazine that specializes in liberal politics, media, and opinion. What can you assume, then, about this blog post?

Now, catch up with the back story for this post by skimming over a news article on the subject, then come back.

When you read the blog post, you will need to know the following terms to understand the text:

age of consent

consensual

apologist

stigma

undisputed

Define these words and think about words that you know that sound similar to these words and may be related. When you've done this, you're ready to go back to the text for a first reading.

For the first time through, you should read to understand the text. Read as if you trust Harding, and focus on what she is trying to say. Is the article about what you thought it would be about? Does Harding say what you thought she would say?

What surprised you?

What does Harding want readers to believe?

What authorities does Harding use to support her case?

What action does she want to be taken?

The Existence of Evil

"...myth is in one of its aspects the only history of an age that kept no records."
-Bernard Knox

It could be said, I think, that myth is the only science and psychology of such a world, as well. Without modern instruments, and without thousands of years of documented research, the oral tradition of pre-literate cultures had to find ways to explain human actions and natural phenomena in a satisfactory way.

In Greek myth- and myths around the world, natural disasters- like earthquakes, volcanoes, floods and famines- were often explained as divine punishment for human wrongs. The greater the disaster, the more egregious the human sin must have been. The process of creating these myths probably moved backward chronologically, from the disaster itself to the root cause of it.

Let's look at an example from the Judeo-Christian tradition:

The Biblical Story of Sodom and Gomorrah

What was the real life disaster?

What do you think was the sin of the men of Sodom?

This tendency to attribute disasters to human error has not disappeared with the modern age. Two days after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York City and the Pentagon, the Reverend Jerry Falwell appeared on the Christian Broadcasting Network's 700 Club with Pat Robertson, and made the following remarks regarding who bore at least part of the blame for the disaster:

"I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen.'"