A Foolish Consistency Is the Hobgoblin of Little Minds
From Emerson's essay, 'Self-Reliance'
Opinion • March 2013 • Views: 1,820
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.
I’ve been thinking about this Emerson quote over the past week, evaluating my own and others’ responses to various situations we have before us.
I think the key word here is “foolish.”
I am inconsistent, but I am reflective about my consistency.
Let me offer some examples:
- I am pro-choice... A woman has complete control of her body. Yet, I do hope they choose life. (Anti-contraception and anti-sex ed arguments piss the hell out of me.)
- I am against general death penalties, but... there are some specific people who need to be removed from the living sphere. And I am not disavowing a certain amount of public revenge against individual unrepentant violators and murderers; I admit it. Kill those bastards; I'm okay with it
- You want a gun? You have every right to it. You also have the responsibility to pass a basic background check, and assure that you have training in basic gun safety.
- I resist Sharia law exactly the same way I resist Christian theocracy. This is America, hoss: we don't cotton to having religion mixed into our government. Any religion. Wake the fk up.
I’m sure I’ll rant more in the comments, if any appear.