A comment about another post
I wrote this comment about a post that appeared on The American Conservative website, and which was in turn commented on at Front Porch Republic.
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This is just a generalized comment, not addressed to a single, particular person:
Let Wendell Berry be Wendell Berry.
If you have a different opinion on some subject, make your own case and articulate it as well as you can.
An interview with Wendell Berry should not be treated as a test to see if he agrees with “our” wisdom — and if he “fails” that test, we are shocked, disappointed, confused. Can’t we suppose that he actually, and thoughtfully, and perhaps even “rightly,” disagrees with “us”?
I have read a lot of Wendell Berry for a lot of years, and am confident that his wisdom and legacy will remain long after the purported shock of this opinion wears off.
Look to Wendell Berry for inspiration, as I do; but don’t be demanding of him, or asking of him, that he must validate your own, no doubt equally well-thought-out, viewpoints.
To do that would be to insult the man — and yourself.
Let Wendell Berry be Wendell Berry.
If you have a different opinion on some subject, make your own case and articulate it as well as you can.
An interview with Wendell Berry should not be treated as a test to see if he agrees with “our” wisdom — and if he “fails” that test, we are shocked, disappointed, confused. Can’t we suppose that he actually, and thoughtfully, and perhaps even “rightly,” disagrees with “us”?
I have read a lot of Wendell Berry for a lot of years, and am confident that his wisdom and legacy will remain long after the purported shock of this opinion wears off.
Look to Wendell Berry for inspiration, as I do; but don’t be demanding of him, or asking of him, that he must validate your own, no doubt equally well-thought-out, viewpoints.
To do that would be to insult the man — and yourself.
You make an excellent point. This needed to be said.
ReplyDeleteRF, Seattle