Friday, December 08, 2006

Origins of Neo-Conservatism

By Dr. Robert D. Crane - TAM The American Muslim - Bridgeton, MO,USA
Monday, October 9, 2006

(...)
The fascination of modern political scientists with Straussianism derives in part from Strauss’s oft stated belief that the great ideas of philosophers, unlike the pedantry of scholars, often can best be communicated by esoteric and indirect communication.

Strauss followed Averroes (Ibn Rushd) and Maimonides in emphasizing the importance of distinguishing literal from figurative speech in Scripture. He was aware that prophets in all the world’s sacred scriptures, as well as the world’s greatest thinkers, used analogies and often deliberately contradicted themselves in order to force independent thought.

This method of communication is valid at times in the search for truth. It was used by prophets in the transmission of wahy and is used by those inspired by ilham.

Unfortunately it is also used by false prophets to mislead the naive and unsuspecting as a weapon of what one can call mimetic warfare designed subliminally to seduce and control human thought and emotion. This fascination of the human mind with what eludes its grasp is one reason why students are attracted to cultic forms of Islamic Sufism and of every other form of mysticism.
(...)

No comments:

Friday, December 08, 2006

Origins of Neo-Conservatism
By Dr. Robert D. Crane - TAM The American Muslim - Bridgeton, MO,USA
Monday, October 9, 2006

(...)
The fascination of modern political scientists with Straussianism derives in part from Strauss’s oft stated belief that the great ideas of philosophers, unlike the pedantry of scholars, often can best be communicated by esoteric and indirect communication.

Strauss followed Averroes (Ibn Rushd) and Maimonides in emphasizing the importance of distinguishing literal from figurative speech in Scripture. He was aware that prophets in all the world’s sacred scriptures, as well as the world’s greatest thinkers, used analogies and often deliberately contradicted themselves in order to force independent thought.

This method of communication is valid at times in the search for truth. It was used by prophets in the transmission of wahy and is used by those inspired by ilham.

Unfortunately it is also used by false prophets to mislead the naive and unsuspecting as a weapon of what one can call mimetic warfare designed subliminally to seduce and control human thought and emotion. This fascination of the human mind with what eludes its grasp is one reason why students are attracted to cultic forms of Islamic Sufism and of every other form of mysticism.
(...)

No comments: