[15688] in APO-L
Re: Losing Faith
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Joseph M. Fisher)
Thu Nov 21 21:16:26 1996
Date: Thu, 21 Nov 1996 21:16:14 -0800
Reply-To: "Joseph M. Fisher" <jfisher@RacerX.mse.jhu.edu>
From: "Joseph M. Fisher" <jfisher@RacerX.mse.jhu.edu>
To: Multiple recipients of list APO-L <APO-L@VM.CC.PURDUE.EDU>
In-Reply-To: <9611200543.AA00319@RacerX.mse.jhu.edu>
On Wed, 20 Nov 1996, Ron Gavel, Nu Zeta wrote:
> Interesting! Tradition alone? Let us turn our attention to the very
> fabric of life here on this planet. On the basic level we must consume to
There is a difference between (I'm just making up the terms here)
tradition and practicality. Tradition is something that we honor without
question for aesthetic or ideological purposes. Practicality is something
that we honor without question for purposes of physical comfort and
survival.
The reason why I point this out is, I think that the examples you bring up
are considered by most people to be matters of practicality. That is,
altering the environment, making money, and submitting to government. (I
don't entirely agree... I am currently defying another practicality, which
is to get a degree... and I think that absolute anarchy is the ideal
society... but that is entirely off topic.) Eating other forms of life,
for example, is unavoidable. We HAVE to do it to survive.
Having all-male chapters, on the other hand, is a tradition. It's not
necessary for the survival of APO. It is simply a way in which some
people prefer to do things. That way may be good or bad, and that is what
we are arguing over. But I think it's quite clear that the status of
"tradition" does not in itself make a practice good or bad.
-- Cyrano
