Ideologues, Ideologists Quotes
The origin of the quotation is with Philosopher George Santayana--{634038}
This is a very important quotation. It is often cited by preventive war hawks to show that deterrence might not be a sufficient inhibitor against an extreme ideological enemy. In this case it was political philosophy that would make the enemy willing to have the majority of its population die to reach the ideological objective. More fearful is the prospect of the Theocracy of Iran where the leaders may believe that nuclear jihad is a commandment of God. More critical is the Islamic theology which says that if most of the Iranian Muslim population die in a nuclear war that they start all those people will be martyrs and immediately go to God’s Paradise. Thus, even the dead Muslims are not victims and the nonbelievers should be killed. For extremely fanatical Muslims nuclear war can be a logical and holy course of action.
If someone repeats a lie, you can show them the logic and facts of the situation and persuade them often. But if they are ideologically wedded to an idea, it is difficult if not impossible to change their mind, as their belief is an ideology, not a conclusion.
He warns particularly of politicians who believe their own lies.
A slight variant of this quotation was used by U. S. Senator Alan K. Simpson—{621186}.
This was his description of Israel's strongest supporting nation�s Secretary of State. His reason for this statement was the Kerry�s analysis of the motivations for Palestinian Terrorist action was different from his. However, the real importance of this quotation is that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu then selected Baratz to lead Israel�s public diplomacy efforts, the major target of which was the United States even though he had these views and worse, publicly published them. Baratz also slandered Secretary of State Kerry�{582961}. It shows that Netanyahu closed his eyes to clear lack of diplomatic skill and language because he was as limited and constrained by his world view much as most of the Palestinian terrorist fanatics were constrained by their world view and ideology. People like this often act against their own interests in order to maintain their world view, and Baratz very much shared the Prime Minister�s particular world view which is what Netanyahu wanted to promote in his nation�s public diplomacy. So he selected an ideological crony.
Like Protestantism, there are different sects of Judaism but not so many. The Reform Jews are the most modern Jewish religious group. Reform Judaism originated in France and developed in America in the 19th century, and most American Jews belong to this branch of Judaism. In Israel, the Reform Jews are a minority like the ultra-Orthodox of which this Rabbi was a leader. He was the head of the ultra-Orthodox Shas political party which often has substantial political power when the two major parties do not have enough votes to make a majority and they need Shas as a coalition partner. This minor party often has a great deal of political influence. Religiously however, Shas speaks for a small minority of Israelis. However, they and some other ultra-Orthodox have been able to control or be very influential with the Israeli Ministry of Religion and they have used this power to not give Reform Judaism any official recognition. Reform Rabbis—which include women—are not officially recognized in Israel and so far as this Rabbi and many of his followers are concerned, Reform Judaism is a great danger to Jews and Israel. The hatred, as in this quotation, for the Reform Jews, is greater than any animosity for the Arabs. In actuality, this rabbi and his followers, are culturally and religiously very much like the Muslims. As Sephardic Jews, they have grown up in the Middle East and before Israel’s founding, they lived in Islamic counties and absorbed much of their culture. Like ultra-orthodox Muslims, they believe in theocracy and oppose democracy. They oppose religious freedom, and oppose civil law and civil courts in favor of religious law and Rabbinical courts. See {637098} for their hostility to the Supreme Court. The friction between the secular, Reform and most Jews in Israel and the ultra-Orthodox simmers just below the surface and breaks out every so often, but the pressure to refrain from major political strife is great lest there not be enough of a united front to protect the Jewish people from the extremists in the Middle East who want to nullify the Israeli state by force and would threaten the very lives of Jewish people.
Actually, most extreme conservatives do live in different centuries at the same time. One is the century in which they are living physically. The second is an earlier one—the century from which his ideology stems. Likewise, most liberal reformers and revolutionists also live in two centuries. The first is the one in which they live physically. The second is in the future where their hopes, dreams, and reforms lie.
