[ExI] Progressives

[Khaled Aly]

From: "Samantha Atkins" <sjatkins at mac.com>
| Personally I don't use such simplistic labels for myself or anyone
| else as "progressive".  I thought we all claimed "upwinger" or some
| such anyway.
|
** Regardless of the original topic where the term has occured, which I 
couldn't locate- not sure if you're against it in terms of a political 
direction, or of an overly simplistic labels.  I quote once more from the 
American Heritage dictionary "Progressive: 1. Moving forward; advancing; . . 
. 2. Promoting or favoring polticial reform ; liberal  ... etc.

** I am just curious why you consider it a simplistic label. I'm mainly 
asking because I happen to strongly believe in the word. The opposite is 
"bakward thinking". And the neutral non-contrary would be "stallment". I am 
not American and I have no right to argue naming conventions of political 
wings, if that's the issue here. But I think if the world, with its east and 
west, Christian and Moslem and Jewish and other populations and 'faiths', 
did not think progressively; we will never get out of the current global 
violence swamp that is indeed going to impact just about every nation on 
Earth. Easily foresee a third world war developing in southwestern Asia 
because non of the parties involved (help me count how many) is thinking 
progressively enough. In my own "poor" interpretation of the very word, that 
would be getting over minor ritual differences and unyielding conflicts of 
interest for the overall benefit of humanity. Both (or rather either) of the 
costs of ongoing wars and/or the wealth gained by the polynomial rise in oil 
prices could have fixed most of the indecent regimes that gain credibility 
by their people merely due to their falsely presented economical conditions. 
Progressive may equal "Don't beat them, don't fight them, educate them". 
It's much easier and it costs much less. Educate them the basic and applied 
sciences. Then only they will be able to make qualified about the relation 
of religion to politics.


From: "Lee Corbin" <lcorbin at rawbw.com>
| The very psychology of changing labels---if not orientations---is very 
interesting
| and reflects something about our thought processes (or at least about the 
thought
| processes of some of us).

** Well yes, the thought process is supposed and meant to be evolutionary. 
Changing labels is probably a psychological reaction to the commonly used 
labels beginning to lose content, and hence lose value. These are not taboos 
or stereotypes but expressions of thought and behavior. I feel it is 
perfectly OK to think outside the mainstream academic realm of social and 
political terms. The word reflects the culture of inducing changes. Wouldn't 
you agree that "Change is the only constant"?

What was the initial debate about BTW :)

Cheers
ka