Corinthians, it was once said, worshipped at the tomb of the unknown god. Liberals, with their implacable certitude, worship at the tomb of the unknown principle; they’d be prepared to die for their beliefs, if only they knew what they were.
Liberals can’t make up their minds whether theirs is a ground-level ideology, on a par with beliefs like Islam or conservatism, or a meta-ideology which aims to glide above the wash of vying credos.
Unless they renege on their defence of difference and come out as ground-level ideologues who balk at genital mutilation. But if they come out, then insofar as the defence of difference is the principle constituting liberalism, the principled defence collapses. In becoming what it is, liberalism reveals itself as vacuous. Ambiguity is a bad start for an ideology
Liberals can’t make up their minds whether theirs is a ground-level ideology, on a par with beliefs like Islam or conservatism, or a meta-ideology which aims to glide above the wash of vying credos.
Unless they renege on their defence of difference and come out as ground-level ideologues who balk at genital mutilation. But if they come out, then insofar as the defence of difference is the principle constituting liberalism, the principled defence collapses. In becoming what it is, liberalism reveals itself as vacuous. Ambiguity is a bad start for an ideology
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