Editors Preface-

The Continuing Saga of

The Christmas Island Coup De’ Tat

Greetings one and all from Christmas Island! Much has transpired since last we engaged in colloquy. Indeed, Porthos, Athos, Aramis, and I (d’Artagnan); have been labouring quite hard on our suntans here on Flying Fish Beach by day and of course plotting, scheming, carousing, and imbibing some of the finest libations ever concocted this side of the Large Magellanic Cloud, at the Bore’s Head Pub (which is the de facto seat of power since the initial revolt). Our economy is doing quite well based largely on the export of music, art, literature, crabs, and beer. Yes, Bore’s Head Pub beer has been discovered to not only be one of the finest beverages available but it can be used in place of petroleum to fuel automobiles with no alterations whatsoever! It has no caustic emissions, and its’ only downside seems to be that your vehicle will let out an occasional belch. Our top scientists are shown here hard at work on the next batch.

( Who is that man overseeing the beer production? Why it’s none other than Cardinal de Richelieu who has decided to cease being an adversary of The Musketeers. Monseigneur le Cardinal has even promised to contribute to propellertalk, and is often seen swashbuckling on the beach with Milady de Winter. (He keeps a low profile for now, but look for an article on this blog soon.)
It’s great to see so many of our friends propelling themselves to our island each day. Why just yesterday whilst crawling home from the Bore’s Head, Aramis spotted a ship on the horizon. It approached Flying Fish harbor under topsails, jib, and spinnaker. It was the Pharaon and it ran aground just a few yards from Flying Fish lighthouse (which is where the Musketeers have been hanging their plumed chapeaus when it is time for a little shut eye). Aramis observed the captain descending the stairs from the upper deck as he suddenly fell down all 3 sets of stairs and rolled down the gangplank. The resulting clangor was enough to wake the dead! “Yeah, what did you wake us up for?” said Athos as he and the rest of the Christmas Island Quadrilateral Commission spilled from their Hammocks. Porthos rushed to his aid. “Captain,” he said, ” did you miss a step?” “No,” said the captain, ” I’m pretty sure I hit every one! ” The captain was none other than Edmond Dantès who brought this article direct from the Isle of Elba to be published here on propellertalk. He also brought this top secret wax sealed envelope for the chef at the Bore’s Head Pub. (It’s contents are revealed here.) And now ladies and gentleman, without further sundry absurdities, may we introduce to you, our fellow Christmas Islander and guest writer, Captain Edmond Dantes aka “david_nwpa”!

Open Dialogue And Debate- Keeping It Honest

Politics and religion are two topics best left outside of bars and taverns. Generally, people tend to cling to like-minded individuals and often attack both messenger and message when bad news or ideas contrary to their own opinion are raised. Propeller is not a watering hole, which is good for me, because I come here to discuss both politics and religion. I realize not everyone agrees with my views, and that is good. Life would be incredibly boring if we all agreed.

 

 

Likewise, progress would not arise without someone, at some point, debating the topics of the day.

ARE YOU A MEMBER OF A COMMUNITY OR AN ELITIST CLUB?

Propeller, however, is a place where all should feel welcome to dialogue and debate openly. We should be more represntative of a Community than of an elitist club. Propeller includes individuals from all walks of life, who are passionately interested in a wide variety of topics, issues and personalities in a large number of countries. The perspective here is not solely limited to the United States; rather it is open to the world at large. Many of the opinions presented here are not necessarily those supported by the Bush administration or other domestic factions or even those of US allies. Yet we should, as a collective, also respect other people’s right to their opinion and their take on U.S. policies and laws.

With that frame of reference in mind, I would ask that as the political season continues, we seek to be civil to one another. We need to avoid three common fallacious arguments which neither prove our points nor uplift the site. Indeed, these three attack methods negatively impact and demean one’s point of view.

1. Ad hominem arguments. These name-calling tactics serve little purpose other than to attack the messenger and avoid addressing the topic. Name-calling is a tactic which belongs on the playground of 8 year-olds rather than within a political arena which is focussed on civil discourse.

2. Reductio ad absurdum. These arguments offer little new evidence and serve scant purpose other than to diminish the impact of the opinion being offered. For example, no ACTUAL “slippery slope” is encountered on the route to expanding marriage rights to gay couples. Some might expand this type of argument to suggest that if two men or two women can marry, then why shouldn’t three men, two cows, a desk, and a child all be married to one another? No one,  in reality, is suggesting that marriage should be opened to anyone other than  individual adults who can consciously consent. Cows, desks and children, according to these terms, cannot consent. The argument of the original premise has been reduced to utter absurdity.

3. The appeal to…. This type of argument appeals to fear, guilt, emotion, pre-supposed belief, or tradition. For example, I claim that something should be so because the (fill in the appropriate religious authority) said so. Alternatively, I claim that something is so because Dr. Eugene Smith said it is so. Perhaps, Dr. Eugene Smith is an expert in the field, but without any furtherevidence of that fact, his argument is moot.

These seem to be the three most common attack retorts one finds on Propeller. I am not suggesting that Propeller is alone in its struggle against logical fallacy. I suspect that Digg and other sites perpetuate similar problems. However, political discourse and persuasion regarding beliefs can have a profound influence on another individual’s life.

I would like encourage us all to avoid these three pitfalls and to concentrate on approaching one another with respect. I admit that I have been guilty of name calling and I know that I need to amend that behaviour. At this moment in time, if we do not work together to protect and nurture our community, this election and all the arguments related to it will render our community one ugly place until November has ended - and potentially leave bruises which last even longer..

Submitted respectfully,

david_nwpa