English Chess Forum

John McKenna wrote:I absolutely refuse to believe it - until a non-white, gay (of any sex) speed skater or downhill racer starts striking gold.

The problem is John, as Bobby Fischer discovered yonks ago, to be accepted as a king of logic, you are not allowed the body of God (a biology designed by God) so bits of you must be chopped off, in a bid to make you holy, as possibly advocated by such as Stewart Reuben, don't get me wrong, I don't think he is responsible for this variety of child abuse, but I would sleep better, if he thought this variety of cultural behaviour, was actually male baby abuse, the same as Bobby Fischer thought it was.

Hi Peter,

Is it a social or a theological problem? Could it be a combination of the two?

Long, long before Bobby objected (and Wayne Bobbitt reflected) men (and some women and children) accepted they might lose part or even all of their bodies in rites of passage. That all culminated, in a way, in the cruxi-fiction of a man who said he was "the son of God" (perhaps someone can help me out here because I kept reading in the Bible about "the son of man" but could never quite figure out who he was, but I digress). Despite his self-sacrifice for the sake of all others - or so he said and his followers believe - MGM (no, not Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer but Male Genital Mutilation) continues to this day. He also pointed out, quite logically, that there should be no distinction between Gentile and Jew, but we are still distinguishing today (and even extinguishing until recently). We have yet to "teach the world to sing (let alone live) in perfect harmony". I'm sure our global corps(es) are still working on their version of that. And that's what worries me - I don't like the sound or look of it any more than you.

[As a chessplayer you could try thinking of Jesus as the master who saw people needlessly dropping and sacrificing bits - big & small - and finally losing their soul (the king) when they could (all) avoid defeat and with correct play always bring the game to its ultimate logical conclusion - a draw with bare souls (kings) intact. Or, the peace that passeth all understanding.]

As enigmatic as it may sound perhaps the answer lies in a koan, or a quatrain -

Alike for those who for To-Day prepare,
And those who after a To-Morrow stare,
A Muezzin from the Tower of Darkness cries
'Fools! your Reward is neither Here nor There!'

Please try not to lose too much sleep over it.

Regards,
John

Edit: I see the hand of 'Mod' at work. Quick work at that. Maybe an explanation is forthcoming.

I've moved this out of the chess in the media thread. I'm letting the discussion live here for now; if it heads downhill I may be forced to lock it.

As an aside, my conversations with Stewart Reuben on the subject don't exactly suggest he's a supporter of circumcision.

I see the description of what has been done but not an explanation why.
Don't know about Peter T, but I think your choice of title is piss poor. I'd prefer MGM.

John McKenna wrote:I see the description of what has been done but not an explanation why.

The explanation why is that I don't want to see discussion of controversial topics in the chess sections unless these topics are actually related to chess. (In fact, I don't really want to see discussion of anything in the chess sections unless it's related to chess, but topics like What Peter D Williams Had For Dinner are unlikely to cause massive rows that spoil a thread.)

Thanx for that, Jack.
Now should I remove the Medieval-style chess morality play so that my post is nought to do with chess?
Still think your subject title is too controversial and one-sided.

Maybe Jack's seeking some kind of divine guidance or inspiration but TGIF and I'm off.
Goodnite one & all.

IM Jack Rudd wrote:I've moved this out of the chess in the media thread. I'm letting the discussion live here for now; if it heads downhill I may be forced to lock it.

Thanks Jack, yes we may need to lock it off and even delete it.

I only answered the voice of one crying in the wilderness.

God hardly, if ever, explains his purposes (unlike his archangel) so I'll leave it at this -

Then to the rolling Heaven itself I cried,
Asking, 'What Lamp had Destiny to guide
Her little Children stumbling in the Dark?'
And - 'A blind Understanding!' Heaven replied.