For those of you who are familiar with Prometheus Speaks, you know that the site seeks to present innovative and unconventional thinking on under-explored topics. What this means is that some of what I post is bound to be controversial and/or objectionable to some readers. That is why the blog’s name refers to Prometheus, who so loved humanity that he defied the gods and gave fire to humankind, resulting in a very painful and lengthy punishment for his defiance. Zeus had power, but Prometheus was the one who had virtue. Prometheus had nothing but contempt for the gods, whose arrogance and obsession with controlling mortals Prometheus rejected.
But I wish to emphasize that while I am admittedly a proud polemicist, I am no troll. A troll seeks to taunt those with whom they disagree and delights in their anger. I seek to reveal the truth as I see it, even if that truth is unpopular. And not only that, but I will never shrink from speaking that truth to power. While I criticize others on occasion, I refrain from ad hominem and personal attacks on my opponents and make every effort to base my criticisms on principle and respectful argumentation. I try to conduct myself virtuously and responsibly and to attack hypocrisy and exploitation where I see it.
Much of what I write is undoubtedly motivated by anger towards the miscreants out there who would degrade humanity and this world. There is nothing wrong with being motivated by anger. Martin Luther King was motivated by anger at the segregationists. Jesus was motivated by anger at the money-changers, the Pharisees, and the Romans. Gandhi was motivated by anger at the British colonialists. While I am not suggesting that what appears in this blog is of the same level as the rhetoric of those great figures, I know that the same spirit with which they were imbued motivates what I write.
That having been said, I am not a fan of vindictiveness or vengefulness. (My opinions on those qualities are set out at length in my blog post titled Getting Even: The Refuge of a Small Mind.) Rather, I take on viewpoints that I feel will help build the character and expand the perspective of others. I hope that, in my own small way, I am helping to improve (or, in Hebrew, to heal) the world, as that is my only goal.
I have been thinking about the topic of this post in earnest ever since I went to see the play “Enemy of the People” by Henrik Ibsen the other night. The work tells the story of a scientist who discovers that the source of the water that is to be used for spa baths on which his town’s future prosperity depends is polluted, placing bathers at risk of getting sick or even dying. In defiance of the townspeople, and even his brother (who happens to be the mayor), the scientist publicly reveals his findings (as well as criticisms of the town’s corrupt politics), only to have his life and the lives of his family members destroyed by his opponents. The townspeople revile the scientist for what he did, but the theater audience loves and respects him for it. And, nobly, neither he nor his wife and daughter express any regrets for his decision to publish his findings.
I hope that you will agree that what I post on this site are not mere cranky rantings, but rather the opinions of a person of principle doing his best to speak truth to the arrogant and the vain.
