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To: liberallarry
It was the use of yet another non-sequitur. Hence, "There you go again."
158 posted on 03/15/2002 5:57:23 PM PST by AmishDude
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To: AmishDude
Familiar in a way that we are not (pre 9/11) with the consequences of religious absolutism.

From Post #96. The first "non-sequitur". The thinkers of the 18th century were strongly affected by the wars of the previous two centuries. They distrusted religion, monarchy, and all claims to absolute truth. I refer you to "The Age of Voltaire" by Will and Ariel Durant for a good description of the time. The founders of our country were a part of that group. It is therefore not reasonable to think they would write found a country based on the absolute immutability of some document. Any reading of the Federalist papers shows that the Constitution was a political document right from the beginning. The Constitution was written by two men and adopted by a group of others who argued about every point. It was not universally admired and its meaning was disputed immediately.

159 posted on 03/15/2002 6:20:50 PM PST by liberallarry
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To: AmishDude
Rhetoric is an ancient skill, always highly valued.</>

From Post #102. The second "non-sequitur".

A reply to your claim "Actually they appealed to reason". Actually they were largely a group of lawyers and were partisan as hell - something Washington complained about. Actually political discourse at the time was far more bitter and ill-mannered than today. Actually spin - more properly known as rhetoric - was coin of the realm then just as now and just as previously.

160 posted on 03/15/2002 6:29:03 PM PST by liberallarry
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To: AmishDude
The third "non-sequitur" was a joke, as you suspected. You may not have appreciated it but it was quite relevent and not at all "non".

In other words there were no non-sequiturs, regardless of whether or not you liked the substance of the arguments.

162 posted on 03/15/2002 6:31:40 PM PST by liberallarry
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