Quodlibeta

Been away for the Bank Holiday. We visited Windsor Castle and Eton College to view some spectacular architecture and interior decorating. Eton's chapel is a beautiful example of late perpendicular like our own King's College Chapel here at Cambridge (founded by the same king, Henry VI). And there were some fantastic Flemish murals that survived the vandals of the Reformation by being whitewashed over and hidden behind choir stalls only to be revealed in the 20th century. St George's Chapel in the Castle is simply perfect and one of the rare English churches untouched by the Reformation. Even the chantries are intact.

My feedback form allows anonymous feedback and I get the occasional masterpiece of incoherent stupidity and rudeness from those who don't want to own up to who they are. I thought I should share a couple. Here's one with a fixation on Nazis.

"name: Palladas

comments: The Big Lie technique works!
For you to claim that Xtians did not systematically destroy books, pagan & philosophical is a piece vileness on par with Goebbles;
quit.
You're not even funny. Poor darling, how do you explain the LAWS of Theo 1, 2, Just. et al. BANNING books and even talk of philosophy (ever heard of Porphyry, etc.?)rejecting Xianity."

Sadly for Palladas, I do know the Roman law codes (s)he is refering to and they don't say what (s)he thinks. The law setting up a school for pagan learning in Constantinople springs to mind. Ofcourse, they attacked literature that was attacking the state religion - exactly the same as pagan emperors did. Diocletian ordered all Christian writings destroyed and by all accounts got through quite a lot of it.

Then we have this exhibition in freethinking rationalism:

"name: f**k off....

comments: I guess you not even feel anymore any pains in the a**hole on repeating such idiocies, 'cause you already are so imbibed by the pressure of the "normality", that disguised lies seems true to you; the quiet with which you repeat 'em, makes you feel ensured that's the truth, and trying to trasmit to other gullible poor idiots. Indeed, it is only a case of delusion that amplificates itself, and comes to "clear" your fundamental uncertainity and weakness.
I know, with my words I do not resolve anything; "the more you pursue us, the more we believe", isn't?
Poor wretches; poor BRAINWASHED wretches."

No comment. But perhaps a spell checker on my feedback form would help...

I don't publish correspondence but will use this blog to answer anything particularly interesting with the permission of the sender. Anonymous feedback is usually just insults so I'll feel free to publish anything particularly juicy. Permission of the author, axiomatically, will not be sought.