Comments on: Celebrities as Moral and Political Guides http://austrolabe.com/2007/05/23/celebrities-as-moral-and-political-guides/ Sat, 07 Jan 2012 13:12:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: Statler http://austrolabe.com/2007/05/23/celebrities-as-moral-and-political-guides/comment-page-1/#comment-26814 Statler Wed, 23 May 2007 07:01:06 +0000 http://austrolabe.com/2007/05/23/celebrities-as-moral-and-political-guides/#comment-26814 with regard to popular (ie low) culture, this has always been driven by the masses. As Muslims I think we should adopt a form of cultural monastasicm to try and insulate as much as we can from this type of social change. Paul Johnson has a superb piece in this weeks spectator. In the Muslim world, the "rock stars" are the eminent scholars of the sacred sciences, in the west, the rock stars, are rock stars. with regard to popular (ie low) culture, this has always been driven by the masses. As Muslims I think we should adopt a form of cultural monastasicm to try and insulate as much as we can from this type of social change.

Paul Johnson has a superb piece in this weeks spectator.

In the Muslim world, the “rock stars” are the eminent scholars of the sacred sciences, in the west, the rock stars, are rock stars.

]]> By: Statler http://austrolabe.com/2007/05/23/celebrities-as-moral-and-political-guides/comment-page-1/#comment-26811 Statler Wed, 23 May 2007 06:42:45 +0000 http://austrolabe.com/2007/05/23/celebrities-as-moral-and-political-guides/#comment-26811 I don't mind celebrities having opinions and using the platform of their celebrity to advocate it. We should not rely on "the expert" alone to decide on policy in their area of expertise. Fdor example if one allowed the medical profession to determine abortion practice, then we would have abortions with few restrictions, similarly for illegal drug use which would be treated as entirely a medical problem (and decriminalized). At a time early in the last century, every public intellectual of note was either a fascist or a communist. These were people whose expertise was political philosophy, look where they ended up. So I would rater a fool speak on any subject, than to allow custom or diktat to restrict public discussion of any subject, to those with expertise in that field. Eventually the public is better served by a diverse group of ill informed opinion, than by a small "elite" group of considered opinion. I don’t mind celebrities having opinions and using the platform of their celebrity to advocate it.

We should not rely on “the expert” alone to decide on policy in their area of expertise. Fdor example if one allowed the medical profession to determine abortion practice, then we would have abortions with few restrictions, similarly for illegal drug use which would be treated as entirely a medical problem (and decriminalized).

At a time early in the last century, every public intellectual of note was either a fascist or a communist. These were people whose expertise was political philosophy, look where they ended up.

So I would rater a fool speak on any subject, than to allow custom or diktat to restrict public discussion of any subject, to those with expertise in that field.

Eventually the public is better served by a diverse group of ill informed opinion, than by a small “elite” group of considered opinion.

]]>