Genies!

namelessfly wrote:

runsforcelery wrote:
There's actually a sort of fundamental question here. Is the Alignment wrong about its objectives while Beowulf is correct to fear those objectives? Or is the Alignment only wrong about it's tactics, while Beowulf is wrong to fear the MA's final objective but right about its own tactics and morality?

There are, of course, a host of other questions. I simply submit these two for your consideration.

I had similar thoughts years ago. However; given the fecal storm that was provoked by my thread about the Manticore vs Haven war being a metaphor for the conflict between Capitalism vs Communism, I refrained from bringing it. Just pointing out that since the Mesans rejected the New Testament one can argue that the Mesans are Jewish provoked a knee jerk hostility from
the Duckk.

runsforcelery wrote:
One reason that it did is that Duckk knows I was accused of anti-Semitism in a letter to Baen shortly after HotQ came out precisely because the letter-writer reasoned that I had deliberately implied that the Mesans were Jews, based on the name of their planet and their excision of the New Testament. The real reason for the planet name, of course, was to demonstrate how religious fanatics (of any stripe, though I admit it's a tad hard to find a religious fanatic Methodist . . . except where our casserole recipes are concerned, perhaps ) can pervert and steal from the histories of any other religion, as well as their own. And, of course, however terrible we think the Honorverse Masadans are, they don't see it that way.

kzt wrote:Is everyone using Mesa for Masada, or did I miss something about the MA having a theology?

One reason that it did is that Duckk knows I was accused of anti-Semitism in a letter to Baen shortly after HotQ came out precisely because the letter-writer reasoned that I had deliberately implied that the Mesans were Jews, based on the name of their planet and their excision of the New Testament. The real reason for the planet name, of course, was to demonstrate how religious fanatics (of any stripe, though I admit it's a tad hard to find a religious fanatic Methodist . . . except where our casserole recipes are concerned, perhaps ) can pervert and steal from the histories of any other religion, as well as their own. And, of course, however terrible we think the Honorverse Masadans are, they don't see it that way.

I trust that my readers at large --- as well as everyone who knows me personally --- realizes just how ridiculous that charge actually was, but I suspect Duckk's a bit protective of me.

Annachie wrote:Lol, to me the masadans were the bad muslim trope of the honorverse.

But, more relevantly, I still maintain that everyone not of the star lines, and probably quite a few who are, are going to be the slaves of the RF's Brave New World. Whether they realise it or not.

biochem wrote:I really hate dealing with those professionally offended types (why do so many of them wind up in politics to torment the rest of us?). <snip>

In my personal life I find that 90% of the things that seem offensive are in reality misinterpretations, etc. To bad the professionally offended types don't do the same. It must be very depressing to live life believing that everyone around you is offensive.

namelessfly wrote:There was never any mention of the Masadans embracing Islam. Their primary theological innovation waste reject the entire New Testimont of the Bible. The Masadans also remimpised a host of dietary codes. Technically, this would make the Masadans Jewish.