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May 11, 2024
Liberty Leading the People![]() Eugène Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People (1830) has been celebrated as an emblem of the French Republic for almost 200 years. The dynamic scene of Liberty leading revolutionaries into battle first entered the Louvre in 1874, following its purchase by the state a year after its creation. Who will represent "Liberty" tomorrow? Activists detained for posting stickers around Delacroix’s ‘Liberty Leading the People’ Activists leading the people to victory! Quotes in Context: Who thinks that Robespierre represents freedom? This recently floated through my social media, from a person who does not have Jacobin leanings. But now that there is a Jacobin magazine, perhaps it is not surprising that memes featuring this guy would get copied randomly on social media.
![]() I responded with some context concerning Robespierre's own tyrannical actions, but not this much context: From the BBC historic profile of Robespierre (archived, no longer updated - which can only be a good thing). This link is a pretty good summary if you want something short about the Jacobins to pass on to those with attention spans long enough to go beyond the typical social media meme: In the period after the king's execution, tensions in the convention resulted in a power struggle between the Jacobins and the more moderate Girondins. The Jacobins used the power of the mob to take control and the Girondin leaders were arrested. Control of the country passed to the Committee of Public Safety, of which Robespierre was a member. He rapidly became the dominant force on the committee. Somehow, I had glossed over the Cult of the Supreme Being in learning about the French Revolution. Don't know why. Inspired by Rousseau? Here's a nice quote: What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness? I like to remember Rousseau as the guy who abandoned all his children to a foundling hospital. Robespierre thought of him as the inspiration for a new religion. I don't know if this idea from Rousseau was incorporated in the new religion: Girls must be thwarted early in life. Well, Rousseau seems to have thwarted the mother of his children in a negative way. On the other hand, with rage rituals and various stereotypes of women among "transwomen", maybe he had a point. Happy Mother's Day! Anyway, the Cult of the Supreme Being: The Cult of the Supreme Being was a deistic cult established by Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794) during the French Revolution (1789-1799). Its purpose was to replace Roman Catholicism as the state religion of France and to undermine the atheistic Cult of Reason which had recently gained popularity. It represented the peak of Robespierre's power and went unsupported after his downfall. Worship through "acts of civic duty". On 8 June 1794, a Festival of the Supreme Being was held on the Champ de Mars. Robespierre, who was then at the apex of his dictatorial powers, took on a central role in the festivities, giving him the appearance of pontiff to the new religion. It is thought that distaste for the cult, and for Robespierre's central position in it, helped lead to his downfall a little over a month later. According to historian Mona Ozouf, the Festival represented a certain revolutionary stiffness that foreshadowed the "sclerosis of the Revolution" (Ozouf, 24). Background The Church & the Revolution Rise of Atheism: The Cult of Reason The French Republican Calendar, with 10 day weeks and such . . . The Cult of Reason was especially hostile to clerics themselves, who were humiliatingly forced to abjure their vows by getting married or to declare themselves to be charlatans, under threat of the guillotine. Outright violence against Catholics became increasingly common; Jean-Baptiste Carrier made a name for himself by submerging thousands of clergymen and religious Vendean rebels in the Loire River in the drownings at Nantes. On 7 November 1793, the Archbishop of Paris was forced to resign his duties and was made to replace his mitre with a red cap of liberty. To celebrate the archbishop's humiliation, the Hébertists organized a Festival of Reason to be held at the Notre-Dame Cathedral, which had been rededicated as the Temple of Reason. "the drownings at Nantes" . . . Why am I thinking of Mao here? Robespierre & Religion Not long after the Festival of Reason, Robespierre gave a speech in the Jacobin Club, denouncing atheism as 'aristocratic'. In March 1794, he arranged for the arrests and executions of nineteen leading Hébertists; their deaths also ensured the diminishment of the Cult of Reason. . . Festival of the Supreme Being The description of the staging of the festival, the speeches and the crowds is quite remarkable. Here's a nice quote from the guy who inspired Robespierre's short-lived religion: Once you teach people to say what they do not understand, it is easy enough to get them to say anything you like. But there seems to have been some miscalculation on the part of Robespierre: Reaction to the Festival End of the Cult The People seemed to be amenable to drowning people in the name of atheism, then switching to the Cult of the Supreme Being, then to outlawing both under Napoleon. Amazing. Although there is now an up-and-running Jacobin magazine, other French philosophers, like Franz Fanon, are current problems for our culture. Weekend Reading, listening and viewing t was commonplace during the long Cold War for conservatives and the more classical of classical liberals to make a firm distinction, at once conceptual and practical, between "liberal democracy" and "totalitarian democracy"; between moderate modernity and what Eric Voegelin called "modernity without restraint" in the final pages of his classic 1952 book The New Science of Politics. With much truth, the Jacobins, Bolsheviks, and Nazis were placed on one side, godless, murderous, and contemptuous of moral and political constraints as they were; and on the other side, we had the noble principles of the American Founding and what Alexis de Tocqueville called "liberty under God and the laws." No Year Zero, no 10 day week . . . What do you think? Thoughtful links from David Foster, one including this meme from a union representing teachers who "educate" 600,000 students. Happy May Day: ![]() I am fascinated by the changes in who is thought to represent "liberty" or "freedom" in the eyes of the people. Here's an entertaining debate position (with Nancy Pelosi present) that populism is not a threat to democracy. Music Used to play a two-piano arrangement of this one (no orchestra). We slowed it way down for fun. The Tortoise From last week's comments: Sharon (willow's apprentice) to Sonny D on B.B. King: great minds think alike because that was the version I posted. There is a great set he did with Eric Clapton - Riding with the King. Hope you have something nice planned for this weekend. This is the Thread before the Gardening Thread.
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Hobby Thread - Sept 7, 2024 [TRex]
Ace of Spades Pet Thread, September 7 Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, Sept. 7 The "rules-based international order" vs. free speech? The Classical Saturday Morning Coffee Break & Prayer Revival Daily Tech News 7 September 2024 The Bric, The Brac, The Craic & All, Lets Call It An ONT TGIF Cafe The Week In Woke Dick Cheney Is Voting for Kamala Harris Search
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