Tony Blair pledges book proceeds to Royal British Legion
Let me ask you one question,
Is your money that good?
Will it buy you forgiveness?
Do you think that it could?
I think you will find,
When your death takes its toll,
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul.
Bob Dylan – Masters of War
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http://peterreynolds.wordpress.com/2010/08/16/tony-blair-on-course/
Curmudgeons, ingrates, snide dissemblers retreat! This is a generous move.
I may be curmudgeonly. The post may be snide. But the charges of ingratitude and dissembling are spurious. The donation does not benefit me, so there is no question of gratitude or ingratitude. The post poses a question and makes an assertion, so there cannot be dissembling.
The generosity of the donation is not questioned. The question that is posed: is it possible for a monetary donation to buy back a persons soul?
Well your post suggests that Blair has lost his soul presumably as a result of his time as prime minister. That is dissembling: “The presentation of facts in a way that is literally true, but intentionally misleading”.
Nevertheless, I’m Bob Dylan fan too. “There are many here among us who think that life is but a joke”
The expression of an opinion, even if that opinion is wrong, is not dissembling. The suggestion that Blair has lost his soul is clearly a subjective opinion: I fail to see how, by any stretch of the imagination, it can be construed as a “presentation of facts” or “literally true”. You clearly disagree with my opinion – so argue why I am wrong, don’t accuse me of dissembling.
All this is predicated on a belief in the existence of the soul. Your opinion is that he has lost his, as I say, presumably as a result of his time as PM.
My opinion is that it isn’t possible to lose your soul but perhaps it can become corrupted. I would suggest this can happen through bad faith, dishonesty, deception, selfishness and/or evil intent. I don’t believe that TB is guilty of any of these. I don’t believe there was any evil intent in his actions as PM. I think he may have been foolish, naive, badly advised, subject to outside pressures, perhaps even stupid at times. I don’t believe that he acted in bad faith at any time.
Therefore I think his soul is intact if a little bruised. His integrity and honour are upheld. He undoubtedly made lots of mistakes and there may be consequences for those but his soul endures.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.