Everybody has assumptions. Everybody has presuppositions. Everybody has filters.

Here is what this means. Anytime people come to a conversation, they have long since made up their minds about the who, what, when, where, how, and why. That is fine – not a bad thing, just a thing. What isn’t fine is when folks are unaware that they have presuppositions and/or fail to define them explicitly because they’ve become so deeply ingrained. I’ll spend a lot of time on this site commenting on what I believe to be key assumptions, presuppositions, and filters that undergird modern political thought and culture. This means I talk about what your are not supposed to talk about: politics and religion. Fun fun fun!

Here are the expectations underlying this site:

1. Truth is knowable, graspable, and obtainable in a place I call the Arena of Ideas. (What is truth? I have the answer and maybe soon I’ll tell ya. >snicker<
2. I fancy myself a player in the Arena of Ideas (I like my metaphor—I will use it a lot.)
3. The Arena of Ideas is where people use their intellectual passion for the spoils of the human mind and soul and spirit! (I hear the theme song to Star Wars when I write this.)
4. Everyone is qualified to enter the Arena. (But that doesn’t mean everyone is smart.)
5. The Arena is a rough-and-tumble place. (Enter at your own risk but if you just a jerk I reserve the right to remove you.)
6. Sacred cows get grilled and Icons get a fresh coat of spray paint. (No idea gets a pass just because it’s dressed in a miter and simar.)
7. Ideas are not created equal. (Just because you have an idea doesn’t mean you have a clue.)
8. People who place their ideas in the public forum are a fair game for evaluation. (That includes me. And that definitely includes government types and religious leaders. I name names and am unrelenting in my critique.)