The Kudzu Files

Moralists, self-appointed and otherwise

Jammerblog talks about the use of the term "self-appointed moralist". He makes a good point. I think the "self-appointed" descriptor gets tossed out in two situations - either the person being accused of being "self-appointed" holds an opinion very different from the accuser, or is doing it very loudly. Thus, a liberal could say that Roy Moore is a self-appointed moralist, and also that Michael Moore is a self-appointed moralist. I would hate to think of our society without moralists, however. Some are loud, obnoxious, and irrelevant. But there are many who are just quietly going about their business of doing good as they see it. They're the ones who get off dead center; they're the ones who see a bad situation and try to make it better. And if their passion sometimes becomes too vocal, too forward, maybe that's not such a steep price to pay.