Value - East vs West (#178, Topic, Topic P)

E. J. Dionne's column in today's Washington Post is on Ralph Reed. Many years ago, Reed, an Oregonian and head of Christian Coalition at the time, attracted my attention for a remark he made on Confucius. Reed found Confucius's teachings appealing -- but, because Confucius was not a member of Reed's faith, he could not endorse them. This litmus test is variably invoked by westerners when Confucius's teachings could not be faulted, never mind that Confucius (551-479 BCE) preceded whatever Reed (or any westerner) could cite by at least half a millenium. Reed made a name for himself during the 2000 Republican Presidential nomination process, energizing South Carolina religious voters on behalf of the eventual winner, George W. Bush. (At that time, I was translating Sun Tzu's Art of War; I wrote 26 case studies to illustrate Sun Tzu's teaching. Nine of them were on the 2000 Republican Party Presidential Nomination process; that on South Carolina is in Chapter 12, labeled "Momentum vs Firewall.") Later, I read that Reed headed an anti-gambling campaign -- that issue is certainly consistent with his faith, an obvious good deed. But, reading Dionne's column, that was a mere tactics. One of his companies was awarded a $4 million contract by a now-disgraced lobbyist, to secure gambling license for one of the lobbyist's clients. All these came to light when the lobbyist pleaded guilty to corruption charges. Dionne's column has a subtitle: "Redefining 'Values'". So much for western values.