Lilith,

You retain you delightful unpredictability! I had anticipated that Steph would respond to the post I addressed to her, and that you would respond to the post I addressed to you – and you mixed it all up!

As to my post to Steph; she asserted that a proposition was obvious. I challenged the assertion by identifying several propositions which were are one time or another, taken for granted, but are no longer. As the evidence supporting one’s notions of what is obvious changes, so should one’s notions of what is obvious. That seems to be a sensible approach to me.

As to what my unease with arguments from authority has to do with your feelings that that plantations were the birthplace of gospel music – nothing whatever. Steph’s assertion that X is obvious without substantiation is what I disagreed with. I went to some effort to exclude the subject about which she and I disagreed from my post.

I am somewhat surprised that my suggestion that the Pilgrim Baptist Church has a good claim to be the location where “Gospel Music” originated in the 1930s has been met with quite such belligerent disagreement. I had thought it a relatively innocuous comment.

I also think it is fair to suggest that those who question assertions made by others implicitly validate the notion of questioning authority. If it is reasonable for one to question the claims made by another, surely it is reasonable to provide supporting evidence and/or arguments? Is not that what conversation is about – the communication of ideas? Further, if you’ll agree that it is reasonable for one individual in conversation to question the propositions made by the other, wouldn’t you also agree that the second might be entitled to similar expectations?

You suggested that that the plantations were the birthplace of gospel music as an alternative to Chicago in the 1930s. This had all the ingredients of Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis. So far so good and I tried to support my opinion by referring to what some others have had to say about the subject. But when I asked for additional information, you seemed hurt or offended, as if I was not entitled to request more of what you had to say to help me understand why you expressed your opinion.

Perhaps we have different ideas about the nature and value of conversation.

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Eudaimonia