It’s hard to say what a “Jewish” name is. “Jed” is usually short for either “Josiah” or “Jedidiah,” which like “Jeremiah” are both Old Testament biblical names. I know your name comes from bahasa, but I just wanted to point out the difficulties of judging the provenance of names. I actually don’t know anyone either personally or historically who claimed to be Jewish who was named “Jeremiah.” Doesn’t mean they don’t exist, just that it’s more commonly associated with a particular era in US history.

It’s also, as my students have recently been fond of pointing out through song, the name of a rather famous frog. Thank you, Three Dog Night.

Speaking of which,

My name is not Jewish, sorry. (Though it is from the Old Testament) It’s actually an Old-timey New England Congregational name. Best to brush up on your history AND your religions.

I think you need to re-read my comment again where I discussed your message point for point.

At the risk of repeating myself:

“As for freedom of speech, an individual writer expressing a preference for a certain style or tone of debate is very different from a government proscribing dissent, I do hope you see that rather important distinction. Nobody said extreme voices should be silenced, only that one gets a headache listening to them.”

I think you’ve gone a long way toward actually proving my point.

And yes, I will concede that the “style point” was a bit of cheap shot, for which I apologize, but when you come on a blog without having read anything (even the post under discussion — hence your lecturing General Li on Chinese history), well, you know…

(One of my favorite names.)

First off, the quote above is from an essay by General Li Yazhou of the PLA. I’m guessing that General Li has some familiarity with the imperial exam system. If you feel the need to direct him to Wikipedia for more information then I have to start worrying about the level of history education in the Chinese military.

The meritocratic nature of the exam system has been a topic of debate in academia for quite some time. I wrote a post covering the high points last year, you might want to check that out for some sources beyond Wiki-world.

As for freedom of speech, an individual writer expressing a preference for a certain style or tone of debate is very different from a government proscribing dissent, I do hope you see that rather important distinction. Nobody said extreme voices should be silenced, only that one gets a headache listening to them.

Finally, and this is a little style point, I suggest you avoid beginning sentences with “No doubt, arguably.” Not quite sure what that means, might be best to pick one, the other, or use a whole different opening.

Thanks for stopping by.