Animals, I assume, are literalists. Metaphors, analogies: animals just don’t get them. I tried a few on my dog. No success. Culture is just lost on him. I’ve observed that philistines are literalists too. (I’ll let you make the connection.) There is something philistine to Protestantism, at least in its lowest expressions. I suppose that has something to do with being against things, i.e. “protesting”. The finer arts tend to be for things; they’re allusive. There’s a “this is that”ness about them. And… Read more