Some types, the powers that be mostly, don't compromise.Originally posted by jimmer
They expect to be served and their members are rewarded "handsomely" for doing their biddings. The difference being that those in service do as they are told, they have no place negotiating terms even suggesting alternatives. Perhaps that is the fundamental reason why the law is depicted to be unyielding and absolute; an extension of this underlying philosophy exactly in place so that an orthodoxy can be established and/or strengthened.
Clearly ambiguity or vagueness in law [or biddings of the powers that be], are open to interpretations that render more options to those that are there to serve. And they know who's interest to keep in mind first and foremost. I don't expect Trump to be very different; he is not one of the powers that be. If he is not already within the ranks, he will figure out what he needs to do.
Being clever with the interpretation of some verbatim is a mind game some people play their whole life. As far as I know, the entire law profession engages in this game to some extent. Certainly religious followings do as well, in their interpretations of their scriptures. Generally, the more members are encouraged to find meanings for themselves, the less oppressed they are. Criticism of a prophet or god-like figure may have you decapitated in one level where in another it is part of a meaningful dialectic that renders new ways of interpreting other prerequisite verbatim.
But being clever is sometimes not such a good thing. Obama defied his handlers at least once; there was a news article where an armed individual is caught on the White House lawn or in one of the rooms or in an event and was caught by sheer luck. The intruder may even have access authentic secret service paperwork that could not have easily been forged. Behind the scenes: "of course that intruder person will do what he is told, to harm someone or to do something suspicious to get caught... There are many more lined up and waiting." The next question is whether he [Mr President] is also willing to do what is needed.
Between religion, social norms and how one engages their day to day life, one can draw a map that may permit them to know where they are in the grand pyramid of this order.
There are even jokes: "I want to be beautiful, rich and everyone to love me." Jinni then turns the wisher into a Magnum Ice Cream bar.