I heard something that roused my hackles no end, today.
A former colleague, whom I chanced to meet, brought up the subject of my salvation, or lack thereof. She teaches in a conservative/fundamentalist academy. She was always convinced that I was hell bound, the summers she taught in our agency school. I told her that I was happily liberal, and feeling good about it. She looked a bit down at that and said that she would pray for me like she prays for her father every day. "I love him a lot, but I know he will be burning in hell after he dies." It is to my credit, I think, that I just looked at her and did not say what I was thinking. I did not even use the words "Utter pile of runny bullshit!" I said "You really believe that??" in my best 'WTF' voice. "That is what the bible teaches." she said, authoritatively. I said I had to run etc. and got the hell (so to speak) out of that part of Borders.
I plopped down and read a bit of M.M.Knight's Taqwacores. It helped settle me a tad. How could a person so blithely condemn (albeit using God's, at times incoherant 'word') a parent who held their hands, cuddled them when they were sick, and walked them down the aisle?? I know she has a good relationship with her dad, so it was really...really..ah, shall we say delusional at best, and actually sickly neurotic at worst. As she drove off I did see a few bumper stickers on her car that looked like the slogans for a 9/12 gagglefest or a Glenn Beck Weep-in. It sunk in that her world view is the shared view of many of the right wing's 'watchdogs', as Beck calls them. God help us.
Yeah, I know I have trangressed the great unwritten taboo, and said that someone's belief is bullshit. Mea culpa. They can believe that all they want, just do not push it down my gullet, or try to get it written into laws that curtail everyone else's freedom.
The thing that saved my acid reflux from overpowering my Prilosec was something I had read, and it serves me as a rule of thumb when dealing with religious 'true believers'. A Rabbi I was reading said, responding to a student who mentioned that some of the commands of God seemed genocidal, as regarded the dealing of the returned-from-exile Jewish nation, and the inhabitants of Canaan. What the Rabbi said is a very good rule of thumb.
"Whenever what you believe seems more moral than God, you can know for certain that that 'God" is a false god."
Remember that!
If you would not send people who really loved you, and helped you through life, to a place of eternal, sadistic torture, because they did not share your belief in God, then know that God is a false idol of fear and bullshit, and does not deserve belief. Harsh? Yes, but a lot less harsh than sloughing Mom or Dad off to hell because some book, or pastoral type says that is what they deserve.
Enough.
Tim
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Ever Onward.
My rendevous with the dentist at the University of Michigan Dental School is past and I can settle down until October 20th, when my two problematic teeth become a lot less problematic, and also a whole lot less a part of my skull.
Looking about the world of our garden this morning was a revelation of the way life works when it is allowed it's wisdom. The leaves are beginning to turn, the black-eyed susans are wilting and returning to the earth for their winter rest, the plethora of small fruit trees, roses and other bushes, likewise are preparing for the dark of the year. "Bud" one of our local squirrels (we call them all 'Bud') was burying some treasures beneath our maple and the numerous chipmunks (we call them all 'Chippie') were racing about wildly, leading me to wish I had their BMR for 48 hours...I would probably drop 80 pounds.
It is wonderful just feeling the life forces in our garden.
I went in the house and began reading. One post was about how 'fallen' nature is because of human succeptabilty to buying whatever a talking snake may be selling.
"Fallen?" I thought. After I turned off the bullshit alarm in my head, I just read further, for a bit anyways.
I went back into the garden, amongst all my 'fallen' bushes and intrinsically 'wicked' critters. Perhaps I should introduce them to the 'wicked mice' of the Talmud. Hmmm...well anyway, I saw 'Bud' and said "Hey Bud! I was just on-line and I found a whole load of nuts for ya." He sat up, holding a small nut in his paws and stared at me, then looked at the ground where Mary or I usually scatter some nuts, and back at me, as if to say, "Nuts! I don't see any." and scampered off at a leisurely pace.
I just sat down on our small bench and let the breeze blow over me, listening to the leaves of our aspin happily rustling in the wind.
I opted for the sanity of nature today.
Tim
Looking about the world of our garden this morning was a revelation of the way life works when it is allowed it's wisdom. The leaves are beginning to turn, the black-eyed susans are wilting and returning to the earth for their winter rest, the plethora of small fruit trees, roses and other bushes, likewise are preparing for the dark of the year. "Bud" one of our local squirrels (we call them all 'Bud') was burying some treasures beneath our maple and the numerous chipmunks (we call them all 'Chippie') were racing about wildly, leading me to wish I had their BMR for 48 hours...I would probably drop 80 pounds.
It is wonderful just feeling the life forces in our garden.
I went in the house and began reading. One post was about how 'fallen' nature is because of human succeptabilty to buying whatever a talking snake may be selling.
"Fallen?" I thought. After I turned off the bullshit alarm in my head, I just read further, for a bit anyways.
I went back into the garden, amongst all my 'fallen' bushes and intrinsically 'wicked' critters. Perhaps I should introduce them to the 'wicked mice' of the Talmud. Hmmm...well anyway, I saw 'Bud' and said "Hey Bud! I was just on-line and I found a whole load of nuts for ya." He sat up, holding a small nut in his paws and stared at me, then looked at the ground where Mary or I usually scatter some nuts, and back at me, as if to say, "Nuts! I don't see any." and scampered off at a leisurely pace.
I just sat down on our small bench and let the breeze blow over me, listening to the leaves of our aspin happily rustling in the wind.
I opted for the sanity of nature today.
Tim
Friday, September 25, 2009
It's Friday! A Couple Things
It was once said: "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag, and carrying a cross."
This seems to be simply true.
Check out maxblumenthal.com
There are, behind the crowds of fearful people, men who want to end the Dream of the Founders, to scrap the constitution, and in the name of Jesus begin killing blasphemers, gays, Sabbath breakers, and all the others destined for death by Levitical Law. The beliefs of these men are dangerous. They want to destroy our freedoms. Make no mistake about it. These are the Dominionists, and Christian Reconstructionists, so called.
Finally, these cynical fanatics are 'religious' liars, plain and simple. They intimate that one can have absolute certainty in this life. That is impossible. That is just how life is. That is just how freedom is. Change is inevitable. To believe one can have certainty is stupid. If you doubt that, in spite of all Jesus's 'you shall not see death' and all the other assurances that death 'has been defeated", everyone born before 1850, let's say, is dead. End of discussion. To say they are not is to move into the irrational and unprovable.
Bottom line; anyone who gives away their power and freedom for 'certainty' has sold their most precious possession for a damnable lie.
Freedom!
Tim
This seems to be simply true.
Check out maxblumenthal.com
There are, behind the crowds of fearful people, men who want to end the Dream of the Founders, to scrap the constitution, and in the name of Jesus begin killing blasphemers, gays, Sabbath breakers, and all the others destined for death by Levitical Law. The beliefs of these men are dangerous. They want to destroy our freedoms. Make no mistake about it. These are the Dominionists, and Christian Reconstructionists, so called.
Finally, these cynical fanatics are 'religious' liars, plain and simple. They intimate that one can have absolute certainty in this life. That is impossible. That is just how life is. That is just how freedom is. Change is inevitable. To believe one can have certainty is stupid. If you doubt that, in spite of all Jesus's 'you shall not see death' and all the other assurances that death 'has been defeated", everyone born before 1850, let's say, is dead. End of discussion. To say they are not is to move into the irrational and unprovable.
Bottom line; anyone who gives away their power and freedom for 'certainty' has sold their most precious possession for a damnable lie.
Freedom!
Tim
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Sing of Freedom With Every Breath
Freedom.
Our gift from the minds that dreamed America, is in danger of being forgotten.
Freedom, to me, is the right not to be oppressed, coerced, or punished for the things I believe, and to insure such rights, I also chose to submit to societal compacts and laws that promote the same right for others, and to act in such a manner as not to transgress anothers' right to safety and security, both in their person and their rightful property. Freedom also demands full acceptance of responsibility for my actions.
Today we are oppressed on all sides by idolaters, those who worship, as something sacred in and of itself, things other than God. Here are the idols we are surrounded with: 1.) The Bible, Torah, or Quran, whose more literalist believers have placed God in the box of being impotent to change any of the laws written down over the past 3000-1500 years, or giving new leadings appropriate to our lives today. If you doubt what I say just look up Joseph Smith, Bahaullah, or the lives of many levantine mystics who claimed that God was still speaking to us. Murder and exile were often the way the Scripturolotrists employed to silence such voices. 2.) Money, Debt, and Consumerism. This is the altar area of secular America. We were led to believe we were entitled to a lifestyle not in keeping with what we could afford, so the doors to credit were thrown open to distract us, while the corporate giants and banks accumulated unprecedented power. Now millions of people are saddled with debt (myself included) guaranteed to keep us chained to a system of economics that has itself reached the limits of catatrophic implosion. It is sad to watch thousands of middle class Americans out protesting the extension of free market economy into the health care insurance sectors. These people are holding the flashlights for the burglars, and Fox News daily passes out free batteries to them. 3.) Guns. I am surprized that many people don't genuflect when they see weapons. I overheard an older guy with some of his buddies talking about some of these things. He said "They can cut off my dick, but they better stay the hell away from my guns." This was met with murmurs of agreement, and a few ribald remarks,of course. WTF??? If that isn't idolotry, I'll kiss Glenn Beck's ass. 4.) Stupidity/ Anti-Intellectualism. I refer one to, Idiot America by Charles Pierce. In many areas of our social and political discourse, reason and logic are mocked, and held to open ridicule by 'Good Christian People'. I refer to the saddle on the dinosaur, and to my point #1.
These are just my insights into the major idols which oppress us through their infection of our daily lives, and which threaten to drive political descisions. Remember, there are many many people who feel that the existence of a day old human blastocyst to be more valuable than cures for diabetes, Alzheimer's, ALS, spinal cord injury, and the alleiviation of the suffering of millions of people. These believers will say that those so afflicted can just develop the patience that 'God has willed for them' ,because we dare not be so arrogant as to try to set limits on the amount of suffering God has 'decreed' for them, collectively and individually, in order to bring about some 'greater good'. Here is another huge idol; the self righteous judgement which sets a human being in the stead of God in deciding just what God's Will really is.
This begins my Manifesto of the Free.
Stay tuned.
Tim
Our gift from the minds that dreamed America, is in danger of being forgotten.
Freedom, to me, is the right not to be oppressed, coerced, or punished for the things I believe, and to insure such rights, I also chose to submit to societal compacts and laws that promote the same right for others, and to act in such a manner as not to transgress anothers' right to safety and security, both in their person and their rightful property. Freedom also demands full acceptance of responsibility for my actions.
Today we are oppressed on all sides by idolaters, those who worship, as something sacred in and of itself, things other than God. Here are the idols we are surrounded with: 1.) The Bible, Torah, or Quran, whose more literalist believers have placed God in the box of being impotent to change any of the laws written down over the past 3000-1500 years, or giving new leadings appropriate to our lives today. If you doubt what I say just look up Joseph Smith, Bahaullah, or the lives of many levantine mystics who claimed that God was still speaking to us. Murder and exile were often the way the Scripturolotrists employed to silence such voices. 2.) Money, Debt, and Consumerism. This is the altar area of secular America. We were led to believe we were entitled to a lifestyle not in keeping with what we could afford, so the doors to credit were thrown open to distract us, while the corporate giants and banks accumulated unprecedented power. Now millions of people are saddled with debt (myself included) guaranteed to keep us chained to a system of economics that has itself reached the limits of catatrophic implosion. It is sad to watch thousands of middle class Americans out protesting the extension of free market economy into the health care insurance sectors. These people are holding the flashlights for the burglars, and Fox News daily passes out free batteries to them. 3.) Guns. I am surprized that many people don't genuflect when they see weapons. I overheard an older guy with some of his buddies talking about some of these things. He said "They can cut off my dick, but they better stay the hell away from my guns." This was met with murmurs of agreement, and a few ribald remarks,of course. WTF??? If that isn't idolotry, I'll kiss Glenn Beck's ass. 4.) Stupidity/ Anti-Intellectualism. I refer one to, Idiot America by Charles Pierce. In many areas of our social and political discourse, reason and logic are mocked, and held to open ridicule by 'Good Christian People'. I refer to the saddle on the dinosaur, and to my point #1.
These are just my insights into the major idols which oppress us through their infection of our daily lives, and which threaten to drive political descisions. Remember, there are many many people who feel that the existence of a day old human blastocyst to be more valuable than cures for diabetes, Alzheimer's, ALS, spinal cord injury, and the alleiviation of the suffering of millions of people. These believers will say that those so afflicted can just develop the patience that 'God has willed for them' ,because we dare not be so arrogant as to try to set limits on the amount of suffering God has 'decreed' for them, collectively and individually, in order to bring about some 'greater good'. Here is another huge idol; the self righteous judgement which sets a human being in the stead of God in deciding just what God's Will really is.
This begins my Manifesto of the Free.
Stay tuned.
Tim
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
It is the Very Base of Everything I Believe..
Today's blog will be short, as I am in process of really working out a succinct statement of that which drives me, the one thing I value the most.
I do not take such an effort lightly, so tune in tomorrow when I talk about the one thing that I feel is at the root of the fear that seems to be everywhere these days. It is something that terrifies people:
FREEDOM.
Real, true, Freedom.
Back Tomorrow!
Tim
I do not take such an effort lightly, so tune in tomorrow when I talk about the one thing that I feel is at the root of the fear that seems to be everywhere these days. It is something that terrifies people:
FREEDOM.
Real, true, Freedom.
Back Tomorrow!
Tim
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
They're Everywhere! They're Everywhere!
Atheists!!
People who don't really believe in God! People who ignore the basic commandments of God and His Son! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!
OK...there was my sarcasm explosion for the day.
To make this clear, I am not referring to Dawkins, Hitchens, Harris and others of a similar mindset. I am referring to all these right wing shills who make such a big deal about cozying up to the Evangelical Right.
Glenn Beck's conversion story to the LDS Church is for sale through Deseret Books. Most of the rest of them make a point of supporting everything that comes out of the miasma of the Dobsonesque mind set that was so evident at the Values Summit last week. They also distort what is really taking place in our country, things that they know damn well are not true. that is called lying, and is against the behavior codes of the Levantine religions.
People who are some of the biggest greed mongers in our society make a big thing out of their churches, church memberships and avoid any censure by giving loads of money to the aforementioned churches. The Bible has very interesting things to say about those who have great wealth.
My feeling is that these people who deliberately and knowingly violate the tenets of their religion are the REAL atheists, and, they are all over the radio and TV.
Just my opinion.
A note to Glenn Beck. The people who hated and feared the Prophet Joseph Smith, whipped up other people with lies and distortions about the Mormons. This rabble-rousing led to the mob that stormed the jail where Smith, his brother, and other leaders were being held on trumped up charges, and since they were free to carry guns at protests, murdered Joseph Smith in cold blood. His brother also died, and others were wounded. The people in the 'mob' were just expressing their feelings and their anger at another groups' way of thinking and belief. Gee whiz.
So, Glenn, you are standing in a long line of 'Real Americans' who keep all these Unamerican ideas under control, by asking loaded questions based on lies and half truths. I would like to think this little fact would bother Mr. Beck, but I doubt it.
Godless Scientists at it Again Department
The University of Michigan announced today that human tests were about to begin on the use of stem cells to alleviate the course of Lou Gehrig's Disease, offering hope in the battle against this fearsome disease. It has worked in animals, so human trials can begin. I am sure the Pro-Life movement will be incensed, and God will most likely punish these doctors for their lack of respect for human life.
I guess my annoyance and sarcasm is fueled by something I read in a book I picked up and read a bit of, in Borders this morning. It was called 'If God is Good' and the snippet I read said that it was monumental arrogance to question God about suffering, because we cannot know how much suffering God needs to bring about in order to achieve His desired outcome, and sometimes God wills the death and suffering of innocents to achieve that result.
Fool that I am, of course, that very idea smacks of the kind of arrogance the author accuses those of us who often say "WTF??" when we read that kind of stuff.
That's enough,
Tim
People who don't really believe in God! People who ignore the basic commandments of God and His Son! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!
OK...there was my sarcasm explosion for the day.
To make this clear, I am not referring to Dawkins, Hitchens, Harris and others of a similar mindset. I am referring to all these right wing shills who make such a big deal about cozying up to the Evangelical Right.
Glenn Beck's conversion story to the LDS Church is for sale through Deseret Books. Most of the rest of them make a point of supporting everything that comes out of the miasma of the Dobsonesque mind set that was so evident at the Values Summit last week. They also distort what is really taking place in our country, things that they know damn well are not true. that is called lying, and is against the behavior codes of the Levantine religions.
People who are some of the biggest greed mongers in our society make a big thing out of their churches, church memberships and avoid any censure by giving loads of money to the aforementioned churches. The Bible has very interesting things to say about those who have great wealth.
My feeling is that these people who deliberately and knowingly violate the tenets of their religion are the REAL atheists, and, they are all over the radio and TV.
Just my opinion.
A note to Glenn Beck. The people who hated and feared the Prophet Joseph Smith, whipped up other people with lies and distortions about the Mormons. This rabble-rousing led to the mob that stormed the jail where Smith, his brother, and other leaders were being held on trumped up charges, and since they were free to carry guns at protests, murdered Joseph Smith in cold blood. His brother also died, and others were wounded. The people in the 'mob' were just expressing their feelings and their anger at another groups' way of thinking and belief. Gee whiz.
So, Glenn, you are standing in a long line of 'Real Americans' who keep all these Unamerican ideas under control, by asking loaded questions based on lies and half truths. I would like to think this little fact would bother Mr. Beck, but I doubt it.
Godless Scientists at it Again Department
The University of Michigan announced today that human tests were about to begin on the use of stem cells to alleviate the course of Lou Gehrig's Disease, offering hope in the battle against this fearsome disease. It has worked in animals, so human trials can begin. I am sure the Pro-Life movement will be incensed, and God will most likely punish these doctors for their lack of respect for human life.
I guess my annoyance and sarcasm is fueled by something I read in a book I picked up and read a bit of, in Borders this morning. It was called 'If God is Good' and the snippet I read said that it was monumental arrogance to question God about suffering, because we cannot know how much suffering God needs to bring about in order to achieve His desired outcome, and sometimes God wills the death and suffering of innocents to achieve that result.
Fool that I am, of course, that very idea smacks of the kind of arrogance the author accuses those of us who often say "WTF??" when we read that kind of stuff.
That's enough,
Tim
Monday, September 21, 2009
Ever Onward
Pity the pundits at Fox"News".
The prez slighted them on the Sunday talk show circuit. I can't imagine why. They twist and distort everything but his bowel movements, so I don't blame him for giving them the finger. I mean, it is the network of Glenn Beck, who is usually carrying on like a liqueured-up chimpanzee about the 'Communist Threat'. That ended a long time ago in the real world, but not on Planet Beck.
Good for the prez!
I liked the video of the Fox producer whipping up the herd at the Thousand Shmeggegie (it is a great Yiddish word my grandfather used occasionally)March. It just shows how spontaneous that was. Which brings me to my thoughts for the day.
I am beginning to believe that all this idiocy, from the town hall tantrums, to the aforementioned crank-o-rama, is a dry run for next election. I hunch that Fox has decided to take on the whole idea of democracy, and interrupt the electoral process as much as possible. After all they do call themselves 'The Voice of the Opposition." Can you imagine outbursts as candidates try to campaign? They pretend to be a "News" channel and as such they can pump their delusions 24/7 into the hearts and minds of the faithful.
Is Fox the front for the corporate hostile takeover of the American government? If so, and it is not as far fetched as some might think, then progressives, democrats, and people who genuinely love freedom, are going to have to begin calling these corprobots out on their game, and not set back and shake our heads at their stupidity. We need to get at least as noisy.
Someone might say I am being paranoid about all this, and I can tell you there would be nobody happier than I, if that is indeed, the case. Having said that, I recall a t-shirt I saw many years ago. It read: "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're NOT out to get you!"
That is my two cents for the day.
Tim
The prez slighted them on the Sunday talk show circuit. I can't imagine why. They twist and distort everything but his bowel movements, so I don't blame him for giving them the finger. I mean, it is the network of Glenn Beck, who is usually carrying on like a liqueured-up chimpanzee about the 'Communist Threat'. That ended a long time ago in the real world, but not on Planet Beck.
Good for the prez!
I liked the video of the Fox producer whipping up the herd at the Thousand Shmeggegie (it is a great Yiddish word my grandfather used occasionally)March. It just shows how spontaneous that was. Which brings me to my thoughts for the day.
I am beginning to believe that all this idiocy, from the town hall tantrums, to the aforementioned crank-o-rama, is a dry run for next election. I hunch that Fox has decided to take on the whole idea of democracy, and interrupt the electoral process as much as possible. After all they do call themselves 'The Voice of the Opposition." Can you imagine outbursts as candidates try to campaign? They pretend to be a "News" channel and as such they can pump their delusions 24/7 into the hearts and minds of the faithful.
Is Fox the front for the corporate hostile takeover of the American government? If so, and it is not as far fetched as some might think, then progressives, democrats, and people who genuinely love freedom, are going to have to begin calling these corprobots out on their game, and not set back and shake our heads at their stupidity. We need to get at least as noisy.
Someone might say I am being paranoid about all this, and I can tell you there would be nobody happier than I, if that is indeed, the case. Having said that, I recall a t-shirt I saw many years ago. It read: "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're NOT out to get you!"
That is my two cents for the day.
Tim
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Wow!!
I had several ideas I was kicking around for today's blog, then I found this:
http//www.wimp.com/hubblefield/
This really puts an awful lot into perspective, literally.
It says it all.
To the saddled-up dinosaur crowd; sorry about this.
No I'm not.
Tim
http//www.wimp.com/hubblefield/
This really puts an awful lot into perspective, literally.
It says it all.
To the saddled-up dinosaur crowd; sorry about this.
No I'm not.
Tim
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Short and Sweet
I love Jimmy Carter.
He calls them as he sees them, and he sees the latent racism behind much of the staged outrage we seem to be inundated with.
All the right-wing talking heads are pissing all over themselves in their feigned outrage. I am surprised one of them hasn't used the 'My best friend was a negro!' defense. Like we are too stupid not to catch the meaning behind their code words. Glenn Beck reminds his fans that the president '...isn't one of us.' Give me a break. It is clear that he wasn't telegraphing that Obama is really a dachshund. Unless Beck really is criminally stupid, he knows damn well that when he says that his followers will go for the most obvious 'difference'. It is old fashioned race baiting, and Jimmy Carter sees it, and puts it right out there.
Way to go, Mr. President!
I love it. Republican ex-presidents go to work for Saudi owned multinationals, and Democratic ex-presidents (and ex-vice presidents, I might add) do things that win Nobel Peace Prizes. Yeah, I guess that group really isn't like the followers of Republican/right wing bloviation.
Tim
He calls them as he sees them, and he sees the latent racism behind much of the staged outrage we seem to be inundated with.
All the right-wing talking heads are pissing all over themselves in their feigned outrage. I am surprised one of them hasn't used the 'My best friend was a negro!' defense. Like we are too stupid not to catch the meaning behind their code words. Glenn Beck reminds his fans that the president '...isn't one of us.' Give me a break. It is clear that he wasn't telegraphing that Obama is really a dachshund. Unless Beck really is criminally stupid, he knows damn well that when he says that his followers will go for the most obvious 'difference'. It is old fashioned race baiting, and Jimmy Carter sees it, and puts it right out there.
Way to go, Mr. President!
I love it. Republican ex-presidents go to work for Saudi owned multinationals, and Democratic ex-presidents (and ex-vice presidents, I might add) do things that win Nobel Peace Prizes. Yeah, I guess that group really isn't like the followers of Republican/right wing bloviation.
Tim
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Brother, Can You Spare a Tome?
This morning, as I drove to the downtown Borders here in Ann Arbor to stick my nose in Dan Brown's latest book, I saw something I had not seen here in a long time. There were about 8 to 10 white guys all dressed in shirts and ties, most seemed to be within a few years of my age, standing on corners handing out little green Gideon New Testaments to the students as they walked past. They would just hold them out to the students, and to the credit of the bible passers, they did not seem to be hassling the kids. I did wonder what one or more of the bible purveyors would have said if I had shown up with a box full of Qurans, and began passing them out.
Still, I do think it is a tad cheeky to stand there putting a book of moralistic fantasy in people's faces, who could really care less. I am sure that a perusal of campus waste baskets this evening will turn up a few of the books.
The upshot of all this, for me, is just another illustration of the one freedom that religion will not allow people, and that is the right to be left alone. I do not understand why people who are pious have such a hard time tolerating other people who may not share their beliefs. Is it because there may be someone who is happy and fulfilled who does not share their ideas of 'the only way you can be truly happy.' Such a realization would be a threat to their comfy little worlds. So, fine, just don't come telling me I have to be happy your way or I will go to some hell and be tortured forever. That belief is quite simply bullshit.
I have my religion and they have theirs. Fine. I also have a right to be happy and left alone as long as what I believe does not actually cause harm to other people or the social fabric.
One time a guy was offering me salvation, which I kindly but firmly refused. He then said, as I walked away, "It makes me sad that you will someday be in hell." I stopped and turned around and looked at him. I think he thought for a second that I was moved because I had made him sad. I said "Well, don't let that bother you. Go rent a porno, get a bottle of Crisco Oil and some tissues and you'll be all happy again." He stood with his mouth hanging open as I walked off.
I resisted the temptation to park my car and walk past one of these earnest gentlemen. I guess I am willing to give the same space to others as I ask for myself. Getting older does that for one, it would seem.
Besides. Dan Brown was waiting...
Tim
Still, I do think it is a tad cheeky to stand there putting a book of moralistic fantasy in people's faces, who could really care less. I am sure that a perusal of campus waste baskets this evening will turn up a few of the books.
The upshot of all this, for me, is just another illustration of the one freedom that religion will not allow people, and that is the right to be left alone. I do not understand why people who are pious have such a hard time tolerating other people who may not share their beliefs. Is it because there may be someone who is happy and fulfilled who does not share their ideas of 'the only way you can be truly happy.' Such a realization would be a threat to their comfy little worlds. So, fine, just don't come telling me I have to be happy your way or I will go to some hell and be tortured forever. That belief is quite simply bullshit.
I have my religion and they have theirs. Fine. I also have a right to be happy and left alone as long as what I believe does not actually cause harm to other people or the social fabric.
One time a guy was offering me salvation, which I kindly but firmly refused. He then said, as I walked away, "It makes me sad that you will someday be in hell." I stopped and turned around and looked at him. I think he thought for a second that I was moved because I had made him sad. I said "Well, don't let that bother you. Go rent a porno, get a bottle of Crisco Oil and some tissues and you'll be all happy again." He stood with his mouth hanging open as I walked off.
I resisted the temptation to park my car and walk past one of these earnest gentlemen. I guess I am willing to give the same space to others as I ask for myself. Getting older does that for one, it would seem.
Besides. Dan Brown was waiting...
Tim
Monday, September 14, 2009
A Few Thoughts Through the Mucus...
I got my flu shot at the doctor's last Friday, and lo and behold, it kicked my mild sniffles into one of those hellish end-of-the summer colds. Ick. The beauty of the blooming Golden Rod does not help either. In spite of the mass of mucus, and learning the hard way not to eat asparagus a couple of hours before bed ( I love the little green things but it is a diuretic par excellence ), I am determined to write. I was up at least 4 times last night..at one point I saw one eyeball on the other side of the bed, and I mumbled something about it being the asparagus and not my prostate.
All this prepared me for the coverage of the March of the Terminally Befuddled yesterday.
It was kind of breathtaking. There was crank America on parade. I saw the signs, a few Confederate flags, veiled crap about triggers, and 'this time we came unarmed.' I was tranfixed. It was like watching a squirrel running into rush hour traffic. There was one guy passing out stuff and looking around like a gerbil on amphetamines. You could tell that he wanted to scream "Obama's a ni***r...he's a ni***r! We need a white president!" so bad his nuts were about to explode. Even the guys with the Confederate flags did not want to risk showing up on Fox News giving voice to the whole racist subtext that the Glenn Becks and the Corporations are subtly stirring up. So they screamed their slogans, had their 'Christian Nation' placards, and probably pissed in the bushes.
It is easy to look and laugh at this crap, but I must voice a warning, too.
There is a movie coming out in the next few months that should be required viewing for all progressives and liberals. It is called "Agora". (Check out the trailer on 'agorathemovie.com') It is the story of Hyapatia, her life and death as a philosopher and mathematician in Alexandria in the 4th century. She was regarded as the equal of the male scientists and philosophers. She was hated by Cyril, the Bishop of Alexandria, who with his ragtag army of desert dwelling monks and other 'Joe Six-Pack" type of Christians finally break into the great Library of Alexandria, and destroy it burning the hundreds of thousands of scrolls, and effectively destroying about 95% of the collected knowledge of the ancient and classical world, and in the process lobotomizing western culture. The scenes of the crowds, screaming and waving their crosses, breaking into and destroying the library made me ill. Hyapatia was seized by a herd of Cyril's' Jesus Thugs, beaten, dragged into a church, and flayed alive in front of the altar , and her dismembered body was then burned. Cyril is now remembered as St. Cyril of Alexandra, and is called a 'Doctor of the Church". These actions ushered in a period called the "Dark Ages", a time of ignorance, superstition, genocide of the Cathars, and numerous crusades and Jew killings. Thomas Aquinas and his philosophy are not enough to redeem the ugliness of the dark ages.
There is a lesson for us moderns in this true, historical story of the Death of the Mind at the hands of religious zealots.
Never underestimate the power of large groups of ignorant people.
Tim
All this prepared me for the coverage of the March of the Terminally Befuddled yesterday.
It was kind of breathtaking. There was crank America on parade. I saw the signs, a few Confederate flags, veiled crap about triggers, and 'this time we came unarmed.' I was tranfixed. It was like watching a squirrel running into rush hour traffic. There was one guy passing out stuff and looking around like a gerbil on amphetamines. You could tell that he wanted to scream "Obama's a ni***r...he's a ni***r! We need a white president!" so bad his nuts were about to explode. Even the guys with the Confederate flags did not want to risk showing up on Fox News giving voice to the whole racist subtext that the Glenn Becks and the Corporations are subtly stirring up. So they screamed their slogans, had their 'Christian Nation' placards, and probably pissed in the bushes.
It is easy to look and laugh at this crap, but I must voice a warning, too.
There is a movie coming out in the next few months that should be required viewing for all progressives and liberals. It is called "Agora". (Check out the trailer on 'agorathemovie.com') It is the story of Hyapatia, her life and death as a philosopher and mathematician in Alexandria in the 4th century. She was regarded as the equal of the male scientists and philosophers. She was hated by Cyril, the Bishop of Alexandria, who with his ragtag army of desert dwelling monks and other 'Joe Six-Pack" type of Christians finally break into the great Library of Alexandria, and destroy it burning the hundreds of thousands of scrolls, and effectively destroying about 95% of the collected knowledge of the ancient and classical world, and in the process lobotomizing western culture. The scenes of the crowds, screaming and waving their crosses, breaking into and destroying the library made me ill. Hyapatia was seized by a herd of Cyril's' Jesus Thugs, beaten, dragged into a church, and flayed alive in front of the altar , and her dismembered body was then burned. Cyril is now remembered as St. Cyril of Alexandra, and is called a 'Doctor of the Church". These actions ushered in a period called the "Dark Ages", a time of ignorance, superstition, genocide of the Cathars, and numerous crusades and Jew killings. Thomas Aquinas and his philosophy are not enough to redeem the ugliness of the dark ages.
There is a lesson for us moderns in this true, historical story of the Death of the Mind at the hands of religious zealots.
Never underestimate the power of large groups of ignorant people.
Tim
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Certainty? Not...
As I see it, one of the drivers behind the exponential growth of fundamentalism at home and elsewhere, and it's attendant belligerence, intolerance, and frantic insistence that their way is the ONLY way to the Big Imaginary Friend, is a near neurotic demand for the impossible. People who cling to this or that belief, and will tolerate no questioning of it, are demanding certainty.
They know they cannot avoid death, so this fact produces a demand to know, beyond any doubt, that after death, things will be wonderful, safe and blissful. That certainty is promised by religion if one follows all the laws to the best that they can, begs forgiveness for failures, and gives lip service to all the right formulas, prayers, and duties. On top of that there is the threat of eternal torture if you don't do the above things.
OK...prove it.
Prove to me that what you believe is true, and not wishful thinking prodded on by fear. If I question this, the burden of proof is on the claimant. Holy books and the like will not do. They prove nothing, except their existence, and that a lot of people accept them as holy. That proves nothing beyond that. Having 'faith' is no proof of anything beyond a person's assertion that they choose to believe a set of statements as facts. If having faith is such a powerful criteria for the truth of something, a short walk through a psychiatric hospital will prove that having faith in an idea or perception, really counts for nothing as far as proof of the truth of that belief.
I guess that is all I am asking, some proof that one's dearly held beliefs are, in fact, empirically true.
Until such time, I guess I will just go with what I and every other human being on the planet see and experience every day of their lives. Everything changes, people die, people are born, the great cycles of the seasons move along in their quiet progression. The sun rises and sets, night following day, and that there are NO guarantees, and NO certainty, aside from the inconvenient fact that there is no certainty. The more we close our eyes and stop up our ears to that truth, the more we suffer. If we accept it, then perhaps we will take better care of the things we have, like our health and our planet, and each other.
And that, is a simple truth.
Tim
They know they cannot avoid death, so this fact produces a demand to know, beyond any doubt, that after death, things will be wonderful, safe and blissful. That certainty is promised by religion if one follows all the laws to the best that they can, begs forgiveness for failures, and gives lip service to all the right formulas, prayers, and duties. On top of that there is the threat of eternal torture if you don't do the above things.
OK...prove it.
Prove to me that what you believe is true, and not wishful thinking prodded on by fear. If I question this, the burden of proof is on the claimant. Holy books and the like will not do. They prove nothing, except their existence, and that a lot of people accept them as holy. That proves nothing beyond that. Having 'faith' is no proof of anything beyond a person's assertion that they choose to believe a set of statements as facts. If having faith is such a powerful criteria for the truth of something, a short walk through a psychiatric hospital will prove that having faith in an idea or perception, really counts for nothing as far as proof of the truth of that belief.
I guess that is all I am asking, some proof that one's dearly held beliefs are, in fact, empirically true.
Until such time, I guess I will just go with what I and every other human being on the planet see and experience every day of their lives. Everything changes, people die, people are born, the great cycles of the seasons move along in their quiet progression. The sun rises and sets, night following day, and that there are NO guarantees, and NO certainty, aside from the inconvenient fact that there is no certainty. The more we close our eyes and stop up our ears to that truth, the more we suffer. If we accept it, then perhaps we will take better care of the things we have, like our health and our planet, and each other.
And that, is a simple truth.
Tim
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
OK, Now I've Gone and Said It...
I have a disease. Given the rapidly growing climate in the collective mind of the culture, it is a malady that has the scent of leprosy. No less an authority than St. Augustine, the mind that shaped most of the theology of both Protestant and Catholic Christianity today,, said about temptations, 'There is another temptation, even more fraught with danger. This is the disease of curiosity...which can avail us nothing..." (Dawkins; The God Delusion, pg. 159).
I am curious. Curiosity breeds learning, and that leads to reason and rationality, which in turn nurtures the intellect, and therein lies the rub.
It is becoming very unfashionable in America today, to be rational or reasonable.
I can see where this disease leads, besides to things like penicillin, polio vaccine, computers, and the like. It leads to that moment, when the gaze of the curious questioner turns to God, and says "Wait a minute..."
I have arrived at such a crossroads.
I asked myself, "Could the Creator of the sublime beauty of the universe, in all its' awe-full and terrible majesty as revealed in the Hubble telescope pictures; of the complexities of my garden, and the wonder that is the large bee I saw visiting our Russian Sage this morning, order the genocide of numerous peoples, even to killing their cows, so graphically described in Joshua, and the books in the Torah? Could that sublime artist order the death of a person who picked up sticks on the sabbath? Could this 'Great and Good God,' kill off all life, presumably children along with the rest, in a flood? Could this same God, incarnate, then kill a fig tree because it did not have fruit when he wanted it, even though it was out of season, just to make a point about producing results if you followed him? Could he have inspired Paul to dogmatically relegate women to lesser status in his church, simply because of their gender?" I could go on, but you get the idea. I took a deep breath, and answered honestly and forthrightly.
I said "no."
No.
I cannot believe in, nor do I believe in, such a bloody, atavistic god.
Such a god is the projection and elevation to divinity of the human id, yet it is the god worshipped by billions of people. Since that god has ostensibly given his followers permission and promise of rewards for history's crusades, jihads, inquisitions, tortures and bloody wars, then I also have to say that rigid fundamentalism is the greatest single threat to the future of humanity that exists today. Whether it is Christian, Muslim, Judaic, or whatever, it holds the seeds of destruction in it's permissions to 'War in the Name of God."
Humanity, indeed the humane people among the followers of these religions need to step out of their spiritual fogs and say "Wait, stop this madness in the name of God."
I fear that time grows short. People need to stand against this growing menace, and stop meekly believing that God will somehow make it all better. Remember this is the same God who told Joshua and his army, "...and ye shall leave none alive of them."
Time to go talk to the bees.
Tim
I am curious. Curiosity breeds learning, and that leads to reason and rationality, which in turn nurtures the intellect, and therein lies the rub.
It is becoming very unfashionable in America today, to be rational or reasonable.
I can see where this disease leads, besides to things like penicillin, polio vaccine, computers, and the like. It leads to that moment, when the gaze of the curious questioner turns to God, and says "Wait a minute..."
I have arrived at such a crossroads.
I asked myself, "Could the Creator of the sublime beauty of the universe, in all its' awe-full and terrible majesty as revealed in the Hubble telescope pictures; of the complexities of my garden, and the wonder that is the large bee I saw visiting our Russian Sage this morning, order the genocide of numerous peoples, even to killing their cows, so graphically described in Joshua, and the books in the Torah? Could that sublime artist order the death of a person who picked up sticks on the sabbath? Could this 'Great and Good God,' kill off all life, presumably children along with the rest, in a flood? Could this same God, incarnate, then kill a fig tree because it did not have fruit when he wanted it, even though it was out of season, just to make a point about producing results if you followed him? Could he have inspired Paul to dogmatically relegate women to lesser status in his church, simply because of their gender?" I could go on, but you get the idea. I took a deep breath, and answered honestly and forthrightly.
I said "no."
No.
I cannot believe in, nor do I believe in, such a bloody, atavistic god.
Such a god is the projection and elevation to divinity of the human id, yet it is the god worshipped by billions of people. Since that god has ostensibly given his followers permission and promise of rewards for history's crusades, jihads, inquisitions, tortures and bloody wars, then I also have to say that rigid fundamentalism is the greatest single threat to the future of humanity that exists today. Whether it is Christian, Muslim, Judaic, or whatever, it holds the seeds of destruction in it's permissions to 'War in the Name of God."
Humanity, indeed the humane people among the followers of these religions need to step out of their spiritual fogs and say "Wait, stop this madness in the name of God."
I fear that time grows short. People need to stand against this growing menace, and stop meekly believing that God will somehow make it all better. Remember this is the same God who told Joshua and his army, "...and ye shall leave none alive of them."
Time to go talk to the bees.
Tim
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Rainy Day
It is a quiet, rainy day here. I am spending it reading Richard Dawkins and Carl Sagan.
I am also enjoying the utter craziness of the class that H.L. Mencken called "the Boobieosie" (pronounced boob-wa-zee, for those with rusty French), shown on TV carrying on about Obama's School Speech. My fave was the blubbering blond on TV 7 from Denver, who cried as she said she was afraid that her kid would be exposed to 'socialism'. At that point her husband looked like he wanted to hork a hairball, and be somewhere, anywhere else. The reporter should have asked her to define 'socialism'. I am sure that would have been really hilarious.
Oh well, I have had enough news to give me flatus for a week, so I will go back to reading and watching the rain animate the leaves on our lilac bush. The quiet intelligence of nature is such a huge improvement over what we are treated to by the media.
Tim
I am also enjoying the utter craziness of the class that H.L. Mencken called "the Boobieosie" (pronounced boob-wa-zee, for those with rusty French), shown on TV carrying on about Obama's School Speech. My fave was the blubbering blond on TV 7 from Denver, who cried as she said she was afraid that her kid would be exposed to 'socialism'. At that point her husband looked like he wanted to hork a hairball, and be somewhere, anywhere else. The reporter should have asked her to define 'socialism'. I am sure that would have been really hilarious.
Oh well, I have had enough news to give me flatus for a week, so I will go back to reading and watching the rain animate the leaves on our lilac bush. The quiet intelligence of nature is such a huge improvement over what we are treated to by the media.
Tim
Monday, September 7, 2009
Goring Another Sacred Cow
I will cut to the chase, right off the bat. I am going to use the word 'stupid' in the same thought stream as I speak about a religious belief. That is a bigger no-no than almost any other convention. I don't give a rat's ass.
Mary and I have been reading thru the Perek Shirah, the Song of the Universe, translation and commentary by Rabbi Nosson Scherman. (Mesorah Publications, 2006).
It is the songs of praise by the creatures of our small blue dot in the universe, for God. We read one each night, and while they did not lift one to the heights of insight into God, they were good to think about. Until we got to the mice that is. The mouse owns up to 'causing wickedness'. That is when it began to go south on me. The commentary says that mice are the 'very symbol of wickedness' according to the Talmud. They are further excoriated because "they gather in multitudes and plunder whatever food they find."(pg 132) As a sidebar, I might warn against reading Joshua and Judges in the Bible, right after reading this commentary. It goes on to say that figuratively,mice know they are wicked and they deserve the hatred and hunting, so they just acknowledge that 'God is just in letting them be treated that way."
WTF??
Mice suddenly have a moral conscience? They "know they are wicked", and deserve to be exterminated. Well, if mice have a moral conscience and judgement, then they are our equals and we had better treat them a whole lot better than we do.
The belief that mice are wicked (and I will grant that they are really annoying),and that they KNOW they are wicked is stupid.
A lot of the religious proselytizing I run into is a heckuva lot more annoying, presumptuous, and negative than a small mouse gnawing on my bag of organic flax seeds, yet mice are wicked, just for doing that?? Shall we extrapolate here??
Tim
Mary and I have been reading thru the Perek Shirah, the Song of the Universe, translation and commentary by Rabbi Nosson Scherman. (Mesorah Publications, 2006).
It is the songs of praise by the creatures of our small blue dot in the universe, for God. We read one each night, and while they did not lift one to the heights of insight into God, they were good to think about. Until we got to the mice that is. The mouse owns up to 'causing wickedness'. That is when it began to go south on me. The commentary says that mice are the 'very symbol of wickedness' according to the Talmud. They are further excoriated because "they gather in multitudes and plunder whatever food they find."(pg 132) As a sidebar, I might warn against reading Joshua and Judges in the Bible, right after reading this commentary. It goes on to say that figuratively,mice know they are wicked and they deserve the hatred and hunting, so they just acknowledge that 'God is just in letting them be treated that way."
WTF??
Mice suddenly have a moral conscience? They "know they are wicked", and deserve to be exterminated. Well, if mice have a moral conscience and judgement, then they are our equals and we had better treat them a whole lot better than we do.
The belief that mice are wicked (and I will grant that they are really annoying),and that they KNOW they are wicked is stupid.
A lot of the religious proselytizing I run into is a heckuva lot more annoying, presumptuous, and negative than a small mouse gnawing on my bag of organic flax seeds, yet mice are wicked, just for doing that?? Shall we extrapolate here??
Tim
Thursday, September 3, 2009
It's All the Rage, You Know....
In my current readings of postmodern philosophers, I came across German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk in Zizek's Violence. It was one of those "whoa!" moments. Sloterdijk brings to the fore the counterpart to the Freudian eros, that of thymos Eros, which is the buzz coming from the possession of objects, their production and enjoyment. which finds its' counterpart in plain old thymos, the psychological manifestation of envy, competition and recognition. (See: Zizek, Violence. pg 185-189)
Looking into various 'holy books', there is a whole lot of revenge fantasy, and the projection onto God of human rage at being thwarted in their pursuit of 'things' and recognition by the natural occurrences of life, as well as the tyrannies spawned by religion, which often led to seemingly endless wars and grinding poverty for about 95% of the people in Europe for 1600 years. God was seen as the great accountant in the sky who would, at some "Final Judgement", settle accounts and send everyone who didn't say the right prayers (read: like ours) believe the right things (read: like we do) and were just generally annoying, into HELL...a sadists' wet dream if there ever was one. Thomas Aquinas said the one of the pleasures of "Heaven" would be the ability to watch the suffering of all those "others" in hell. I have this picture of small booths in Heaven, with the little peep show windows, where you could go in and watch people (like that cute blonde who would not give you the time of day in the 11th grade) suffering in hell. I have listened to enough fundamentalists going on about what will happen in hell, and the obvious relish with which they related it, to know that these little 'peep shows' will need an endless supply of tissues.
Well, now these right wingers have taken this 'job' away from God, and are whipping up their listeners with such egregious bullshit, that some of the "Joe Six-Packs" use words like "bring down the government" (which is technically treason, but I digress) and "Getting rid of Obama", then when they show up carrying guns at Presidential rallies, it begins to get a bit dicey. The "base" has become a 'Rage Bank', and the right wing talkers are whipping them up with promises of revenge against the 'socialists, death panels, and other assorted intestinal effluvia which pours out of their mouths and the radios daily. The uninformed are paying great 'rage interest' to the talkers, and their masters. These cretins will say "we're not politicians, we are entertainers." So, if someone listens to your 'entertainment,' and for whatever reason, snaps and commits some outrage like Oklahoma City, the Limbaugh's, Hannity's, Becks, Malkin's, Coulter's, and their ilk can say "We are not responsible. (There is that awe-full word, 'responsibility' again.) They just didn't understand...yadda yadda."
Fucking moral cowards these so-called entertainers are. Period.
I wish, somehow, the scared, riled up mass of people who listen to that claptrap could understand that these people are well paid shills for the moneyed corporations that are REALLY causing the things that are squeezing the mass of Americans so hard. That would take thought however, and the media companies are keeping everyone distracted with all the mindless shit on television, and so on into the night.
America, you are being duped into holding the flashlight for the burglars robbing your homes and raping your future!! But, hey, Dancing With The Stars is coming on.
We may well be the first civilization to ever entertain itself to death.
More tomorrow.
Tim
Looking into various 'holy books', there is a whole lot of revenge fantasy, and the projection onto God of human rage at being thwarted in their pursuit of 'things' and recognition by the natural occurrences of life, as well as the tyrannies spawned by religion, which often led to seemingly endless wars and grinding poverty for about 95% of the people in Europe for 1600 years. God was seen as the great accountant in the sky who would, at some "Final Judgement", settle accounts and send everyone who didn't say the right prayers (read: like ours) believe the right things (read: like we do) and were just generally annoying, into HELL...a sadists' wet dream if there ever was one. Thomas Aquinas said the one of the pleasures of "Heaven" would be the ability to watch the suffering of all those "others" in hell. I have this picture of small booths in Heaven, with the little peep show windows, where you could go in and watch people (like that cute blonde who would not give you the time of day in the 11th grade) suffering in hell. I have listened to enough fundamentalists going on about what will happen in hell, and the obvious relish with which they related it, to know that these little 'peep shows' will need an endless supply of tissues.
Well, now these right wingers have taken this 'job' away from God, and are whipping up their listeners with such egregious bullshit, that some of the "Joe Six-Packs" use words like "bring down the government" (which is technically treason, but I digress) and "Getting rid of Obama", then when they show up carrying guns at Presidential rallies, it begins to get a bit dicey. The "base" has become a 'Rage Bank', and the right wing talkers are whipping them up with promises of revenge against the 'socialists, death panels, and other assorted intestinal effluvia which pours out of their mouths and the radios daily. The uninformed are paying great 'rage interest' to the talkers, and their masters. These cretins will say "we're not politicians, we are entertainers." So, if someone listens to your 'entertainment,' and for whatever reason, snaps and commits some outrage like Oklahoma City, the Limbaugh's, Hannity's, Becks, Malkin's, Coulter's, and their ilk can say "We are not responsible. (There is that awe-full word, 'responsibility' again.) They just didn't understand...yadda yadda."
Fucking moral cowards these so-called entertainers are. Period.
I wish, somehow, the scared, riled up mass of people who listen to that claptrap could understand that these people are well paid shills for the moneyed corporations that are REALLY causing the things that are squeezing the mass of Americans so hard. That would take thought however, and the media companies are keeping everyone distracted with all the mindless shit on television, and so on into the night.
America, you are being duped into holding the flashlight for the burglars robbing your homes and raping your future!! But, hey, Dancing With The Stars is coming on.
We may well be the first civilization to ever entertain itself to death.
More tomorrow.
Tim
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Taking a Long Look
Yesterday, being in the park gave me a chance to think, setting under the trees in the sun and breezes, and I came to a few conclusions I would like to share.
Looking about us, seeing the many problems in the environment, and our lack of care for it, I am worried. There seems to exist in the minds of the powerful, that most Levantine of notions found in all three of the great Levantine religions, Christianity, Islam and Judaism. That is the notion that it will all somehow come out right in the end, that God will bring it all together, because God controls everything right down to the orbit of an atom, and that everything has a meaning. Right? I mean it does, it just has to have meaning beyond what we can see, doesn't it??
Well, no, not really.
All the followers of the Levantine dogmas would do well to read in their 'inerrant' books, the story of Job. God drops the hammer on Job, literally grinding him into the dirt, wiping out everything he had or loved. As Job sets in the dust, his friends show up, bringing out all their dearly held theological 'there is a reason for all this' explanations in order to make the disasters somehow 'meaningful' to Job. He tells them to cram it and shows his true grit and courage. He does not take a stance of his innocence in all that has befallen him. He insists that it is, in fact, meaningless. MEANINGLESS! His friends go away thinking that Job has lost his 'faith', shaking their heads, no doubt. When God does show up, blustering in the whirlwind, God affirms Jobs' position. In doing so God gives the Divine Finger to the 'defenders of the faith.'
The message is that taking refuge in theological niceties in order to blunt the trauma that occurs when a child is murdered, a hurricane devastates, an earthquake destroys, or a genocide happens, is participating in the devastation. The blunt horror that could move us to compassionate help, to doing whatever we can to alleviate suffering, to conserving what we have been given in our lives here, is negated by the 'It's God's Will' bullshit. Tell me you have a "Loving, Merciful God" who would will the slashing rape murder of a child, in order to somehow bring about a 'greater good, and I will probably puke on your shoes.
It all boils down to the fact that people are afraid of losing their God, who guarantees meaning to the whole of creation, who has His fingers on all the strings.
The reason is really quite simple as I see it. Absent the Transcendent God, humanity is left with something that terrifies it, almost beyond words.
The monstrous weight of FREEDOM and RESPONSIBILITY for this wonderful creation we were gifted with, this divine creation which embodies God.
God does not show up on your altars at the beck and call of your priests, rabbis, imams or pastors. God is in every leaf, insect, stone, animal and human person you can conceive of, and as such, WE, collectively and individually, are responsible for the care of God in all the forms God might choose to take. RESPONSIBLE!!!! ALL OF US!!
There are no divine punishments, only the simple consequences of our actions or inactions.
(to be continued tomorrow)
Tim
Looking about us, seeing the many problems in the environment, and our lack of care for it, I am worried. There seems to exist in the minds of the powerful, that most Levantine of notions found in all three of the great Levantine religions, Christianity, Islam and Judaism. That is the notion that it will all somehow come out right in the end, that God will bring it all together, because God controls everything right down to the orbit of an atom, and that everything has a meaning. Right? I mean it does, it just has to have meaning beyond what we can see, doesn't it??
Well, no, not really.
All the followers of the Levantine dogmas would do well to read in their 'inerrant' books, the story of Job. God drops the hammer on Job, literally grinding him into the dirt, wiping out everything he had or loved. As Job sets in the dust, his friends show up, bringing out all their dearly held theological 'there is a reason for all this' explanations in order to make the disasters somehow 'meaningful' to Job. He tells them to cram it and shows his true grit and courage. He does not take a stance of his innocence in all that has befallen him. He insists that it is, in fact, meaningless. MEANINGLESS! His friends go away thinking that Job has lost his 'faith', shaking their heads, no doubt. When God does show up, blustering in the whirlwind, God affirms Jobs' position. In doing so God gives the Divine Finger to the 'defenders of the faith.'
The message is that taking refuge in theological niceties in order to blunt the trauma that occurs when a child is murdered, a hurricane devastates, an earthquake destroys, or a genocide happens, is participating in the devastation. The blunt horror that could move us to compassionate help, to doing whatever we can to alleviate suffering, to conserving what we have been given in our lives here, is negated by the 'It's God's Will' bullshit. Tell me you have a "Loving, Merciful God" who would will the slashing rape murder of a child, in order to somehow bring about a 'greater good, and I will probably puke on your shoes.
It all boils down to the fact that people are afraid of losing their God, who guarantees meaning to the whole of creation, who has His fingers on all the strings.
The reason is really quite simple as I see it. Absent the Transcendent God, humanity is left with something that terrifies it, almost beyond words.
The monstrous weight of FREEDOM and RESPONSIBILITY for this wonderful creation we were gifted with, this divine creation which embodies God.
God does not show up on your altars at the beck and call of your priests, rabbis, imams or pastors. God is in every leaf, insect, stone, animal and human person you can conceive of, and as such, WE, collectively and individually, are responsible for the care of God in all the forms God might choose to take. RESPONSIBLE!!!! ALL OF US!!
There are no divine punishments, only the simple consequences of our actions or inactions.
(to be continued tomorrow)
Tim
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Well, OK....
Excuse Time!
I have a decent post all but written, and ready to type. At least, I still have it, because of a slight detour this afternoon. After lunch, we went to the Anthroposophical Society in America Headquarters, and after some quality time there we drove over to Gallup Park, by the Huron River, and spent the better part of two hours just being. The Gurlz ( Mary and Vicki) pushed my wheelchair and I and my cool gloves helped a lot, so we got exercise. There were pauses along the river, and once I just sat in a nice shady spot, while they went ahead a ways. It was quiet, and a fairly insistent breeze ruffled the aspen by the river. I just sat and took it all in; the breeze, the rustling leaves, a curious duck. It was a balm for my soul.
So I'll be back with my usual observations tomorrow. Right now I am going to just let the afternoon do something for me, that observation of the depredations to truth, beauty and goodness that the right wing media and their paid shills can never do...give me real peace of soul.
The rustling of the aspen made more sense than any of them ever could. The wind is the voice of God. The talking heads only think they are.
Tim
I have a decent post all but written, and ready to type. At least, I still have it, because of a slight detour this afternoon. After lunch, we went to the Anthroposophical Society in America Headquarters, and after some quality time there we drove over to Gallup Park, by the Huron River, and spent the better part of two hours just being. The Gurlz ( Mary and Vicki) pushed my wheelchair and I and my cool gloves helped a lot, so we got exercise. There were pauses along the river, and once I just sat in a nice shady spot, while they went ahead a ways. It was quiet, and a fairly insistent breeze ruffled the aspen by the river. I just sat and took it all in; the breeze, the rustling leaves, a curious duck. It was a balm for my soul.
So I'll be back with my usual observations tomorrow. Right now I am going to just let the afternoon do something for me, that observation of the depredations to truth, beauty and goodness that the right wing media and their paid shills can never do...give me real peace of soul.
The rustling of the aspen made more sense than any of them ever could. The wind is the voice of God. The talking heads only think they are.
Tim
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