Have I mentioned the theory that we are all simulated human beings in an infinitely complex computer system (or possibly, and more likely, a simulation of human beings created by other simulated human beings).
This, BTW, is not mockery of what must have been an important spiritual experience for you, Rose. It's just that what you talk about is unknowable.
I should do a post on this myself just to sort out my feelings.
I do personally take it as my goal to fight what I see as the Christian and religious right perverting the main messages of Christ, and they weren't trivia like make sure to go to church every Sunday or Baptist or Jewish or Mormon or even Muslim absurdities like don't eat pork or don't drink caffeine, and he didn't damn sure didn't stress worrying about securing borders over helping those less fortunate or casting the first stone at someone because you believed their sexuality was immoral.
To me, raised a Catholic but lapsed, but still instilled with what _I_ believe were his main messages, which over-rode all that Old Testament stuff: love thy neighbor, unreservedly; don't judge people, that's God's job (he aaid this, clearly and memorably several times) and treat people how you would like to be treated. That's it, there are no more rules or commandments necessary, those 3 cover it all, and they are all 3 basically the same rule anyway.
So, with this view, avoiding religiosity and moral judgements, is what drives my politics, seriously.
It has informed my views on gay rights, immigration, government responsibility towards helping the poor and disadvantaged, and most importantly innocent children, who are certainly not to blame for their parent's shortcoming.
That' the crux of what I'm on about: I believe EVERY SINGLE ILL THAT PLAGUES THE WORLD TODAY can be traced to the mistreatment, neglect, abandonment and alienation of children by the adults of this world, and then its passed on to their children.
That's the one big thing, the big picture, the only thing that matters, the next generation, the survival of the species. And so that's why I blog. I'd probably do a better job with those goals if I were less foul-mouthed, less intemperate, less venomous and less extreme.
Yeah Doc, I agree with ya on a lot of that. That's why I think breaking the cycle no matter what the cycle is be it violence, racism, homophobia or even authoritarians messing with the minds of their kids or their wives. That is what can really screw up the world.
You still in Tampa, Doc? It's looking like I may be in Florida for a short vacation with the kiddies in March. Shoot me some email.
Miss Julie turned me onto to Pema Chodron, a Tibetan Buddhist teacher, (born Deirdre Blomfield-Brown). She has taught lectured widely and has written several books on meditation practice in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.
"When you begin to touch your heart or let your heart be touched, you begin to discover that it's bottomless, that it doesn't have any resolution, that this heart is huge, vast, and limitless. You begin to discover how much warmth and gentleness is there, as well as how much space."
She's got a ton of stuff and it's all at Amazon.com. I recommend it highly.
This, BTW, is not mockery of what must have been an important spiritual experience for you, Rose. It's just that what you talk about is unknowable.
I do personally take it as my goal to fight what I see as the Christian and religious right perverting the main messages of Christ, and they weren't trivia like make sure to go to church every Sunday or Baptist or Jewish or Mormon or even Muslim absurdities like don't eat pork or don't drink caffeine, and he didn't damn sure didn't stress worrying about securing borders over helping those less fortunate or casting the first stone at someone because you believed their sexuality was immoral.
To me, raised a Catholic but lapsed, but still instilled with what _I_ believe were his main messages, which over-rode all that Old Testament stuff: love thy neighbor, unreservedly; don't judge people, that's God's job (he aaid this, clearly and memorably several times) and treat people how you would like to be treated. That's it, there are no more rules or commandments necessary, those 3 cover it all, and they are all 3 basically the same rule anyway.
So, with this view, avoiding religiosity and moral judgements, is what drives my politics, seriously.
It has informed my views on gay rights, immigration, government responsibility towards helping the poor and disadvantaged, and most importantly innocent children, who are certainly not to blame for their parent's shortcoming.
That' the crux of what I'm on about: I believe EVERY SINGLE ILL THAT PLAGUES THE WORLD TODAY can be traced to the mistreatment, neglect, abandonment and alienation of children by the adults of this world, and then its passed on to their children.
That's the one big thing, the big picture, the only thing that matters, the next generation, the survival of the species. And so that's why I blog. I'd probably do a better job with those goals if I were less foul-mouthed, less intemperate, less venomous and less extreme.
You still in Tampa, Doc? It's looking like I may be in Florida for a short vacation with the kiddies in March. Shoot me some email.
She's got a ton of stuff and it's all at Amazon.com. I recommend it highly.